2022 NFL mock draft: Aaron Rodgers to Broncos, Derek Carr to Commanders

2022 NFL mock draft: Picks 5-6

5. New York Giants: Charles Cross, OT, Mississippi State

Unless the Giants make a blockbuster trade for a quarterback, it seems like year one of the Brian Daboll era is going to be spent with Daniel Jones on the final year of his rookie deal.

Luckily for Jones, Daboll got the job with the Giants because he worked some serious magic with Josh Allen.

If the Giants are going to get the best out of Jones, they need to upgrade the offensive line and they need to stay healthy. Charles Cross accomplishes at least one part of that.

Cross is an outstanding athlete who can pass protect with the best of them, but he’s not quite the sum of his parts yet as a prospect. The Giants may need to reshuffle the line a bit with Andrew Thomas possibly transitioning to right guard in this case, but either way, this is an upgrade to an offensive line that desperately needs it.

6. Carolina Panthers: Kenny Pickett, QB, Pittsburgh

The Carolina Panthers can’t afford to go into the 2022 season with Sam Darnold as their QB1.

They have to make a move, and in this 2022 NFL mock draft scenario, Kenny Pickett is the move.

Matt Rhule is familiar with Pickett dating back to the former Pitt quarterback’s high school days. Pickett may not have ideal NFL hand size (in fact, his hands may be historically small) but he showed arguably the most improvement of any draft-eligible quarterback this past season and has all of the other tools to be an effective starter early on.