With the NFL season officially in the books, the conversation surrounding the 2022 NFL Draft will only intensify with each passing day, and quarterbacks always get top billing. While this year’s class isn’t as star-studded as the 2021 class headlined by Trevor Lawrence, there is quite a bit of intrigue surrounding the signal-callers in this year’s draft with no true consensus at the top.
With Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett, Ole Miss’ Matt Corral and Liberty’s Malik Willis considered to be the cream of the crop, pro days and the NFL Combine will go a long way in determining which one hears his name called first on April 28.
Joining Ready or Mott this morning, 365 Sports CFB analyst J.D. Pickell gave his take on who currently sits atop his big board at the most important position on the field.
“For me, Matt Corral is the best quarterback in this draft for a number of reasons,” he said. “One of which being the completion he played against, playing against ‘NFL junior’ in the SEC. I think that’s more important than a lot of people want to give weight to. The second piece that I love about him is he’s a competitor. You talk about guys that love football and guys that want to be around the game, it’s very different when you transition from ‘hey, you have 20 hours a week that you’re allowed’ and then you get to the NFL and it’s ‘hey man, this is your job.’ Matt Corral playing in the bowl game speaks volumes to me about what kind of pro he’s going to be.”
Corral led Ole Miss to its first 10-win regular season in program history while completing 67% of his passes, throwing for nearly 3,400 yards, rushing for 500 yards and accounting for 31 total touchdowns. With his physical playing style, experts have raised concerns regarding Corral's durability at the next level. Corral fought through injuries throughout the 2021 season and left the Rebels' Sugar Bowl loss to Baylor early with an ankle injury.
Pickell explained that Corral, in his eyes, holds a slight edge over the Heisman finalist out of Pitt and that Willis is the “most fascinating” prospect in this class. Despite an issue with turnovers, Pickell believes that Willis is a “late bloomer” whose best football is in front of him.
The Falcons hold the 8th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, and while they likely won’t go QB that early, it remains to be seen if they grab one in the later rounds. If that’s the plan, Pickell told Falcons fans to keep an eye on Bailey Zappe out of Western Kentucky. While it’s certainly not apples to apples, Zappe tossed 62 touchdowns in 2021 to break Joe Burrow’s record for most touchdown passes in a single season. He also broke the record for passing yards in a single season with 5,967.