I’m Calling My Shot: Matt Corral Is Going First In The 2022 NFL Draft
The 2022 NFL Draft looks like a wacky one on paper. Kayvon Thibodeaux and Derek Stingley Jr. look like Hall of Famers on the defensive side of the ball. However, we know defensive players really don’t ever get picked first overall. Especially now with the way football is favoring offense more and more over time. In a quarterback class that’s filled with fliers and question marks, I think we can at least one answer. I’m calling my shot: Matt Corral is going to be taken first overall in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Through the first three weeks of the college football season, I think we have learned enough to make a rash call on this. Sam Howell isn’t nearly talented enough to be considered here. I see poor man’s Baker Mayfield all day. Spencer Rattler still looks like a mess. He’s not nearly as close to Kyler Murray as I originally thought. Carson Strong is still an unknown at Nevada. JT Daniels looks improved but this is the same guy who left USC cause he couldn’t beat out Kedon Slovis (who has a very low ceiling). You really going to take that dart throw on Malik Willis who plays at Liberty and got kicked out of Auburn?
That leaves Matt Corral. Yes, once upon a time; Ole Miss rotated quarterbacks with John Rhys Plumlee who is probably a better collegiate baseball player. Yes, once upon a time; Corral threw 11 picks in a two game span a year ago. Yes, once upon a time; Corral committed to USC… then Florida… then Ole Miss. Probably because he was worried about playing time. Yes, Corral is just 6-foot tall. Despite all that… Corral looks like the best bet to go first next year.
Corral is on fire to start the 2021 season and Ole Miss appears to be one of the most electric offenses in all of college football. Jump on the bandwagon now because it’s coming. Nobody wants to play Ole Miss or at least the current iteration of them with Lane Kiffin.
Corral has a lot to do with the offensive firepower going on in Oxford Mississippi. Corral sports the third best QBR in the country (89.3) and has a TD to INT ratio of 9-0. Corral isn’t the biggest guy in the world but he’s got rocket fuel in his arm and can make all the throws. Off-platform, on-platform, on the run, doesn’t matter; Corral makes the throws. He’s also athletic enough to pick up chunk yardage with his legs.
I can’t imagine there is a bigger favorite right now to win the Heisman. Put out some prayer candles, go meditate, go watch paint dry. Do whatever you gotta do. Ole Miss is going to score a shit ton of points and Corral is the trigger man for this team.
The guy isn’t perfect. The dumb decisions are still going to be there at times. His feet are still sometimes a mess. Corral loves playing hero ball throwing it in windows the football has no business going. You know who else that sounds like? Patrick Mahomes. Out of all of the quarterbacks in this 2022 NFL Draft class, Corral is the ONLY one who you can sit there and say “you know what, I think there’s more here. A big lump of clay we can mold into something special”.
Corral was one of the most impressive quarterbacks in the 2017 Elite 11 class that also featured Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields. The California native has always felt like the biggest wild card of the class (and probably still is). It’s that upside, however, that will likely steer teams in his direction come draft day.
You can talk yourself into these other quarterbacks. However, at the end of the year, we’re all going to be sitting there looking at this dude’s numbers and arm talent thinking the same thing. There’s no way Matt Corral isn’t being taken with the first pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Calling it now. When it happens, you heard it here first.
