Travon Walker goes No. 1 overall to Jaguars in NFL Draft
Seattle Seahawks fans watch as Georgia pass rusher Travon Walker is shown on a TV monitor as he is picked by the Jacksonville Jaguars as the top pick in the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 28, 2022, at a Seahawks draft day party in Renton, Wash., near Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) Credit: Ted S. Warren
The crapshoot that is the NFL Draft visited a city built on games of chance Thursday, and the result was a predictably unpredictable night of high-stakes gambles.
For the first time since 2017 and only the second since 2014, a quarterback was not selected No. 1 overall – or anywhere else in the first half of the first round – as teams focused on edge rushers, cornerbacks, offensive tackles and receivers.
The fun in Las Vegas began with commissioner Roger Goodell being roundly booed as he announced the Jaguars being on the clock for the No. 1 pick for the second year in a row.
Jacksonville then selected Georgia defensive lineman Travon Walker, a 6-5, 272-pounder who made a late charge up the projected draft board. The Jaguars were attracted by Walker’s versatility as an edge rusher who also can play the run.
The Lions quickly chose second, taking edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson, a disruptive force who grew up near Detroit before playing at Michigan and now will stay in his home state.
“It’s great,” he said on the NFL Network. “I’m happy I get to go back to Detroit, go back to Motor City, hopefully win some ball games and get back to winning. I’m fired up.”
Derek Stingley Jr., a cornerback out of LSU, went third to the Texans in a mild surprise.
Stingley’s grandfather, the late Darryl Stingley, was paralyzed in an NFL preseason game when playing for the Patriots in 1978.
That began a run of four out of seven picks for the Jets and Giants.
The Jets took Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner, a cornerback out of Cincinnati who was a popular pick among fans.
That left the Giants with every offensive player available to them, but they went with Oregon edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux, who like Gardner should bring plenty of personality to New York.
That made five consecutive defensive players to start the draft for the first time since there were six in 1991.
Carolina broke the streak by selecting North Carolina State offensive tackle Ikem Ekwonu, who grew up a Panthers fan.
The Giants’ second pick of the night was Alabama offensive tackle Evan Neal at No. 7. Four of the next five picks were receivers, including the Jets choosing Ohio State receiver Garrett Wilson at No. 10.
The Lions traded up 20 spots, from No. 32 to No. 12, to take Alabama receiver Jameson Williams, who tore an ACL in the national championship game against Georgia.
It took until the 14th pick, with Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton to the Ravens, for someone other than a defensive or offensive lineman, cornerback or receiver to be taken.
It was not until the Steelers at pick No. 20 that the first quarterback came off the board – Kenny Pickett of Pitt.
There were six receivers taken in the top 20, including the Titans taking Treylon Burks of Arkansas at No. 18 after a blockbuster trade that sent receiver A.J. Brown to the Eagles – who are set to sign him to a huge new contract.
That was one of a flurry of trades, including the Jets trading back into the first round to snag edge rusher Jermaine Johnson of Florida State at 26th overall. “I’m so glad the Jets came and got me,” he said on NFL Network. “We’ll wreak havoc.”
The Vikings took Georgia safety Lewis Cine with the 32nd, and final, pick of the first round. Cine was the fifth defensive player from the Bulldogs taken in the first round, an NFL record.
Thursday night's draft was to be held in Las Vegas in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic moved it to the basement of Goodell’s Westchester County home.
Two years later, it arrived with all the spectacle one might expect, including a lavish red-carpet setup near the Bellagio hotel fountains on which the players showed off their fancy attire, and a massive crowd that showed up on a sunny, warm day.
A decade ago, the notion of a draft in Las Vegas – with an NFL franchise in a new stadium, a Pro Bowl and soon a Super Bowl – would have been inconceivable.
But as leagues and teams increasingly have embraced legalized sports gambling, Sin City has been deemed less sinful than it used to be.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
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