For many NFL fanatics and team personnel, the NFL draft is the high point of the offseason. Hope and optimism begin a new as teams welcome collegiate superstars to their rosters, using the draft to plug holes and bring in the next generation of talent to the league. Although the draft itself takes up only three days at the end of April, the draft process anymore is a year-round endeavor, especially for scouts and the players who hope to hear their names called from the big stage.
When Is the 2022 NFL Draft?
This year’s version of the league’s entry draft will take up three days. The action begins at 8 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, April 28 with the first round of the draft. The second and third rounds follow at 7 p.m. the next day, and the draft concludes with the final four rounds starting at noon Saturday, April 30.
Where Is the 2022 NFL Draft?
The NFL is continuing its recent trend of hosting the draft in different locations each year after having New York City be the home for the event from 1965 through 2014. This year, the league is doubling back to make up for a draft that wasn’t hosted. Las Vegas was set to house the 2020 edition of the draft before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the league to change course and host the event virtually.
Now, two years later, Las Vegas gets its time in the limelight. The draft will occur at Allegiant Stadium, the Raiders’ home stadium. This venue is lovingly nicknamed the “Death Star” because it’s made with 28,000 pounds of steel. The stadium also houses the 92-foot Al Davis Memorial, a torch that represents Davis’ unwavering devotion to the club.
How To Watch the 2022 NFL Draft
For those who aren’t lucky enough to witness the event in person, there still are plenty of options to watch the 2022 NFL draft live. The draft will be broadcast nationally on NFL Network, ABC, ESPN, and ESPN Deportes, with each network featuring a different cast of anchors and analysts to break down all the action.
Other Important 2022 NFL Draft Dates
Even though teams are on the clock during the draft for only around a dozen hours, the entire draft process is much longer. In all reality, the lead-up to the 2022 NFL draft began the day after the 2021 NFL draft ended, if not even earlier for teams with dedicated scouting departments. But in terms of concrete draft events, here are all the dates fans need to know about this year, including those which have already passed:
- Feb. 3: East-West Shrine Bowl in Las Vegas.
- Feb. 5: Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.
- Feb. 19: HBCU Legacy Bowl in New Orleans.
- March 1-7: NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
- April 20: Deadline for teams to give physical examinations to draft-eligible players at their team facilities.
- April 27: Deadline to interview, test, and time any draft-eligible players.
How Is the Order of the NFL Draft Decided?
The NFL uses a set method to determine the order for every pick in the draft each season. To start, each of the league’s 32 teams receives one selection in each of the draft’s seven rounds. The order for each of these picks is the same every round, and the league uses the standings and playoff results from the most recent season to determine this. Before accounting for trades or compensatory picks, each draft round begins with the team that had the league’s worst record and concludes with the team that won the Super Bowl.
The order is broken down as follows:
- Draft picks 1 through 18: Teams that didn’t qualify for the postseason are ordered based on their record in the most recent season. The team with the worst record picks first, and the nonplayoff team with the best record picks 18th.
- Draft picks 19 through 24: The six teams who lost in the playoff’s wild-card round are slotted in the reverse order of their regular-season record.
- Draft picks 25 through 28: The four teams who lost in the playoff’s divisional round are slotted in the reverse order of their regular-season record.
- Draft picks 29 and 30: The two teams who lost in the conference championship games are slotted in the reverse order of their regular-season record.
- Draft pick 31: The team that lost in the Super Bowl.
- Draft pick 32: The team that won in the Super Bowl.
Most years, there are cases in which two or more teams in each slot bracket have finished with identical records in the previous season. The NFL has a set of tiebreaker rules to determine which team gets the higher pick. Its main tiebreaker the league uses is strength of schedule, which is calculated by taking the aggregate winning percentage of a team’s opponents in the most recent season. The team that had the easier strength of schedule, meaning it played the schedule with the worst winning percentage, earns the higher pick.
If two teams faced an equal strength of schedule, the league next looks at any division or conference tiebreakers to see which team performed better in those games. If these records are the same, the league moves on to the following methods:
- Head-to-head record.
- Best winning percentage against common opponents (minimum of four games).
- Strength of victory in all games.
- Best combined ranking among in terms of points scored and points during season.
- Most net points during the season.
- Most net touchdowns during the season.
- Coin toss.
Once the league determines this order, it assigns as many as 32 compensatory picks. These selections allow teams that lost valuable players in free agency to make more draft choices to try to make up for their losses. These picks start at the end of the third round and are added to the end of every round for the rest of the draft.
The league determines these picks using a private formula to measure the value of players a team lost and added during free agency, so the teams who lost the most get the higher picks. This formula factors in a player’s salary, their playing time, and any postseason honors they’ve earned. Each team can earn a maximum of four compensatory picks for each draft.
How Does the Draft Process Work?
Starting at 8 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, April 28, the Jacksonville Jaguars will go on the clock to start the 2022 NFL draft. In the first round, each team has 10 minutes to submit its pick to the league. If they don’t make a pick in time, the league skips them and continues the draft, but the team that missed its pick can submit it at anytime after. In the second round, teams get seven minutes to make each pick. That number drops to five minutes from the third through sixth round and four minutes in the final round.
Each franchise has a designated table laid out at the draft location, where the team reps communicate with officials at each team’s headquarters constantly. When a franchise makes a pick, the name of the player is communicated from the selection room to the team’s reps at the venue. The franchise rep then writes the name of the player, their position, and school on a card and gives it to an employee of the NFL. Once the employee receives this card, the selection becomes official, and the next time goes on the clock.
2022 NFL Draft Order for First Two Rounds
There will be 262 selections in seven rounds this year on the draft dates, and some exciting trades and selections can be expected during the draft. Here is the most recent available NFL Draft order for 2022 for the first two rounds, with any traded picks designated in parentheses:
Round 1
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- Detroit Lions
- Houston Texans
- New York Jets
- New York Giants
- Carolina Panthers
- New York Giants (from Chicago)
- Atlanta Falcons
- Denver Broncos
- New York Jets (from Seattle)
- Washington Commanders
- Minnesota Vikings
- Cleveland Browns
- Baltimore Ravens
- Philadelphia Eagles (from Miami)
- Philadelphia Eagles (from Indianapolis)
- Los Angeles Chargers
- New Orleans Saints
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- New England Patriots
- Las Vegas Raiders
- Arizona Cardinals
- Dallas Cowboys
- Buffalo Bills
- Tennessee Titans
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Green Bay Packers
- Miami Dolphins (from San Francisco)
- Kansas City chiefs
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Detroit Lions
Round 2
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- Detroit Lions
- New York Jets
- New York Giants
- Houston Texans
- New York Jets (from Carolina)
- Chicago Bears
- Seattle Seahawks (from Denver)
- Seattle Seahawks
- Indianapolis Colts (from Washington)
- Atlanta Falcons
- Cleveland Browns
- Baltimore Ravens
- Minnesota Vikings
- Washington Commanders (from Indianapolis)
- Chicago Bears (from L.A. Chargers)
- New Orleans Saints
- Kansas City Chiefs (from Miami)
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Green Bay Packers (from Las Vegas)
- New England Patriots
- Arizona Cardinals
- Dallas Cowboys
- Buffalo Bills
- Atlanta Falcons (from Tennessee)
- Green Bay Packers
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- San Francisco 49ers
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Denver Broncos (from L.A. Rams)
While the draft provides plenty of new opportunities for teams and players, it also gives fans a chance to buy new officially licensed sports apparel, collectibles or any memorabilia for their favorite team’s draft picks or any of their favorite players who were drafted. As longtime NFL fans know, Fanatics is the best place to find NFL gear for fans of any age. Shop now to get ready for a draft party, and return after the draft to get the newest gear for the upcoming season.
