2022 NFL draft: Senior Bowl could feature 5 of first 6 QBs drafted in April

The quarterback pecking order for the 2022 NFL draft could end up being decided at the Senior Bowl in January.

The pre-draft all-star game has made the most of what appears to be a middling group by securing what appears to be the cream of the senior QB crop so far. Already accepting invitations are Pitt's Kenny Pickett, Cincinnati's Desmond Ridder, Liberty's Malik Willis and Western Kentucky's Bailey Zappe.

Those are arguably four of the best (if not the four best) senior quarterbacks in this cycle. The game allows underclassmen who have completed their degrees to compete in the game, as well, which will include two more prominent possibilities: North Carolina's Sam Howell and Nevada's Carson Strong, both of whom are on track to graduate from their respective schools this month.

The only other quarterback with a reasonable shot of vying for QB1 honors in this class, Ole Miss' Matt Corral, is not eligible for the Senior Bowl, sources have told us.

Some teams currently have Corral in their top QB spot; others have Pickett. And though we've not specifically heard from any teams that currently view Howell, Ridder, Willis or Strong as their No. 1 option at the position, all of them could end up in Mobile with shots at gunning for the first round in April.

How many first-round quarterbacks will there be in 2022?

We posed this question to an AFC assistant general manager last month: "If you combined the 2021 and 2022 draft quarterbacks into one class, would any of them crack the top five?"

It's pretty clear none of this group will rate higher than the top three overall picks from last April: Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson and Trey Lance. In essence, the question boils down to whether any of them be taken higher than Justin Fields, who was drafted No. 11 overall by the Chicago Bears, or Mac Jones, taken 15th by the New England Patriots.

"No," he said quickly, "I don't think so. Maybe Corral for the right team. Pickett will have his fans, too. ... But no, I don't think so."

Another veteran evaluator we spoke with, who consults for a team that often asks him to drill down on specific, premium positions in each draft class, told Yahoo Sports that he's done only cursory work on the 2022 QB class.

"I wasn't really asked to," they said, "and that kind of speaks to the class. It's just not a great year for quarterbacks."

But that still might not prevent three — or more — from being taken in Round 1 this spring.

"I still think the number ends up being three or three plus," the assistant GM said on how man quarterbacks end up being taken in the first 32 selections. He pointed to the perpetually big need at the position, the contractual advantages of first-round picks (who can be bound by fifth-year team options that control players' salaries) and the pressure to draft quarterbacks in general.

Plus, as this year's class proves, "there's always next year" doesn't always prove to be a viable strategy. Do teams such as the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers regret passing on options such as Fields and Jones? The 2022 NFL draft could provide some answers to that.

If the first-round QB number ends up being three, it's possible that another three end up being picked in Rounds 2 and 3. Day 2 of the draft, and especially the second round, has been a bit barren for quarterbacks in recent years, although we did see a bit of a shift last year with the three-in-four-picks run of Florida's Kyle Trask (Round 2, No. 64 overall to the Buccaneers); Texas A&M's Kellen Mond (Round 3, No. 66 overall to the Vikings); and Stanford's Davis Mills (Round 3, No. 67 to the Texans).

Something similar could play out in this coming draft, with the eventual QB4 through QB6 landing in that range.

Kenny Pickett has a golden opportunity in Mobile

Pickett opted to return to school this past year and entered the 2021 college season earning mostly early Day 3 draft grades from scouts. He'd put out some decent tape in prior seasons but often struggled in big games and against top defenses.

This season, Pickett transformed himself into a Heisman Trophy finalist with a mostly brilliant year at Pitt. He's now considered one of the co-favorites to be the first quarterback selected, along with Corral.

Could Pickett help separate himself with a strong week in Mobile? We think it's possible. Even more so when you consider who might be coaching him down there.

Traditionally, the league has selected two teams' coaching staffs to lead each of the Senior Bowl rosters. The staffs most often come from closer-to-the-bottom-of-the-standings teams that are returning their head coaches from the year before.

Among the teams that could be in play for coaching at the Senior Bowl could include some QB-needy ones such as the Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Seattle Seahawks, New York Giants, New Orleans Saints, Denver Broncos, Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles, dependent on which of those teams opt to keep their current head coaches in place.

(And for what it's worth, Pickett recently revealed on The Dan Patrick Show that he grew up an Eagles fan.)

Fan allegiance aside, however, Pickett and the other Senior Bowl quarterbacks will be headed down to Mobile, Ala. with the hope of making a connection with those staffs, as well as showing out for the other 30 NFL clubs.

Last year, the Matt Rhule and the Panthers coached the Senior Bowl's "American Team," which featured three top-70 QB picks — Jones, Mond and Trask — plus undrafted Wake Forest's Jamie Newman. But the Panthers ended up not selecting a quarterback in the draft, passing on all of them after having traded for Sam Darnold a few weeks before the 2021 draft.

We nearly missed out on a Senior Bowl QB pairing when the Bengals (who coached the 2020 South Team) couldn't convince LSU's Joe Burrow to participate, although it clearly didn't bother them enough to pass on Burrow with the first pick later that year.

The last time we had a team coaching at the Senior Bowl select one of the quarterbacks they coached on their roster was the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2016, when they coached eventual sixth-round pick Brandon Allen on the South Team. (Another South Team quarterback, Dak Prescott, was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys, who led the 2016 Senior Bowl North Team that year. We'll let you decide which club made the better selection.)

But this year's game could be the perfect environment to produce a pairing of a Senior Bowl QB and the team that coaches them. Pickett won't be the only possible pairing, of course, but he should enter the week of practice as the most hyped quarterback, even with Howell, Willis and Ridder there.

Could Pickett's eight-inch hands — which would be historically small — be a problem in the NFL? To some teams, perhaps. But showing out in Mobile with a strong week of practice, buttressing a tremendous senior season, could assuage those worries.

Pickett's experience, smarts and accuracy all could be showcased at the event and lock up a first-round spot, perhaps with the team that will get to see those traits up close for a week's time.