NFL Draft 2022: Latest Rumors, Expert Mocks for Malik Willis and Top QBs

Last year, the first three players taken in the NFL draft were all quarterbacks, as the Jacksonville Jaguars (Trevor Lawrence), New York Jets (Zach Wilson) and San Francisco 49ers (Trey Lance) each selected a QB to build around. Then, Justin Fields went to the Chicago Bears at No. 11 and Mac Jones got picked by the New England Patriots at No. 15.

This year, don't expect the NFL draft to go quite like that. In fact, there may not be any quarterbacks taken within the first five picks. And there may not be any early runs on QBs.

That's not to say there aren't talented quarterbacks in the 2022 class. It's just that the teams that need QBs the most won't be picking right away. Eventually, the best quarterbacks will start coming off the board, and it will be interesting to see when that happens and how things unfold.

Here's some of the latest buzz surrounding several top QB prospects in the 2022 draft class.

ESPN's Todd McShay recently released his updated NFL mock draft, and he has only one quarterback going in the first 19 picks (Pittsburgh's Kenny Pickett to the Carolina Panthers at No. 6). McShay then predicts the Pittsburgh Steelers will take Liberty QB Malik Willis at No. 20.

However, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler isn't so sure that could happen. He reported on SportsCenter earlier this week that he heard from "somebody close to Malik Willis in this process" that it would be a "major surprise" if Willis is close to falling out of the top 20. Fowler believes Willis will get drafted earlier than that, even if he isn't ready to immediately become a starter.

"The question really is can he play year one?" Fowler said. "Most teams I talked to believe that he needs to sit that first year, maybe you have like a wildcat running package for him that you can put in that first year. But this is a true project. So if you have a team that has a starter already in place, he's perfect."

According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Willis has visits scheduled for next week with the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers and Indianapolis Colts. The Panthers (No. 6) and Falcons (No. 8) each own early picks, while the Colts don't have a first-round selection, so they would likely need to trade up to land Willis.

Like McShay, NFL.com's Peter Schrager has Willis going to the Steelers at No. 20. If that doesn't end up happening, then it will interesting to see which team prevents the Liberty QB from falling that far. NFL.com's Charles Davis believes Willis could be the first QB drafted, going to Carolina at No. 6.

If Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder gets drafted in the first round, it likely won't be until late. Both McShay and Schrager have Ridder going to the Detroit Lions at No. 32, the final pick of the opening round, while Davis doesn't have Ridder getting picked in the first.

Regardless of when Ridder gets drafted, it appears his stock is currently trending in a positive direction. Fowler reported that numerous NFL teams believe Ridder is "rising in the process."

"Talked to one league exec who thought maybe spots 24 to 38 could be a sweet spot for him. If he's there in the early second round, he definitely would get some strong interest," Fowler recently said on SportsCenter. "He's just considered very polished, and I talked to a team who interviewed Ridder who said that he had a plan outlined for how he was going to beat out a veteran in a training camp setting and become a starter in this league year one."

The Lions own the Nos. 32 and 34 overall picks, with the Jaguars picking between them. Jacksonville already has its franchise QB in Lawrence, so perhaps Detroit would wait until the second round to get Ridder, if he's still on the board when it's on the clock at the end of the first.

Wherever Ridder ends up, it appears he's motivated to try to get on the field early in his career. Whether or not that actually happens remains to be seen, but he is among the most talented QB prospects in this class.

Many mock drafts have the Panthers being the first team to take a quarterback at No. 6. McShay and Schrager believe they'll pick Pickett, while Davis has Carolina selecting Willis. But the Panthers may be considering even more possibilities at QB.

Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported that Carolina has visits scheduled with Willis, Pickett, Ridder, Ole Miss' Matt Corral, North Carolina's Sam Howell and Western Kentucky's Bailey Zappe for next week. They'll each be meeting with the Panthers between Monday and Wednesday, per Breer.

It's not a surprise that Carolina is being linked to these quarterbacks. Sam Darnold doesn't seem to be the franchise's long-term answer at QB, while Cam Newton is again a free agent and is unlikely to return to the MVP form he showed earlier in his career.

If the Panthers are going to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2017, and become a perennial postseason contender, they're likely going to need a new, young quarterback to build around. So it seems quite possible that Carolina will use the No. 6 pick on one of these QBs.