Winners and losers from first round of 2022 draft: Seahawks among them?

The first round of the 2022 NFL draft is done. Who were some winners and losers and were the Seattle Seahawks either one?

There were so many trades in the first round that it nearly became a bit disorienting on which team was choosing when. But that’s part of the fun of the NFL draft, right?

And for the Seahawks NFC West, none of their rivals chose anyone. So while the Seahawks hopefully got better with their pick, none of the other teams improved solely based on a pick.

Winners and losers, including the Seahawks from round one of the 2022 NFL draft

Winner: Philadelphia Eagles

Philadelphia had a clear plan of what they were going to do in this draft well before it happened. They traded with the New Orleans Saints, realigned their picks, then used one of those picks to trade for Titans receiver AJ Brown. Philadelphia needed receiver help and they got it. Plus, they only gave up pick 18 and 101 overall. That’s a steal.

Loser: Houston Texans

The Texans had a Texans draft. They chose two players who had better players than the ones they chose at their positions picked just behind them. For instance, Houston chose cornerback Derek Stingley, Jr. at pick 3 when they could have had Sauce Gardner. Gardner went fourth.

Houston took guard Kenyon Green at 15 but could have had Zion Johnson who went 17th. If Houston isn’t good for a while, they only can blame themselves.

Winner: New York Jets

Whoa! The Jets had a fantastic draft. Who knew? They ended up with three first-round choices and still have pick 38 in round two. New York might have ended up with three top-ten players: Gardner, receiver Garrett Wilson and edge rusher Jermaine Johnson. There is no reason New York can’t be good in a couple of years if Zach Wilson turns out to be a good QB.

Loser: Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta needed a QB for the future but honestly there weren’t that many to choose from. They also needed a receiver but instead of going with Wilson at pick 8, or even Jameson Williams, the Falcons decided on USC’s Drake London. London is big but not fast. Atlanta needed speed.

Loser: Seahawks

I liked the Seahawks first-round choice, Charles Cross. He should be a good tackle for quite some time, though he is a better pass protector than a run blocker and Seattle looks to be running more in 2022.

But with the bevy of trades in the first round, Seattle didn’t do anything for once. They should have been among the teams making moves. Instead, the Seahawks could have traded up into the 20s and grabbed Jermaine Johnson or Devin Lloyd or Tyler Linderbaum.