Packer Central

Packers Lose Watson in 2022 NFL Redraft

The 34th overall selection of the 2022 NFL Draft, Christian Watson went in the Top 10 and landed with a familiar quarterback in a 2022 redraft.

Bill Huber

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers receiver Christian Watson flourished during the second half of his rookie season, kick-started by catching three touchdown passes from Aaron Rodgers against Dallas.

Watson was the 34th overall selection of the 2022 NFL Draft. There’s no way he’d go No. 34 if the draft were conducted today. Indeed, in a redraft by Sports Illustrated’s Gilberto Manzano, Watson went No. 10 to the Rodgers-led New York Jets.

“Watson might be the most versatile wide receiver in a deep class at the position,” Manzano wrote.

Watson was one of eight receivers taken in the first round of the redraft and the fifth in the first 11 picks.

In the 2022 first round, the Packers selected linebacker Quay Walker 22nd and defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt 28th. It played out differently in the redraft.

At No. 22, the Packers wound up with offensive tackle Charles Cross, who went ninth to the Seattle Seahawks in the real draft.

Cross had a poor rookie season, which is why he tumbled 13 spots. Of the 63 offensive tackles with at least 339 pass-protecting snaps (David Bakhtiari’s number), Cross finished 51st in Pro Football Focus’ pass-blocking efficiency, a metric that measures sacks (seven), hits (four) and hurries (37) per pass-protecting snap.

For reference, Bakhtiari was fourth and Yosh Nijman was 43rd.

Nonetheless, Cross remains a high-level prospect. At 6-foot-5 and 207 pounds at the 2022 Scouting Combine, his times in the 40-yard dash (4.95) and 20-yard shuttle (4.61) were well above average. He likely will have a much better second season.

At No. 28, the Packers grabbed Walker, who led the team in tackles, had better ball production than he did at Georgia and earned All-Rookie honors.

Wyatt tumbled out of the first round. You should never judge a draft by first-year performances. After playing only 14 snaps per game in his 16 appearances, Wyatt is expected to start this season.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

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