2022 NFL mock draft roundup: Eagles pair Sauce Gardner with Darius Slay

Glenn Erby

January 11, 2022 at 12:04 PM·3 min read

The Eagles were one of 14 teams able to move on to postseason play, but the rest of the league will begin offseason preparations, looking towards the NFL draft to reload and contend in 2022.

Mock draft season is set to engulf the league and after Georgia defeated Alabama in the National Championship game, college football’s top stars will start heading to Mobile, Alabama for the 2022 Reese’s Senior Bowl,

Here’s your initial postseason mock draft roundup for wild card weekend.

PFF

PFF has the Eagles landing a great draft haul.

Sauce and Slay or Slay and Sauce, could really be something we can all get used to in Philadelphia.

15. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (FROM MIAMI DOLPHINS): EDGE DAVID OJABO, MICHIGAN
After playing just 26 career snaps before this season, Ojabo broke out in a big way in 2021, racking up 42 pressures and earning an 86.9 pass-rushing grade. While he’s a project, he’s already progressing by leaps and bounds.

16. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (FROM INDIANAPOLIS COLTS): CB AHMAD GARDNER, CINCINNATI
Putting Gardner across from Darius Slay would be a dream scenario for the Eagles. This past year, Gardner allowed only 20 catches from 40 targets for 131 yards.

19. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: C TYLER LINDERBAUM, IOWA
The comps to Jason Kelce are too obvious with how the undersized Iowa center flies across the field. The two-time highest-graded center in the FBS would make a ton of sense as Kelce’s heir apparent.

Draft Wire

Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Posted before the weekend season finales, Draft Wire’s Luke Easterling has Philadelphia adding 3 solid players to the list, including a star linebacker from Georgia.

14. Philadelphia Eagles (from MIA) | Iowa OL Tyler Linderbaum
The first of three first-rounders for the Eagles this year, Linderbaum is the perfect blend of need and value. Jason Kelce’s career is coming to a close, and what better way to transition from one stud to another, grabbing this year’s best interior blocker who could easily fetch a top-10 selection.
19. Philadelphia Eagles | Georgia LB Nakobe Dean
The Eagles move to the defense for this pick after addressing the offensive line earlier, taking a page out of the Raiders’ book and adding a dynamic playmaker from the Bulldogs’ elite unit. Dean is a fiery, three-down defender who can take over games with his combination of athleticism and physicality.
21. Philadelphia Eagles (from IND) | Florida CB Kaiir Elam
The Eagles finish off their trio of first-round picks by adding a long, athletic corner to pair with Darius Slay. Elam lined up against some of the nation’s top talent in the SEC, and was a shutdown artist, especially in press-man coverage. Getting him outside of the top 20 would be a bargain.

CBS Sports

.
Osu21um Kwr 56

CBS Sports has the Eagles rolling with two defenders and a star wideout to complement DeVonta Smith.

Round 1 – Pick 15
Geoge Karlaftis adds another dimension to the defensive line. Injuries and the pandemic saw him play limited snaps in ’20 but Karlaftis was nearly impossible to stop in ’19 when he recorded 17 TFLs and had 7.5 sacks, and in 12 games this season he logged 10 TFLs, 4.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.
Round 1 – Pick 16 — Garrett Wilson
This likely won’t be a popular pick because the Eagles have used first-rounders on wide receivers the last two years, but they’ll only have four wideouts under contract after the season, and that includes J.J. Arcega-Whiteside. Wilson is one of the the most dynamic players in college football and he’ll give Jalen Hurts another downfield option alongside rookie DeVonta Smith.
Round 1 – Pick 19
McCreary was the most consistent cornerback in college football this fall, and that’s all you want from that position, so while he lacks the high-end athleticism of some of the other names often mentioned as first-round talents, he’s rarely out of position and almost always making positive plays for his team.

Politico
Morehouse graduates brace, anxiously, for Biden visit
On the eve of the president’s commencement address, students expressed anxiety about whether their big moment would be overshadowed.
Associated Press
Alice Stewart, CNN political commentator and veteran political adviser, dies at 58
Alice Stewart, a CNN political commentator and veteran political adviser who worked on a number of GOP presidential campaigns, has died at age 58, the news network reported Saturday. Police in northern Virginia told CNN that Stewart's body was found outdoors in the Bellevue neighborhood early Saturday morning and that no foul play was suspected. In an email to staff, the network's CEO Mark Thompson called Stewart “a very dear friend and colleague to all of us at CNN.”
Associated Press
Tunisians stage anti-migrant protest as the number of stranded in transit to Europe grows
Hundreds of Tunisians marched through the streets of Jebeniana on Saturday to protest the presence of sub-Saharan migrants who have found themselves stranded as the country ramps up border patrol efforts. Anti-migrant anger is mounting in impoverished towns like Jebeniana along the Tunisian coastline that have emerged as a launchpad for thousands of people hoping to reach Europe by boat. Chanting slogans to oppose settling migrants in Tunisia, protesters demanded the government act to assist agricultural communities dealing with thousands of migrants living in tarpaulin encampments among their olive groves.
AFP
'Unhinged,' 'crooked': Trump and Biden trade campaign trail barbs
Donald Trump launched another expletive-laced attack on Joe Biden as he addressed an influential gun group Saturday, while the incumbent president warned in the crucial swing state of Georgia that his "unhinged" challenger is a threat to US democracy.Trump, who is fending off multiple criminal indictments for his unprecedented attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 election and was twice impeached as president, told the crowd Biden is "crooked" and a "threat to democracy."
AFP
Tourists wounded in deadly Afghanistan shooting are stable: hospital
Tourists wounded in an attack in Afghanistan which left three Spaniards and three Afghans dead were in a stable condition, a hospital said Saturday, as a survivor described the horror of the shooting in an open market."The Afghan national was the most critically injured, but all patients are now stable," he added.
CBS News
Dali set to be refloated Monday, nearly 8 weeks after Key Bridge collapse. Here's how
Dali, the cargo ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore before its collapse, is set to be refloated Monday after nine weeks of salvage efforts requiring the use of giant floating cranes and explosives.
Associated Press
Georgia Republicans choose Amy Kremer, organizer of pro-Trump Jan. 6 rally, for seat on the RNC
Georgia Republicans on Saturday elected to the Republican National Committee a conservative activist who helped organize the Jan. 6, 2021, pro-Trump rally that led to a mob storming the U.S. Capitol. Delegates at the convention in Columbus rendered a split decision, choosing Amy Kremer for one of the two RNC seats, but retaining incumbent Committeeman Jason Thompson. Kremer and other challengers argued that Thompson and Ginger Howard, the other incumbent, hadn't done enough to support Donald Trump.
Reuters
Iran to send experts to ally Venezuela to help with medical accelerators
Iran on Saturday said it will send experts to its ally Venezuela to help with medical accelerators in hospitals it said had been stopped due to Western sanctions. Venezuela requested Iran's help, according to a message on the social media platform X by the Iranian government attributed to the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. "Venezuela has a number of accelerators in its hospitals that have been stopped due to the embargo," the message said.
CNN
3 dead after Amtrak train collides with pickup truck in western New York
Three people died after an Amtrak train struck a pickup truck in Western New York north of Buffalo, fire officials told CNN on Saturday.
NBC News
Sex offender arrested after faking death to avoid registering, Arizona sheriff says
A convicted sex offender tried to fake his own death to avoid registering, an Arizona sheriff said this week.
Associated Press
Residents forced out of Canada's oil sands hub by wildfire cleared to return, officials say
Residents who were ordered out of Canada's oil sands hub of Fort McMurray, Alberta, due to a nearby wildfire are clear to return home, authorities said Saturday. The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo lifted the evacuation order for the Abasand, Beacon Hill, Prairie Creek and Grayling Terrace neighborhoods on the city’s southern edge.
CNN
How one high school is helping students deal with the botched FAFSA rollout
At Robert M. La Follette High School in Madison, Wisconsin, some college-bound seniors are still scrambling to submit their federal financial aid forms – but it’s not for lack of trying.
Associated Press
Giuliani becomes final defendant served indictment among 18 accused in Arizona fake electors case
Arizona's attorney general says former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been served an indictment in the state's fake elector case alongside 17 other defendants for his role in an attempt to overturn former President Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes posted the news regarding the Trump-aligned lawyer on her X account late Friday.
Associated Press
As ethnic armed group claims to have captured a town in western Myanmar, Muslim Rohingyas flee again
A powerful ethnic armed group fighting Myanmar’s military government in the country’s western state of Rakhine claimed Saturday to have seized a town near the border with Bangladesh, marking the latest in a series of victories for foes of the country’s military government. Members of the state’s Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority, targets of deadly army-directed violence in 2017, appear to have been the main victims of fighting in the town of Buthidaung, where the Arakan Army claims to have chased out forces of the military government. Khaing Thukha, a spokesperson for the Arakan Army, told The Associated Press by text message from an undisclosed location that his group had seized Buthidaung after capturing all the military’s outposts there.
NBC News
L.A. County investigating reported hepatitis A case at Beverly Hills Whole Foods
Los Angeles County public health officials are investigating a reported case of hepatitis A in an employee at a Whole Foods supermarket in Beverly Hills.
Associated Press
An ultimatum raises pressure on Netanyahu to make postwar plans for Gaza, even as fighting rages
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under mounting pressure from his own War Cabinet and his country's closest ally over postwar plans for Gaza, even as the war with Hamas shows no sign of ending. On Saturday, Benny Gantz, a member of the War Cabinet and Netanyahu's main political rival, said he would leave the government on June 8 if it did not formulate a new war plan including an international, Arab and Palestinian administration to handle civilian affairs in Gaza. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the third member of the Cabinet, has also called for a plan for Palestinian administration, and said in a speech this week that he wouldn't agree to Israel governing Gaza itself.
Reuters
Despite polls, Biden aides insist Gaza campus protests will not hurt reelection bid
Several top White House aides say they are confident protests across U.S. college campuses against Israel's offensive in Gaza will not translate into significantly fewer votes for Joe Biden in November's election, despite polls showing many Democrats are deeply unhappy about the U.S. president's policy on the war. The White House optimism on the issue, which is shared by many in the Biden campaign, runs contrary to dire warnings from some Democratic strategists and youth organizers who warn misjudging the situation could cost Biden dearly in a tight race with Republican rival Donald Trump.
Associated Press
Militia clashes rock western Libyan town. At least 1 civilian was killed, officials say
Clashes between government-allied militias rocked a coastal town in western Libya, trapping families inside their homes and forcing the closure of schools Saturday, officials said. The Health Ministry’s Ambulance and Emergency Services reported that at least one civilian was killed and at least 22 others were wounded in the clashes which were centered in the southern part of the town. A number of families have been evacuated during a short pause in the fighting, it said.
CNN
Signs of Alzheimer’s were everywhere. Then his brain improved
A 55-year old man reduced signs of Alzheimer’s in his blood through lifestyle changes and a personalized regime of supplements and medications.
Reuters
South Africa's new MK party seeks majority win in pivotal election, Zuma says
South Africa's new uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party is aiming to win a parliamentary majority in a May 29 election so that it can implement reforms without resistance from opponents, former President Jacob Zuma said on Saturday. Zuma, who was forced to quit as president in 2018, has fallen out with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and has been campaigning for MK, which was formed in December. "We want to get an outright victory because if we don't get the two-thirds (majority), opposition may oppose us," 82-year old Zuma told thousands of supporters during a launch of the party's election manifesto.

Latest Stories