Analyst Leaves Mississippi State OL Charles Cross Entirely Out of First Round of 2022 NFL Mock Draft
Mississippi State offensive tackle Charles Cross is largely projected to go within the first 15 picks of the 2022 NFL Draft -- some are high enough on him to go so far as pinning him to the No. 1 overall pick, held by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
But not everyone sees Cross as one of the very top prospects in the draft. In fact, some don't even see him as a first-rounder. In his recently released mock draft, Bruce Feldman of The Athletic didn't list Cross within the first 32 picks.
Feldman had seven offensive linemen coming off the board on Day 1: Ikem Ekwonu (NC State) to the Houston Texas at No. 3, Evan Neal (Alabama) to the New York Jets at No. 4, Trevor Penning (Northern Iowa) to the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 20, Zion Johnson (Boston College) to the Arizona Cardinals at No. 23, Tyler Linderbaum (Iowa) to the Tennessee Titans at No. 26, Kenyon Green (Texas A&M) to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 27 and Bernhard Raimann (Central Michigan) to the Green Bay Packers at No. 28.
The mock, which included some very insightful coaching intel that helped back its reasoning with substance, also had some other interesting projections, with the last three picks of the first round projected to be quarterbacks (Liberty's Malik Willis to the Steelers via a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs at No. 30, Ole Miss' Matt Corral to the Atlanta Falcons via a trade with the Cincinnati Bengals at No. 31 and Cincinnati's Desmond Ridder to the Detroit Lions at No. 32).
It will be interesting to see just how much all of this aligns with reality when teams are officially on the clock later this month, but it's still hard to see a world in which a versatile and athletic prospect like Cross who had a standout pro day and season doesn't immediately bring a boost to the NFL team he lands with -- and do so after being selected within the first 15 picks.
