2022 NFL draft update: 8 seniors generating buzz post-Week 7
Each week during the season, On3 teams up with Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy to identify senior 2022 NFL draft prospects generating buzz in the NFL scouting world.
Here are eight who fall into that category for Nagy and the Senior Bowl staff coming out of Week 7.
Iowa CBs Riley Moss and Matt Hankins
Nagy’s take: “This isn’t the timeliest note since Iowa is coming off an upset loss to Purdue, but the Hawkeyes’ climb to the No. 2 national ranking was due in large part to having a pair of draftable NFL corners. The ball-hawking senior duo of Moss and Hankins, who have accounted for a combined seven interceptions this season, have each elevated their draft stock at the midway point of the season. Moss missed last week’s game against the Boilermakers, but he got our attention earlier in the year when we saw him play live at Maryland. Moss (listed at 6 feet 1, 194 pounds) will be one of the top height-weight-speed prospects in this year’s corner class, and Hankins is an efficient and dialed-in cover man who rarely looks stressed and seemingly is always in good position.”
UTSA OT Spencer Burford and CB Tariq Woolen
Nagy’s take: “Another pair of teammates whose stock is rising is Burford and Woolen. Burford, who has the athleticism and length (35¼-inch arms) to play left tackle as a pro, is a player we liked as a solid Day 3 guy coming into the season, but we could see him in Day 2 conversations by April. Woolen is a former wide receiver with borderline rare measurables (6 feet 3⅝ verified and 33¼-inch arms) for the corner position. Woolen got our attention on junior tape with his willingness to strike as a tackler, and he’s taken his game to the next level this season with improved technique and understanding of how to play on the defensive side of the ball. Like his teammate, Woolen is another guy who could parlay a strong Senior Bowl week to Round 2-3 consideration.”
Central Michigan OTs Bernhard Raimann and Luke Goedeke
Nagy’s take: “Sticking with the teammates’ theme, the best set of bookend tackles in this year’s draft resides in an unlikely place — Mount Pleasant, Mich. Raimann, CMU’s left tackle, is starting to get plenty of national media love, and rightfully so because the former Austrian exchange student is a virtual lock to be taken on Day 2. But a player starting to generate plenty of buzz among NFL scouts is Goedeke, a former transfer from Division III Wisconsin-Stevens Point who gets better on a weekly basis. Like Raimann, who played tight end in his first two years for CMU, Goedeke also is a tight end convert. Central Michigan coaches say he’s never snapped the ball in a competitive setting before, but his future at the next level might very well be as a guard/center. If he gets a Senior Bowl invite, we could see Goedeke making a multiple-round jump like eventual third-rounders Robert Hainsey (Bucs) and Quinn Meinerz (Broncos); they also never played center before coming to Mobile, but excelled at it both during practice and in the game.”
Memphis WR Calvin Austin III
Nagy’s take: “We recently were at a game in the Southeast and a name that continually came up in talks with NFL scouts is Austin. There aren’t many skill guys in this year’s draft class who have made the overall impact that Austin has for the Tigers. Through seven games, the former walk-on has 50 catches for 857 yards (17.1 yards per catch) and eight touchdowns, and he’s also shown off his explosiveness on punt returns (33.8 average, one TD). Some NFL teams will knock Austin, who measured 5-8¼, for his lack of size, but sources at the school say he’s added almost 20 pounds since last spring and is currently playing at 170 pounds. If the Los Angeles Rams were willing to take a 155-pounder like Tutu Atwell in the second round in April, then Austin is a slam-dunk to get drafted, at minimum, somewhere in the middle rounds.”
Houston DL Logan Hall
Nagy’s take: “One of the most physically impressive prospects we’ve seen in-person this fall is Hall. Standing 6-6¼ and weighing around 270 pounds, Hall is an athletic-looking specimen. When he came out for pre-game a couple of weeks ago at Tulane, he left a group of scouts shaking their heads. He is similar to former teammate Peyton Turner in the sense that both are disruptive players and have position versatility to rush from multiple alignments. But Hall has more growth potential, so we see him growing into being more of a true three-technique as opposed to Turner, who will probably remain more of an edge player for the Saints. It remains to be seen if Hall can ascend to being a first-rounder like his Senior Bowl alum teammate did last year, but he definitely has eventual NFL starter talent.”
The 2022 NFL draft will be April 28-30 in Las Vegas.
Jim Nagy has been the executive director of the Reese’s Senior Bowl, the nation’s premier college all-star game, since 2018 after 18 years as an NFL scout. For interesting feedback and information on senior NFL draft prospects throughout the year, follow Jim on Twitter. For information on the Senior Bowl, follow both Jim and the Reese’s Senior Bowl main account.