NFL Draft winners & losers 2022: Malik Willis, Matt Corral, Desmond Ridder finally land; Colts, Seahawks add depth on Day 2

Bill Bender

NFL Draft winners & losers 2022: Malik Willis, Matt Corral, Desmond Ridder finally land; Colts, Seahawks add depth on Day 2  image

The 2022 NFL Draft wrapped up Day 2 on Friday. 

The quarterback slides continued on the second day. Cincinnati's Desmond Ridder, Liberty's Malik Willis and Ole Miss' Matt Corral fell to the third round. The Falcons selected Ridder, the Titans took Willis and the Panthers grabbed Corral. They weren't the only players who slid down the board.

Georgia linebacker Nakobe Dean also slipped to the third round.

There were other themes. The wide receiver run continued, and the Packers and Chiefs found value picks in the second round. Sporting News looks at the winners and losers from Rounds 2-3: 

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Winners: Second-round WRs

The receiver run continued on Day 2. A total of seven receivers were taken in the second round, and that run started early when Green Bay (finally) traded up with Minnesota to get North Dakota State's Christian Watson with the No. 34 pick. Watson is a 6-5, 200-pound target who will be counted on to join the Packers' rotation. 

2022 NFL Draft second-round WRs 

TEAM PLAYER/SCHOOL SCHOOL PICK
Green Bay Christian Watson North Dakota State No. 34
N.Y. Giants Wan'Dale Robinson Kentucky No. 43
Houston John Metchie III Alabama No. 44
New England Tyquan Thornton Baylor No. 50
Pittsburgh  George Pickens Georgia No. 52
Indianapolis Alec Pierce Cincinnati No. 53
Kansas City Skyy Moore Western Michigan No. 54

Watson wasn't alone. Four AFC playoff teams from last season added a receiver. 

The seven receivers drafted featured Baylor speedster Tyquan Thornton, who led all receivers with a 4.28 in the 40-yard dash. The Patriots added Thornton for second-year quarterback Mac Jones. 

Georgia's George Pickens landed with rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett in Pittsburgh. Indianapolis added Pierce, and Kansas City grabbed Western Michigan's Skyy Moore with the next pick. 

MORE: Complete grades, analysis for every pick in Rounds 1-3

Loser: Jaguars 

The Jaguars didn't have a second-round pick, and it was a quiet third round for a rebuilding team. Jacksonville added Kentucky center Luke Fortner and Wyoming Chad Muma, and both players could become contributors down the line. 

It continues a boom-or-bust draft that started with Georgia's Travon Walker and Utah's Devin Lloyd in the first round. Jacksonville has maneuvered up and down the board with new coach Doug Pederson, but they won't have a fourth round pick to start Day 3. 

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Winner: Seahawks

The Seahawks passed on a quarterback, but they added depth in the trenches on both sides and a game-changing running back on Day 2. 

Seattle took Minnesota's Boye Mafe with the the No. 40 pick in the second round. Mafe, a 6-4, 265-pound edge rusher, had a breakout season with 10 sacks. Seattle grabbed Michigan State's Kenneth Walker III, who had 1,636 yards and 18 TDs, with the next pick. Walker is a tough runner who can pile up yards after contact and fits well in Pete Carroll's offense. 

Seattle added another tackle in Washington State's Abraham Lucas in the third round, who pairs well with first-round pick Charles Cross. The quarterback question stands with Drew Lock and Geno Smith the best options for now, but that can still be addressed via free agency. 

MORE: What Panthers' NFL Draft selection of Matt Corral means for Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield rumors

Winner: Colts 

The Colts pulled in a second-day haul that will compliment an already-loaded roster. 

That started in the third round with Cincinnati's Alec Pierce, a 6-3, 213-pound receiver who averaged 17 yards per catch for the Bearcats. Indianapolis added Virginia tight end Jelani Woods, a 6-7, 259-pounder who ran a 4.61 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. That gives new quarterback Matt Ryan two more fun targets to work with. 

Indianapolis wasn't done at that point. Central Michigan tackle  Bernhard Raimann, who was a first-round projection in several mocks, also was added in the fourth round. The Colts closed Day 2 with Maryland safety Nick Cross, who had 66 tackles and three interceptions in 2021. 

Losers: Second-day QBs 

The quarterback slide continued. No quarterbacks were selected in the second round. 

Atlanta picked Cincinnati's Desmond Ridder with the No. 74 pick in the third round. Ridder will have a shot to compete with the starting job with Marcus Mariota, who didn't start a game with the Raiders the last two seasons. 

Liberty's Malik Willis fell to the No. 85 pick, where Tennessee made the pick after a trade with Las Vegas. Ryan Tannehill is entrenched as the starting quarterback, but Willis offers competition and a plan for the future if the Titans cannot break through in the AFC playoffs. 

Ole Miss' Matt Corral went with the No. 94 pick to Carolina after trade talks for Baker Mayfield appeared to come to a halt. Corral is a playmaker who put up prolific stats with the Rebels, but he'll be a backup to Sam Darnold to start 2022. 

The lesson? Despite first-round projections, it is clear that Ridder, Willis and Corral are not perceived as starting quarterbacks as rookies. 

Winner: David Ojabo

Ojabo, who suffered a torn Achilles tendon at Michigan's Pro Day, was selected with the No. 45 pick in the second round by the Ravens. He is reunited there with defensive coordinator Michael Macdonald, who was the Wolverines' DC in 2021. 

Ojabo had 11 sacks last year at Michigan, and he lands in an ideal situation where he can rehab and pick up the system quickly when he returns. Ojabo is a high-upside player, and the Ravens continued a strong draft after taking Notre Dame's Kyle Hamilton and Iowa's Tyler Linderbaum in the first round.

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Loser: Nakobe Dean 

Georgia had seven players selected before Dean, an All-American linebacker who was the leader of the Bulldogs' national championship defense in 2021. 

Dean slide all the way to the third round, where he was rescued by the Eagles with the No. 83 pick. The good news? Dean will be paired with college teammate Jordan Davis, and that should be motivation to prove the doubters wrong. 

Winner: Ed Marinaro

One could label the actor a loser for his two-minute, 36-second monologue before the Vikings' second-round pick in which a producer had to cut him. 

Marinaro was drafted by Minnesota in the 1972 NFL Draft, and he went viral at least for a minute. Admit it. You want to fire up a few old episodes of "Hill Street Blues" now. No publicity is bad publicity, in this case. 

Lost in translation? Clemson cornerback Andrew Booth Jr. was the Vikings' pick. 

Bill Bender

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Bill Bender graduated from Ohio University in 2002 and started at The Sporting News as a fantasy football writer in 2007. He has covered the College Football Playoff, NBA Finals and World Series for SN. Bender enjoys story-telling, awesomely-bad 80s movies and coaching youth sports.