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NFL Draft 2022 recruiting rewind: How every first round draft pick was rated as a high school football prospect

Six of the first-round picks were rated as 3-star prospects coming out of high school - and two were completely unrated
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The first round of the 2022 NFL Draft wrapped up Thursday night with 32 of the best college football players in the country officially joining the NFL.

But not all of the 32 players were highly recruited out of high school. One example: Sauce Gardner, the No. 4 overall pick in the draft, was a 3-star prospect and ranked around the 150th best cornerback in the country by the major recruiting sites.

SBLive's Andrew Nemec took a closer look at how every first-round pick was rated in high school. Here's the breakdown, with star ratings coming from 247Sports:

  • 5-star prospects - 10
  • 4-star prospects - 11
  • 3-star prospects - 6
  • 2-star prospects - 3
  • Unrated prospects - 2

Here is Nemec's pick-by-pick breakdown on all 32 first-round selections and how they were rated as high school prospects:

1. Jacksonville Jaguars: Travon Walker, DE, Upson-Lee High School (Georgia)

2. Detroit Lions: Aidan Hutchinson, DE, Divine Child High School (Michigan)

3. Houston Texans: Derek Stingley Jr., CB, Dunham High School (Louisiana)

4. New York Jets: Sauce Gardner, CB, Martin Luther King High School (Michigan)

5. New York Giants: Kayvon Thibodeaux, DE, Oaks Christian (California)

6. Carolina Panthers: Ickey Ekwonu, OT, Providence Day High School (North Carolina)

7. New York Giants: Evan Neal, OT, IMG Academy (Florida)

8. Atlanta Falcons: Drake London, WR, Moorpark (California)

9. Seattle Seahawks: Charles Cross, OT, Laurel High School (Mississippi)

10. New York Jets: Garrett Wilson, WR, Lake Travis High School (Texas)

11. New Orleans Saints (via Washington): Chris Olave, WR, Mission Hills High School (California)

12. Detroit Lions (via Minnesota): Jameson Williams, WR, Cardinal Ritter College Prep (Missouri)

13. Philadelphia Eagles (via Houston): Jordan Davis, DT, Mallard Creek High School (North Carolina)

14. Baltimore Ravens: Kyle Hamilton, S, Marist (Georgia)

15. Houston Texans (via Philadelphia): Kenyon Green, G, Atascocita High School (Texas)

16. Washington Commanders (from New Orleans): Jahan Dotson, WR, Nazareth Area High School (Pennsylvania)

17. Los Angeles Chargers: Zion Johnson, OG, Riverdale Baptist (Maryland)

18. Tennessee Titans (via Philadelphia): Treylon Burks, WR, Warren High School (Arkansas)

19. New Orleans Saints: Trevor Penning, OT, Newman Catholic High School (Iowa)

20. Pittsburgh Steelers: Kenny Pickett, QB, Ocean Township High School (New Jersey)

21. Kansas City Chiefs (via New England): Trent McDuffie, CB, St. John Bosco (California)

22. Green Bay: Quay Walker, LB, Crisp County High School (Georgia)

23. Buffalo Bills (via Baltimore): Kaiir Elam, CB, Benjamin High School (Florida)

24. Dallas Cowboys: Tyler Smith, OT, North Crowley High School (Texas)

25. Baltimore Ravens (via Buffalo): Tyler Linderbaum, Solon High School (Iowa)

26. New York Jets (via Tennessee): Jermaine Johnson II, DE, Eden Prairie High School (Minnesota)

27. Jacksonville (via Tampa Bay): Devin Lloyd, LB, Otay Ranch High School (California)

28. Green Bay Packers: Devonte Wyatt, DT, Towers High School (Georgia)

29. New England Patriots (via Kansas City): Cole Strange, G, Farragut High School (Tennessee)

30. Kansas City Chiefs: George Karlaftis, DE, West Lafayette High School (Indiana)

31. Cincinnati Bengals: Daxton Hill, S, Booker T. Washington High School (Oklahoma)

32. Minnesota Vikings (via Detroit): Lewis Cine, S, Trinity Christian (Texas)

(Photo by Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)