Four ACC players selected in first round of 2022 NFL Draft

Four ACC football players were selected in the first round of the 2022 National Football League Draft Thursday night in Las Vegas.

NC State’s Ikem “Ickey” Ekwonu, a versatile 6-4, 320-pound offensive lineman from Charlotte, North Carolina, was the first ACC player selected at No. 6 by the Carolina Panthers. The 2021 ACC Blocking Trophy award winner, Ekwonu was a unanimous first-team All-American and a first-team All-ACC performer last year. Ekwonu is NC State’s third first-round pick in the last five NFL Drafts. He is the first ACC offensive lineman taken in the top six picks since Virginia’s D’Brickashaw Ferguson was taken fourth overall in 2006.

Boston College All-America offensive lineman Zion Johnson was taken 17th overall by the Los Angeles Chargers. Johnson was a first-team All-ACC guard in 2021 and was awarded a Weaver-James-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarship from the ACC earlier this year. He also earned first-team All-America honors from the Associated Press and Walter Camp Football Foundation.

Pitt’s record-setting quarterback Kenny Pickett, the 2021 ACC Player of the Year, was selected 20th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pickett goes to a franchise that plays its home games in the same stadium – Heinz Field – as his college team. Pickett was a Heisman Trophy Finalist and led the Panthers to the 2021 ACC Championship and an 11-3 overall record. He finished his career second in ACC history in passing yards (12,303), third in total offense (13,112) and sixth in passing touchdowns (81). He finished as the winningest starting quarterback in Pitt history with 32 victories.

ACC Defensive Player of the Year Jermaine Johnson II (DE) of Florida State was taken 26th overall by the New York Jets. Johnson’s selection gives the Seminoles at least one pick in 39 consecutive NFL Drafts, a streak that dates back to 1984 and is the eighth-longest streak in the country entering this year’s draft. In 2021, Johnson was a Walter Camp first-team All-American, a finalist for the Ted Hendricks Award finalist and a first-team All-ACC pick. Johnson started all 12 games for the Seminoles in 2021, recording 70 tackles, 18.0 for loss with 12.0 sacks, two forced fumbles, 12 quarterback hurries, two pass breakups and one fumble recovery. He ranked sixth nationally in sacks and eighth in tackles for loss.