The NFL Draft is coming up in a few weeks, and a lot of draft experts have been weighing in with their picks and projections.
Some analysts are more right than others. And on In The Loop on Sports Radio 610 in Houston, co-host Landry Locker said ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. has generally had a pretty solid track record of projecting picks. But he hasn’t been all right all the time.
“Mel Kiper’s had some interesting takes over the course of his career especially when it comes to quarterbacks,” Locker said. “Now I think Mel Kiper is a legend, I think Mel Kiper is hall of fame caliber. I think Mel Kiper is entertaining. Mel Kiper he falls into the area that I was talking about in which he has to pick a quarterback.”
“Mel Kiper’s putting together these lists and stuff so a lot of times he’s trying to turn chicken ish into chicken salad,” Locker added. “And we have fun with what he says. But he’s one of the best to ever do it. He’s one of the voices of my childhood, one of the faces of my childhood.”
Kiper in 2014 thought Johnny Manziel would go number one overall to the Houston Texans. That year Houston drafted Jadeveon Clowney out of South Carolina with the first selection. Manziel wasn’t even the first quarterback drafted that year. The Jacksonville Jaguars selected Blake Bortles third overall. Manziel didn’t come off the board until 22nd overall to the Cleveland Browns.
Co-host John Lopez said he was surprised that there weren’t as many instances of Kiper being incorrect. That speaks to his credibility.
“You’d think there’d be a lot more,” he said. “For as much as he’s done it, he’s pretty right more often than not.”
