Which five NFL teams made the leap into contender status following the 2022 NFL Draft? We take a look through some new threats to the Rams’ crown.
Now that the 2022 NFL Draft is in the books, which teams have potentially made the leap into legitimate “contender” status for the 2022 season?
Who has gone from relative NFL obscurity into potential Super Bowl contention status?
Some of these teams could be considered among the bold predictions variety, while others may have really been on the cusp beforehand.
Let’s take a look through the top five teams that have a chance to become contenders now that the 2022 NFL Draft is over and the primary roster improvements have been made.
Top 5 new legitimate contenders after the 2022 NFL Draft
5. Washington Commanders
Yes, I know that the team Carson Wentz most recently led saw a 98 percent chance at making the playoffs absolutely vanish.
I’ve heard all of the jokes and criticisms for Wentz, and I think a lot of it is valid.
However, I think he’s also easily the best quarterback the Washington franchise has had in a long time and he’s stepping into a really solid situation in 2022.
The Commanders have a decent supporting cast around Wentz offensively. Terry McLaurin is great, the Commanders have a stud running back in Antonio Gibson, and they used their first-round pick on Penn State wide receiver Jahan Dotson.
Logan Thomas at the tight end position gives Wentz a better all-around group of weapons than he had with the Colts last season, even if he was able to rely on Jonathan Taylor more than he will be able to rely on the backs with the Commanders.
Washington has an improved offensive line, and their defensive front seven is downright nasty, bordering on terrifying.
Chase Young will be back this season.
The secondary should be improved with Benjamin St-Juste expected to take on a bigger role in year two.
Post-2022 NFL Draft contender no. 4: New York Jets
You’re not going to see a meteoric rise every single year like the one we saw from the Cincinnati Bengals, but for the purposes of this exercise, I thought to myself…who could be this year’s version, if there is one?
I don’t know that there’s a better pick than the New York Jets.
The Jets have a high-upside quarterback in Zach Wilson whose rookie season was definitely a bit of a disappointment.
With that being said, the Jets have made some substantial upgrades in the 2022 offseason, especially during the 2022 NFL Draft, that could propel them into “contender” status at least as a Wild Card team.
That whole possibility really hinges on Wilson taking another step, but there are pieces in place for the Jets to be very interesting this season.
They added Laken Tomlinson to fortify the interior offensive line. They brought in some desperately needed help at the tight end position with three acquisitions — CJ Uzomah from the Bengals, Tyler Conklin from the Vikings, and Jeremy Ruckert from Ohio State.
The Jets failed to add Deebo Samuel or Tyreek Hill but they landed maybe the best receiver in the 2022 NFL Draft in Ohio State’s Garrett Wilson. They also landed the top running back in the Draft in Breece Hall.
Defensively, the Jets already had a tough defensive line to which they added free agent Solomon Thomas and one of the top steals of the 2022 NFL Draft Jermaine Johnson.
The Jets also added Sauce Gardner, Jordan Whitehead, DJ Reed, and Lamarcus Joyner to the secondary.
Calling this team a potential contender may be a bit rich, but they are certainly the best candidate among the teams that were picking in the top 10, in my opinion.
Post-2022 NFL Draft contender no. 3: New Orleans Saints
I’ve got to give the New Orleans Saints a lot of credit where it’s due.
I don’t know how general manager Mickey Loomis does it, but he does.
The Saints were $75 million in the salary cap hole this offseason. They somehow managed to maneuver enough salary cap around to make a bunch of really substantial additions in the 2022 offseason.
Not only that, but the Saints accepted a trade offer from the Philadelphia Eagles to acquire an additional first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, sacrificing their 2023 first-round pick in the process.
For a team that may not have the clearest future at the quarterback position, that trade seemed weird, but the Saints obviously feel pretty good about and confident in Jameis Winston.
After the 2022 NFL Draft, Winston has a brand-new receiver to throw the ball to in Ohio State’s Chris Olave, a smooth route runner and dependable playmaker at every level of the field.
Winston also has a new blind side protector with the nasty Trevor Penning coming in from Northern Iowa to replace Terron Armstead.
Shortly after the 2022 NFL Draft festivities concluded, the Saints then went out and made arguably their biggest blockbuster move of the 2022 offseason, signing free agent safety Tyrann Mathieu.
In addition to signing Mathieu, the Saints had already brought in Marcus Maye from the Jets as well as Alontae Taylor in the Draft to upgrade the secondary.
With the return of Michael Thomas as the cherry on top of it all, the Saints may have leaped into contender status in a hurry over Draft weekend.
Post-2022 NFL Draft contender no. 2: Philadelphia Eagles
Do the Philadelphia Eagles really count for this list since they were in the playoffs a season ago?
It’s my list, so they’re going on it.
During the 2021 NFL season, it became clear that the Philadelphia Eagles were a year ahead of schedule. It wasn’t exactly the same by any means, but the progression of Jalen Hurts as the starting quarterback seemingly accelerated the timeline for the Eagles overall and put this team in a position to at least get its feet wet in the postseason last year.
Following the 2022 NFL Draft, it’s clear that the Eagles intend on pushing their contender status even further up the chain.
The Eagles made one of the best moves of any team in the entire 2022 NFL Draft when they sent a first-round pick to the Tennessee Titans along with a compensatory third-round selection for wide receiver AJ Brown.
Brown, one of the best receivers in the game and certainly one of the best at creating yardage after the catch, now becomes one of the focal points of this Eagles offense along with DeVonta Smith.
Defensively, it’s impossible to say the Eagles didn’t get better in 2022.
They added big Jordan Davis, one of the craziest athletes of this year’s rookie class, to the defensive line.
They brought in pass rusher Haason Reddick as their top free agency prize and got a much-needed double-digit sack type of edge player.
The linebacker room got an upgrade with the additions of veteran Kyzir White in free agency as well as Georgia linebacker Nakobe Dean in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Dean, whose health is somewhat of a question mark, could wind up being the steal of the draft.
Philadelphia didn’t have enough assets to really add big pieces to the secondary, but after the 2022 NFL Draft, this team is certainly more of a contender this season than they were a season ago.
Post-2022 NFL Draft contender no. 1: Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos had their NFL Draft back in early March.
On March 8, Denver Broncos GM George Paton swung a trade for veteran quarterback Russell Wilson, and the entire outlook for the franchise in the Mile High City changed.
After the 2022 NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos look like the team this season that is poised to go from top-10 pick to obvious Super Bowl contender.
It’s not easy to contend for a Super Bowl overnight, but the Buccaneers and Rams have won the Super Bowl in consecutive years with a quarterback they acquired that offseason.
Russell Wilson could have the same type of impact for Denver.
The Broncos already had a solid roster before the Russell Wilson trade. Since the Wilson trade, they have made substantial additions to the defense including signing free agent pass rusher Randy Gregory as well as defensive lineman DJ Jones.
The Broncos also brought in Billy Turner and veteran Tom Compton to fortify the offensive line depth and starting lineup.
During the 2022 NFL Draft itself, the Broncos landed another dynamic pass rusher in Oklahoma’s Nik Bonitto and followed up that pick by adding tight end Greg Dulcich to an already loaded offense.
With Melvin Gordon back for another season to pair with Javonte Williams, the Broncos also have a two-headed monster at running back for new head coach Nathaniel Hackett to work with.
The Russell Wilson trade wasn’t made during the 2022 NFL Draft, but after the Draft, it’s clear that the Denver Broncos are now a viable contender in the absolutely loaded AFC.