Todd McShay reveals the reasoning behind Evan Neal rise on 2022 draft board

Mock Draft season is in full force, and two prominent draft analysts already disagree about the No. 1 overall pick. Many predictions have Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson going atop the board, but ESPN analyst Todd McShay went another direction. After previously going with Hutchinson, McShay now predicts Alabama offensive lineman Evan Neal to go No. 1 to the Jacksonville Jaguars this year.

That’s the opposite of what fellow ESPN analyst Mel Kiper predicted in his “Mock Draft 1.0,” and McShay explained his decision on the network on Monday.

“I went with Evan Neal going to Jacksonville with the No. 1 spot and look, you look at last year, Jacksonville only had 30 sacks, Aidan Hutchinson is certainly in play,” McShay started. “But I kind of looked at it with Doug Pederson coming in, he won a Super Bowl with an elite offensive line in Philadelphia. Evan Neal, 360 pounds, with his movement skills, his length, his dominance in the run game. He gave up just one sack this last year. He’s improved so much in that regard.

“He can play left tackle, played right tackle in 2020, played guard in 2019. There’s positional versatility if they need it and certainly, they need help on the offensive side. They need to protect their investment of Trevor Lawrence.

“I think it’s going to be fascinating at the top,” Kiper responded. “They can’t trade out of the No. 1 spot. They’re in the AFC, so even if Lawrence develops into this great quarterback we think he’ll be, you still have to be able to get after Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, whoever it may be. If Jacksonville goes Neal or Ekwonu, Detroit can take Hutchinson at No. 2.”

Mel Kiper believes Evan Neal has competition to be first lineman taken

During ESPN’s SportsCenter Special with NFL draft analysts Mel Kiper and Todd McShay last month, the two went back and forth discussing the former’s first 2022 mock draft based on his scouting and the things he is hearing around the league. As they worked through the picks, Alabama offensive lineman Evan Neal to the Houston Texans at No. 3 stood out.

“You think about Evan Neal, you think about the versatility he brings to that offensive line with Houston,” Kiper said. “Laremy Tunsil, could he be traded?

“You think about where Houston will be with left tackle, with Neal. Could be at right tackle. Start him there. Start him at guard. He is a mountain of a man. Certainly, a guy very experienced and tremendously versatile. So he gives that offensive line – depending on the pieces that are still there – the ability to make an impact right away because he’s played and started at three different positions along the offensive line for the Crimson Tide at Alabama.”

Todd McShay then offered his thoughts on Evan Neal, ranking him as the top offensive lineman in the draft class over the likes of Ikem Ekwonu, Charles Cross and Tyler Linderbaum.

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.