The 2022 NFL Draft takes place on Thursday, April 28 through Saturday, April 30 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Click here to find the full first-round draft order.
Ahead of the draft, Chris Simms will be breaking down the top prospects by position on the Chris Simms Unbuttoned podcast. Simms has already revealed his highly anticipated list of the top 5 quarterbacks, wide receivers, cornerbacks, running backs, and more. Last week he debated the draft’s edge rushers, and you can see his 2022 NFL Draft Edge Rusher Rankings here.
This week, Simms broke down his six, not five, top offensive lineman in this year’s class, which included guards, tackles and even a center.
RELATED: When is the 2022 NFL Draft: Dates, schedule, TV channel, start time, Round 1 draft order
Be sure to subscribe to Chris Simms Unbuttoned for more on the 2022 NFL Draft as well as an unfiltered look at the NFL, featuring player access, unabashed opinion, X&O film breakdown, and stories from a life in and around football.
RELATED: Chris Simms’ 2022 NFL Draft QB Rankings: Why Matt Corral stands out from the pack
Chris Simms’ 2022 NFL Draft Offensive Linemen Rankings:
| OL |
| T Evan Neal (Alabama) |
| T Ikem “Ickey” Ekwonu (NC State) |
| C Tyler Linderbaum (Iowa) |
| T Charles Cross (Miss St) |
| G Zion Johnson (Boston College) |
| G Kenyon Green (Texas A&M) |
No. 1 Evan Neal, Alabama
“This is a different guy. The film itself is not as clean as Ickey (Ekwonu), there’s a few things here in there, only in the run game … but this is the best pass-protecting left tackle I have ever seen since I’ve been doing this. Nobody gets close with Evan Neal.”
No. 2 Ikem “Ickey” Ekwonu, NC State
“Overall, Ickey Ekwonu’s film was better than Evan Neal’s. All the movement stuff is really, really special. It’s elite explosiveness, elite change of direction ability. The guy’s got it all. There’s nothing in his game that he can’t physically do, and most things he does at an elite level.”
No. 3 Tyler Linderbaum, Iowa
“I’d have no problem taking an undersized center in the first round … the film is impeccable. I mean, it’s really impeccable. He never loses a play. Even when people were bigger than him, he’s such a good athlete and understands the game and is so instinctive, that he knows how to get his body in positions to stop a player from making that tackle.”
No. 4 Charles Cross, Mississippi State
“He looks like an NFL left tackle. He’s got arms long as hell, so all the things you like for a tackle are perfect. Is he perfect? No, he’s not. Is he as good as the other two top tackles in this draft? No, he’s not. Does he have the potential to be as good as they are? Yeah, he probably does.”
No. 5 Zion Johnson, Boston College
“This guy, you don’t really see him do anything wrong. The film is awesome … as far as pure power, getting off the ball, dominating blockers, letting no one even move him, always being in the right position body-wise – he’s very instinctive.”
No. 6 Kenyon Green, Texas A&M
“He’s not heavy-legged, this is a really good athlete. But he’s got power. He can drive people, root people out of the ground that way … as far as all the athletic stuff is concerned, this guy’s phenomenal. I was amazed by the player, let alone this guy has legit potential to play tackle in the NFL.”
Click here to watch the full video!
