2022 N.F.L. Draft: 2022 N.F.L. Draft Highlights: Blockbuster A.J. Brown Deal Headlines Night of Trades (Published 2022) (2024)

The top of this year’s N.F.L. draft did not have the allure of a franchise-changing quarterback. Instead, Round 1 on Thursday night in Las Vegas belonged to players known for stopping those passers and to clubs trying to maneuver around the draft board.

Edge rushers went No. 1 and No. 2 overall, with Georgia’s Travon Walker going first to the Jacksonville Jaguars, followed by Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson to the Detroit Lions.

Walker, a centerpiece of the Georgia defense that delivered the university a national championship in January, was one of five Bulldogs defensive players selected in the first round, setting a record for a single school’s defensive unit. He was also the first non-quarterback to go No. 1 overall since 2017, when the Cleveland Browns selected edge rusher Myles Garrett.

The night was also defined by trades, including a big move by the Philadelphia Eagles to acquire wide receiver A.J. Brown, a 2020 Pro Bowler, from the Tennessee Titans.

The first night of the three-day draft gets the most attention, but for nearly 40 years, fans who stuck around until the final day saw Mr. Irrelevant, a tongue-in-cheek award given to the last player chosen in the draft.

Paul Salata, who played a few years of pro football decades before, created Mr. Irrelevant in 1976 to celebrate an unsung hero who might otherwise be overlooked. For decades, Salata would attend the draft and read out the name of the last player taken. Even when players began attending the draft in person, Mr. Irrelevant was never around to hear his name called since the pick is typically an unexpected player. But the last pick would be feted two months later, when Salata and his friends in Newport Beach, Calif., hosted him at a parade and banquet.

The Vikings took Lewis Cine, a safety from Georgia, with the 32nd pick, closing out the first round of the 2022 N.F.L. draft.

Cine, who ran a 4.37-second 40-yard dash and led the broad jump among safeties at the combine, brings versatility through his ability to play multiple roles for Minnesota’s defense. He was the fifth defender from the Georgia’s national championship team to be drafted in the first round, a record.

The Cincinnati Bengals selected defensive back Daxton Hill from Michigan with pick No. 31.

Hill, who can play cornerback or safety, is expected to add depth to a shaky defensive backfield that gave up 248 yards passing per game, 26th in the league.

Kansas City selected George Karlaftis, the edge rusher from Purdue, with the 30th overall pick, solidifying a defense that started last season as one of the worst units in the league.

Karlaftis moved to the United States from Greece when he was 13. He missed the majority of the 2020 season with a lower-leg injury and a bout with the coronavirus. But he excelled in 2021, posting 11.5 tackles for loss, five sacks, and three forced fumbles in 12 starts. He’ll help Kansas City, which needed a consistent pass rusher alongside the star defensive tackle Chris Jones. Melvin Ingram filled that role last season, but he is now a free agent.

The New England Patriots picked guard Cole Strange, from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, with the No. 29 pick, moving back in a trade with Kansas City.

Strange is a versatile interior offensive lineman with experience at both center and guard. The Patriots had a long list of other needs, notably at receiver and cornerback, but unsurprisingly picked a player from a Football Championship Subdivision program who was projected to go much later in the draft. Coach Bill Belichick has a long history of such moves in the N.F.L. draft. Strange becomes the highest draft pick out of Chattanooga, surpassing the Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens, who went 89th in 1996.

The Packers chose defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt of Georgia as the 28th overall pick in another move to strengthen a faulty run defense. With Wyatt, the Packers get an aggressive 6-foot-3, 315-pound lineman who had his best season in 2021 for the national championship-winning team. He finished with 39 tackles, 27 quarterback pressures and a team-high six tackles.

Wyatt will join his Georgia teammate, linebacker Quay Walker, in Green Bay. Barring a trade, this was the Packers’ last selection in the first round, and many observers thought the team would be eying a new receiver to replace Davante Adams and Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

For all the jokes about Aaron Rodgers not getting a receiver, the Packers defense should be good this season if these draft picks produce in the league like they did in college. Jaire Alexander should be healthy again, too.

The Jacksonville Jaguars took Devin Lloyd, a linebacker from Utah, with the 27th pick. Lloyd could help bolster the Jacksonville defense, which was tied for the fifth fewest sacks last season.

Earlier Thursday, the Jaguars selected Georgia edge rusher Travon Walker with the No. 1 overall pick. Lloyd, at 6-foot-3 and 237 pounds, had 15.5 sacks and three defensive touchdowns for the Utes. He was the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year last year and ranked second in the Football Bowl Subdivision in tackles for loss. He has a reputation as a very physical and aggressive player.

When you watch Devin Lloyd tape, you can see how fast and aggressive he plays. He’s definitely worth the trade up by Jacksonville, especially after they released Myles Jack.

The Jets made a trade to add a third first-round pick and used it to select the Florida State defensive end Jermaine Johnson II at No. 26. They exchanged a second-round pick, a third-round pick and a fifth-round pick with the Tennessee Titans. The Jets also received a third-round pick.

Johnson starred at Independence Community College, the junior college program featured on the Netflix series “Last Chance U,” before transferring to Georgia. But he played mostly in a reserve role there and transferred again to Florida State, where he posted 70 tackles, 18 of them for loss, and had 12 sacks. Johnson also earned all-American and Atlantic Coast Conference defensive player of the year honors.

The Baltimore Ravens selected Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum with the No. 25 pick, adding to a busy night in which the team traded receiver Marquise Brown to the Arizona Cardinals to nab their second first-round pick.

The Ravens sent Brown and the No. 100 pick to Arizona in exchange for the Cardinals’ No. 23 selection. The Ravens then traded the 23rd pick to the Buffalo Bills, receiving the No. 25 and 130 picks in return.