Kenneth Walker III hasn’t exactly done things by the book in his football career.
The 25-year-old swerved his senior year at college to attend the 2022 NFL Draft, where he was selected as the 41st player by the Seattle Seahawks.
Injuries followed a fine rookie season in which he rushed for 1,000 yards, but Walker III was back fit and firing in 2025 – helping the Seahawks to a memorable Super Bowl LX victory.
He became just the eighth running back in history to win MVP honors, and the first since Super Bowl XXXII in 1998.
Forty players were selected ahead of Walker III in the 2022 Draft, but where are they now? Here’s a look at three of the top picks of that esteemed class.
Travon Walker
Given the latest NFL betting market, Walker III and the Seahawks can dream of back-to-back Super Bowl victories. They’re the current +750 favorites with the sportsbooks.
In the tranche of Super Bowl odds that can be labelled ‘dark horses’ sit the Jacksonville Jaguars, who have been priced at +2000 to reach Super Sunday for the first time in their history.
After running through the AFC South with a 13-4 record, the Jaguars came unstuck against the Bills in the playoffs in a heartbreaking last minute defeat – extinguishing hopes of a deep run into the postseason shake up.
Josh Allen led the Buffalo Bills to a 27-24 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the NFL playoffs, throwing for a touchdown and running for two more, including the game-winner, moving Buffalo one step closer to an elusive Super Bowl appearance. https://t.co/Bm6qIXdBY6
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 12, 2026
Notable was their defensive improvement, yielding an average of 20.2 points per game in 2025 – a significant gain on the 25.6 they conceded a season prior.
Devin Lloyd and Foyesade Oluokun were central to that effort, but so too was Travon Walker – the somewhat-forgotten first pick of the 2022 Draft.
His numbers may have been down in 2025, but Walker – alongside Josh Hines-Allen – was a disruptive influence on opposition offensive lines.
If the Jaguars can continue to improve defensively, with Trevor Lawrence maturing as a pass master, they may yet be a factor in the postseason come 2027.
Aidan Hutchinson
That 2022 draft class was unique in that the first two picks were defensive ends.
That said, given that he finished runner-up in the Heisman Trophy voting in 2021, it’s perhaps no surprise that Aidan Hutchinson followed Walker as the second selection.
And with two Pro Bowl selections to his name already at the age of 25, it would be fair to conclude that the Detroit Lions got their pick right.
The fact that Hutchinson has been able to bounce back from severe injury – breaking both his tibia and fibula in 2024 – by producing some of his best numbers in 2025 is testament to his talent and strength of character.
Sauce Gardner
By taking on the ‘Sauce’ moniker, the man born Ahmad Gardner was perhaps setting himself up for a fall.
It takes a big player and personality to pull off a sobriquet like that, but Sauce produced the goods right out of the bottle when drafted by the New York Jets.
BREAKING: Jets are trading CB Sauce Gardner to the Colts. (via @RapSheet) pic.twitter.com/MRT06JrHze
— NFL (@NFL) November 4, 2025
Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2002 and a first team All Pro selection, Gardner also got the Pro Bowl nod in 2023, too. Alas, the 2024 campaign didn’t go so well, and by the end of the 2025 season he’d been traded to the Colts. But that provides the opportunity for a fresh start with better things to come, perhaps.
Gardner – like Kenneth Walker III, Travon Walker, and Aidan Hutchinson – is proof that the Draft Class of 2022 was jampacked with future stars.