Todd McShay 2022 NFL Mock Draft: Sauce Gardner to Giants, Cowboys Trade Up

The New York Giants land coveted cornerback Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner with the No. 7 pick in the final 2022 mock draft from ESPN's Todd McShay released Thursday.

McShay also predicted the Dallas Cowboys will trade with the Houston Texans to acquire the No. 13 selection to take Northern Iowa offensive tackle Trevor Penning.

Here are the projections for the top five picks by the ESPN draft guru:

1. Jacksonville Jaguars: Travon Walker, DE, Georgia
2. Detroit Lions: Aidan Hutchinson, DE, Michigan
3. Houston Texans: Derek Stingley Jr., CB, LSU
4. New York Jets: Ikem Ekwonu, OT, NC State
5. New York Giants: Charles Cross, OT, Mississippi State

Gardner is a strong bet to land somewhere in the top 10, but pinning down exactly where he'll end up has been difficult because there's a lot of moving parts atop the draft.

The 2021 AAC Defensive Player of the Year posted 40 total tackles, four passes defended and three interceptions in his final season at Cincinnati. He recorded 16 passes defended and nine picks in 33 appearances across three years with the Bearcats.

His ability to thrive in one-on-one coverage will provide a major boost to whichever defense he joins.

The Giants are certainly one of the teams in the market for another playmaker in the secondary after ranking 15th in passing yards allowed (225.8 per game) and tied for 14th in takeaways (22) last year.

Meanwhile, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones previously confirmed the team would look to move up if the right opportunity arose.

"Yeah, I would trade up since we're down as low as we are in those first two or three rounds. If we had a chance to and someone that we had coveted was sitting at the bottom, then we could trade up and get him," Jones told reporters in mid-April.

Penning likely wouldn't make it all the way to Dallas at No. 24, so jumping up 11 spots to fill its void at right tackle could make sense.

One other notable pick from McShay's mock is the Pittsburgh Steelers taking Liberty quarterback Malik Willis at No. 20. The recent trends suggest the Steelers could be the first team to grab a signal-caller, and that's the case in this instance, as well.

Taking Willis over Pitt's Kenny Pickett, who's generally seen as more NFL-ready, would be a bet on long-term potential as the team seeks a replacement for Ben Roethlisberger, who retired during the offseason.