Mel Kiper Jr. Predicts Shocking No. 1 Pick For NFL Draft
Mel Kiper Jr. had a shocker at the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, a player that just a few months ago thought wouldn’t even be picked in the first round.
In his recent mock draft posted on ESPN, Kiper slotted Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel going first overall to the Houston Texans. Going back to September, Kiper had the Heisman winner slipping past the first round entirely.
At the time, Mel Kiper Jr. compared Manziel to Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who has a similar stature and skill set.
“If he was 6-3 and had a rocket arm, great, maybe he could overcome, but he’s not,” Kiper said in September. “He may get a bump because of Wilson’s success and the way the NFL changed. He may get a bump to the second round. He’s not getting in the first round, in my opinion.”
The pick is quite a surprise given that Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has been the consensus No. 1 pick for some time now. Other mock drafters have Manziel high, some even in the top five, but questions about his size and the unique spread offense he ran at Texas A&M are keeping him low on other boards.
“When you talk to people in the league, I get a consensus on Manziel that I don’t get on (Blake) Bortles or Bridgewater,” Kiper said on Wednesday. “To me, he can be a very good to great player in the NFL. Today’s NFL suits his skill set effectively.”
Mock NFL Draft board are likely to change considerably in the next few months. Any mock drafts during the NFL season are basically a guess, or a ranking of the top college players irregardless of team needs. In the past years, mock drafters have latched on to trends and tend to fall in love with quarterbacks.
Last year, for example, quarterbacks Geno Smith and Ryan Nassib were both notched as first-round picks, but when time came for the actual draft E.J. Manuel was the only quarterback taken in the first round.
Mel Kiper Jr. has Teddy Bridgewater falling all the way to No. 8, the third quarterback taken after Manziel and Blake Bortles.
