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junker-town · 6 years ago

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Mel Kiper completely revamped the top 5 in his new mock draft

Kyler Murray ascends to the No. 1 spot. Then it’s time for some defense.

ESPN draft android Mel Kiper has been on his horse since the end of the college football season, during a full year of game tape, Senior Bowl practices, and combine results into a comprehensive listing of 2019’s top NFL prospects.

On Tuesday he dropped his third mock draft of 2019 with a 32-pick rundown of his best guesses for the upcoming festivities in Nashville — and there aren’t too many surprises, at least among the top 20 selections. That doesn’t mean Kiper’s staying the course from his February picks. A handful of new names, including a Big Ten receiving standout who’s been burning up the pre-draft process, enter the fray as Day 1 winds down.

After making an all defensive line top five last month, March’s mock puts a quarterback atop the 2019 NFL Draft and pushes an inside linebacker — LSU’s Devin White — into a completely revised top five. So what did we learn from Kiper’s latest set of best guesses?

This year’s crop of quarterbacks is going pretty much where you’d expect

Kiper had ducked below the Kyler Murray-to-Arizona smoke in his February draft, but Kliff Kingsbury’s infatuation with reigning Heisman winner pushed him to the top of Kiper’s draft board in March. The veteran prognosticator now sees the Cardinals punting on 2018 No. 10 overall pick Josh Rosen in favor of Murray. That’d give Kingsbury a truly fresh start in his first season as an NFL coach and the best chance to run the innovative offense he hopes to bring to the big leagues without a hitch.

Next comes Ohio State standout Dwayne Haskins, who solves the Giants’ Eli Manning conundrum at No. 6 — though Kiper isn’t entirely sold on the concept. The momentum of a Haskins-to-New York pick has cooled recently; the pairing was as high as 80 percent among mock drafts a couple weeks ago. It’s now dropped under 50 percent. That trend is something the ESPN scribe has noticed as well.

But, again, there’s no guarantee Haskins (6-foot-3, 231 pounds) will be available at No. 6, and GM Dave Gettleman might have to move up to get him. The team now has the No. 17 overall pick from the Odell Beckham Jr. trade, which could be used in another deal. It’s no certainty that the Giants take a quarterback with this pick, however; they are clearly rebuilding, have several needs (offensive tackle and edge rusher stand out) and could instead use the 17th pick for a QB.

Only one more quarterback hears his name on Day 1 in Kiper’s latest simulation. Missouri’s Drew Lock goes to the Dolphins at No. 13, meaning the Broncos and Jaguars will pass up the temptation to add a young passer thanks to the presence of former Super Bowl MVPs on their roster (Joe Flacco and Nick Foles, respectively). Washington, selecting at No. 15, is also out of the first round running.

That means Duke quarterback Daniel Jones, who has been a first-round pick in Kiper’s last two mock drafts, will have to wait until Friday (or later) to hear his name called in Nashville. This lines up with Dan Kadar’s two-round mock here at SB Nation — he’s got Lock sliding to Washington, but Jones waiting until Jacksonville at No. 38 before hearing his name called.

There are a few new names cropping up late in the draft cycle

Ohio State wideout Terry McLaurin didn’t produce until Haskins supercharged the Buckeye passing attack last fall. That pushed him into draft consideration, but it’s been a bang-up pre-draft process that’s vaulted him into the first round of Kiper’s mock. He turned heads at the Senior Bowl before performing admirably at the combine and at OSU’s pro day.

As a result, the longtime draftnik sees the Colts pairing him with T.Y. Hilton with the 26th pick of the day. Could this be the team that’s reportedly made him a first round promise?

A team told @TheTerry_25 today at the @OhioStFootball pro day to make sure his phone is on during Day One of the @NFL draft- so there is that. The man does check every box. Every one.

— Buddy Baker (@ESG_Baker) March 20, 2019

That move would make for a heartwarming homecoming for McLaurin, who attended Cathedral High School in Indianapolis. It would also disqualify him from being a Day 2 steal.

He’s not the only riser to make his Mel Kiper mock draft debut Tuesday. Temple cornerback Rock Ya-Sin rode one season at Temple and a solid combine all the way to Oakland with the 27th pick. Texas A&M center (and occasional guard) Erik McCoy stood out as the combine’s fastest offensive lineman and worked his way up to the No. 22 pick for the Ravens — a mild surprise for a player who didn’t make Dan Kadar’s two-round mock draft at all this week.

McCoy landed one spot behind another inside blocker, Boston College’s Chris Lindstrom. The former Eagle’s solid pre-draft performances have made him the latest solution to the Seahawks’ offensive line programs at No. 21. NC State center Garrett Bradbury caps off a run of newly added (on Kiper’s list) interior linemen by replacing released veteran John Sullivan with the Rams at No. 31.

The Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski replacement is ...

Alabama tight end Irv Smith Jr., assuming he lasts until the 32nd overall pick (Kadar has him snatched up by Green Back two picks prior). He’s the third first-round pick at his position, following Iowa’s powerful pass-catching duo of T.J. Hockenson (10th overall pick by the Denver Broncos) and Noah Fant (who nearly fell to New England before getting snapped up by the Packers at No. 30). Gronkowski’s retirement made tight end a priority for Bill Belichick in Kiper’s eyes — even more so than finding Tom Brady’s heir. In his first two mocks, the ESPN prognosticator had the Pats selecting Duke passer Jones with the final selection of Day 1.

With that, Kiper sees as many tight ends landing in the first round as wide receivers and running backs combined. While he sees McLaurin landing in Indiana, he’s also got Ole Miss combine superstar D.K. Metcalf going 12th overall to the Packers and Alabama tailback Josh Jacobs finding a temporary home in Oakland at No. 24. Oklahoma burner Marquise Brown had previously been a top 15 choice in Kiper’s last mock draft, but the offseason foot surgery that kept him out of the combine was evidently enough to scare the world’s foremost draft sherpa away.

Of course, with six of the draft’s first 101 selections, Belichick and the Patriots could always find a way to jump the line and boost their depleted receiving corps with a handful of trades come draft day.

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junker-town · 7 years ago

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THIS WEEK IN SCHADENFREUDE, the massively popular Ohio State missed the Playoff because ESPN likes TV ratings too much

Your weekly jaunt through the most traumatized in college football internet rolls through Columbus.

Ohio State didn’t make the College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes finished with their cheeks pressed directly against the Playoff’s glass, ranked No. 5 when the selection committee said what was what on Sunday. That the Buckeyes didn’t make the field was reasonable. They shouldn’t have given up 55 points to Iowa in their second loss of the season.

But the whole point of the Playoff is that we can argue about it. Alabama-Ohio State for the fourth seed really was the hardest decision the committee’s ever had to make. Bama was far from an ideal choice.

So let’s check in with the Ohio State internet and see how it coped with the news.

Mood. http://pic.twitter.com/MqPWxqaUl5

— Brutus Buckeye (@Brutus_Buckeye) December 3, 2017

The best conspiracy theories

Here’s a take from right before the rankings reveal:

There will be no conspiracy from a ratings standpoint on Alabama vs Ohio State. Both have the ability to draw similar audience.

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) December 3, 2017

Let’s see how that one aged.

Were ESPN and the SEC in cahoots to deny the Big Ten a bid?

Three years after Ohio State jumped Baylor and TCU to make the Playoff and one year after Ohio State made it in despite not winning the Big Ten, some folks at Ohio State’s 247Sports message board wonder whether ESPN, a company that wants lots of games between big-name teams, exerted influence against the Buckeyes’ enormously popular brand.

Cannot fucking believe they did it. ESPN has ruined playoffs

First they ruin the god damned BCS bowl game with their fucking influence peddling. And now they spend two straight days shilling for their SEC love child TV deal and fuck over half the country.

The fuck did Alabama do to get in? And don't fucking say Iowa. OSU beat a bunch of teams after that debacle. Alabama basically gets in because they are Alabama. So the thing I'm hearing is regular season games don't mean shit so long as you pass the "eye test"? Is the fucking eye test now a selection criteria?

NCAA is crooked as shit. No fucking integrity rigged bullshit. Know what? I was this fucking close to quit following sports all together. I stopped watching the NFL years before it became cool to do so. Gave up baseball in the mid 90's. Stopped watching basketball about 5 years ago. I barely watch colllege football anymore outside of Ohio State.

Fuck it. I'm done. My tolerances for fairness have been exceeded.

Half the country was fucked over by Ohio State’s exclusion. I’m from Pittsburgh and feel personally victimized that my neighboring state’s team didn’t get in.

This next theory suggests that there might’ve been some sort of intentional Steve Harvey situation here, wherein ESPN wrested the results away from the committee and staged a palace coup to keep the Buckeyes on the outside looking in.

This Just In

Just like in the Miss Universe show.... ESPenis, flub the results reporting... OSU in at number 4!

What a f’en joke!

Ohio State is a gigantic eyeball draw and guarantees solid national TV ratings every time it plays, fwiw.

Y'all don't see the irony?

— Just For Sports (@Mainly_Clemson) December 3, 2017

Wait, was the Big 12 also involved?

The Texas Tech AD heading up the committee is horrible for us

You want to talk about a built in bias the B12 hates us there is no way we were going to get the benefit of the doubt

So the Big 12 prefers the league that took two of its teams in realignment to the league that took one?

Someone wants to know what committee member and Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith was doing while the Buckeyes were being shut out.

Did f'n Gene Smith even open his mouth or was it stuffed with pizza the whole time? Barry Alvarez was more of a friend to OSU when he was on the committee.

Gonna assume Smith recused himself, as is the rule.

Was Ohio State kept out because of how it lost in the Playoff last year?

the real reason we didn't make it in

31-0 Clemson last year. #BarrettEffect

Should we just expand the Playoff, now that Ohio State hasn’t made it?

Of course we should.

Ten conference champions should be in the playoffs. It's quite concerning that so many people are okay with a selection committee, that think that they are holier than thou, to pick four teams.

Everyone is mad about Mercer

The FCS team from Macon, Georgia was on Alabama’s schedule and is comparable in quality to Illinois, the team Ohio State was playing that weekend, or UNLV, a Buckeye opponent that lost to FCS Howard.

I GUESS I SHOULD SCHEDULE MERCER NEXT YEAR

— Arrogant Urban Meyer (@ArrogantUrban) December 3, 2017

ESPN can't acknowledged how weak Alabama schedule is, including playing Mercer in week 12? Playing FCS teams is already bad, but to play them in week 12 should be penalized. It's a cowardly move.

— RecruitNUT (@Zona_Buckeye) December 3, 2017

Gene Smith better be on the phone right now to cancel our future games against TCU, Notre Dame, Texas, and Oregon. Gotta get Mercer on the schedule every year. Hell lets fucking schedule BG, Mount Union, Akron, and Kent.

— The Black Sheep OSU (@BlackSheep_OSU) December 3, 2017

BREAKING NEWS: Nick Saban scheduled a game tomorrow morning vs. Mercer to improve his resume.

— Buckeye Nation (@Buckeye_Nation) December 3, 2017

This is probably true ...

Swap out Oklahoma with... Mercer? Yeah. That should do it. 1-loss. We are in!

— Ohio State Football (@OhioStFootball) December 3, 2017

... though Ohio State did also lose to Iowa by 31 points.

Let’s check in on Skip Bayless

I'm no Ohio State fan. BUT THE BUCKEYES JUST GOT ALL-TIME ROBBED OF THE FOURTH SPOT IN THE PLAYOFFS. OHIO STATE IS BETTER THAN ALABAMA, WHICH GOT DOMINATED BY AUBURN AND WHOSE DEFENSE GAVE UP 150+ RUSHING THE LAST THREE GAMES.

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) December 3, 2017

The most vociferous calls to boycott the Playoff altogether

No grievance is complete without a call to action.

B1G should boycott bowl games

ESecPn controls the playoffs. Total BS

Makes you think.

Screw the Playoffs

Im done. Two SEC schools--Not Watching

Tough but fair.

BOYCOTT THE PLAYOFFS

Two SEC teams out of four? That is a travesty. The Big 10 and PAC 10 were screwed. Boycott the playoffs.

Harsh, but OK.

THIS IS ***ING BULL***

I will not watch a second of the CFP. Bama has a garbage schedule and did not DESERVE THIS AT ALL.

I bet you won’t.

Now let’s look on the bright side

Don't let today's disappointing playoff news distract you from the fact that Jim Harbaugh went 5-4 in his third year of Big Ten play.

— Eleven Warriors (@11W) December 3, 2017

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