USA Today

● By Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz

Accuracy: 20.19%30th Place
It's time for the prognostication to give way to actual picks. The 2022 NFL draft is set to start Thursday in Las Vegas, and fans are still largely in the dark as to how the first round could take shape. But teams themselves also might be in for a surprise, as there are a number of different ways that Day 1 could pan out. And while coaches and general managers might have left some bread crumbs in recent weeks, there also might have been several smokescreens to hide decision-makers' true intentions.

Top Players Not Included

These players appear in the top 32 of our

Consensus Big Board

, but do not show up in this mock.