By Jamie Malloy

Wow, how fast time flies!  The 2022 NFL Draft was just held last week and now we are talking about post draft grades. It’s crazy that right after every NFL Draft, we already want to grade how we think our teams did. In reality it takes about three years for a draft class to either come to fruition or flame out, so we will have to come back in 2025 to truly see how we fared.  Let’s analyze what we have here with the grades of the teams from the NFC East.

New York Giants-

A+

The New York Giants on paper have had a quiet offseason, but they have come out with a bang. First, they hired former Buffalo Bills assistant GM Joe Schoen as general manager.  He worked closely alongside GM Brandon Beane and has helped the Bills form a winning-culture under QB Josh Allen and Head Coach Sean McDermott. So what does Schoen do, he then hires within the Bills organization by hiring former OC Brian Daboll as head coach. The Giants then did the smart thing by not selecting a QB with any of their draft picks.

Their first pick was Oregon DE Kayvon Thibodeux at fifth overall. He gives the Giants D-Line something they have needed for quite a while, which is a gifted and talented pass rusher. 

The Giants then went with OT Evan Neal with the seventh overall pick, which checked off their boxes on the offensive line.

Best Pick– Evan Neal-OT. Alabama

Now Giants fans, before you start coming at me with why didn’t they get a quarterback, pay attention to this. Head Coach Brian Daboll has already said he is confident that he can win with Daniel Jones. I know it’s hard to believe, but Daniel Jones’ TD-INT Ratio is in the plus, he is actually an athletic quarterback who can run RPO and read options like Josh Allen is able to in Buffalo. In order for Jones to do so, you must provide him with a trustworthy left tackle to protect his blindspot. Neal is more than just a left tackle as he started at left, right tackle, guard, and he even played some snaps at center under Nick Saban when he was at Alabama. Neal is a

great pick here because of his versatility and durability as an offensive lineman.

Worst Pick– Dan Belton-S. Iowa

This seems to be like a best value pick at #114 in the fourth round. I don’t think the Giants really needed a safety here. To me, I would have picked another wide receiver or drafted a running back. Can Barkley manage to stay healthy this year?

Dallas Cowboys-

A 

The Dallas Cowboys have made up for what has been a wild offseason so far for them. They traded Star Wide Receiver Amari Cooper to the Browns to cut some of his salary and they kept their two assistant coaches intact for this season. 

In the first round, they took Tulsa offensive tackle Tyler Smith who is a perfect fit mentality wise for the Cowboys Offensive Line. He is big and very aggressive, but sometimes played a little too much beyond the whistle.  There could be growing pains with him being over penalized in his rookie year, but he is coachable and can learn from star veterans Tyron Smith and Zach Martin.

Then, they took who could be a steal in second round pick Sam Williams. The edge rusher from Ole Miss has some off field issues, but he has the natural pass rushing moves that defensive coordinator Dan Quinn could coach up into this year’s defensive rookie of the year. He could be this year’s Micha Parsons when on the field.

Best Pick– Tyler Smith-OT. Tulsa 

Here’s an athletic and strong hulking tackle who could see significant playing time in order for the Cowboys to rebuild their offensive line. Minus the penalties, this kid plays with the nastiness and toughness you want in a 6’7”, 321 lb guy. He is a very coachable player and the Cowboys are a perfect squad for him to flourish in his rookie season and his whole career.

Worst Pick– Jalen Tolbert-WR. South Alabama

This pick was a little strange as the Cowboys went with a high upside wide receiver that has a case of the drops. To me, he was not worth going in the third round. But then again, Jerry Rice and Devante Adams had a case of the drops too and both had fantastic careers in the NFL.

Philadelphia Eagles-

A- 

Now why are the Eagles the third best team in the NFC East in terms of draft grades when other sports media outlets have them the best? It’s called having a different opinion than them. The reason they think the Eagles had the best draft is because they traded their first round pick and a third rounder to the Titans on draft day for receiver AJ Brown. Other than that, their draft deserves a solid A-minus because they hit all of their needs. Their one first round pick they used was a huge one literally by selecting Georgia nose tackle big Jordan Davis. Davis was one of the five players on Georgia’s defense selected in the first round. He can move and has a little flava for a big guy.  Plus, he was part of a generational defense that also featured fellow first round pick and defensive lineman Devontae Wyatt who was selected by the Green Bay Packers.

The Eagles then make sneaky good picks on Day 2 by selecting center Cam Jurgens in round 2 who is already being compared to returning starter Jason Kelce. They then snagged Butkus-Award winner and Georgia linebacker Nakobe Dean who slipped into the third round due to injury concerns.

Best Pick– Jordan Davis-IDL. Georgia

Wow, just wow. Is he a big man or what? Plus, he’s freakishly athletic for a big man. Davis is 6’ 6’ 340” and was a space eater on that Georgia defensive line this year. He played a big role in holding Alabama to only 18 points in the National Championship Game.

Worst Pick– Grant Calcaterra-TE. SMU

This selection in the sixth round is a huge gamble and nobody is joking when they say that. Here’s a guy that has a bunch of injury problems, that started with Oklahoma and then had to retire due to a variety of concussions. And then a year later, he comes back and now he’s drafted in the sixth round. It’s a nice comeback story and he was able to overcome adversity, but if he takes even one concussion in his rookie year, he might end up being cut by the Eagles.

Washington Commanders-

B+

Welcome to the first draft under the new name “Commanders” for Washington football fans. I’d be very proud of your first draft and take your new name with great pride. Penn State Wide Receiver Jahan Dotson is a human highlight reel and showed everybody this year with his speed and route running ability why he was worth a first round pick. Don’t let his 5’11”, 181 lb body fool you though, what he lacks in physical stature, he makes up for with his tools and skill-sets. Dotson is compared to Emmanuel Sanders where he is smaller, but very precise in his route running and has a great knack of catching the football from his quarterback. And speaking of quarterback, Sam Howell was a steal in the fifth round as he was treated very poorly by a dozen or so NFL scouts. He is very intelligent, strong, mobile, and has a decent arm for the pro game.

Best Pick– Jahan Dotson-WR. Penn State

He may be one of the best wide receivers to come out in this draft. He is very polished when running his routes, as he can run deep-go routes and he can run some nice slot routes inside too.

Worst Pick– Brian Robinson Jr.- RB. Alabama

This may come as a shocking pick but I watched a lot of Brian Robinson’s games this year for Alabama and he didn’t seem that impressive. Now part of this reason may be that Alabama lost so much talent in the 2021 NFL Draft after winning the national championship. It also could be that he looked average compared to past Alabama running backs. Still, Robinson was solid enough to be a pro talent, but I could see a Bo-Scarbrough situation with him.