Mel Kiper Jr. is the king of draft season and he has just released his 1st 2018 NFL Mock draft of the year.
Everyone knows that it’s draft season when Mel Kiper Jr. releases his 1st 2018 NFL Mock Draft. ESPN posted his 1st mock draft this morning and it features a lot of interesting selections. The very first pick is probably the biggest surprise.
He has the Cleveland Browns going with Wyoming’s Josh Allen with the No. 1 overall pick ahead of the other quarterbacks in this class. This is a surprise because many have both UCLA’s Josh Rosen and USC’s Sam Darnold rated higher.
Allen is in the mix to be the 1st quarterback selected, but will need to have an impressive Senior Bowl performance. The thing with Allen is that he has elite physical talents but his play on the field was erratic.
It’s equally hard to look past his talent and lack of polish. Allen is truly a polarizing prospect in that he is a boom or bust type player.
The Browns are in a tricky situation because they cannot afford to miss on this pick. They need to find a long-term answer at the quarterback position, but can’t pick the wrong prospect. Cleveland is already catching heat for passing on the likes of Carson Wentz and Deshaun Watson.
Another major surprise was the inclusion of Pittsburgh’s Brian O’Neill in the 1st round. I recently finished my scouting report on him and saw him more as a mid to late round prospect.
Related Story: Brian O'Neill Scouting Report
One pick that seems to make a ton of sense is Baker Mayfield landing with the Washington Redskins. He appears likely to find a home somewhere in the 1st round and the Redskins will likely need to find a replacement for Kirk Cousins.
Kiper has UTSA’s Marcus Davenport going in the middle of the 1st round which is something we all will see more of as we go through the process. Davenport is a stud athlete who dominated lesser competition.
He will be attending the Senior Bowl which will give everyone a chance to evaluate him against a better caliber player. Its a chance for Davenport to jump up draft boards or remain as a small-school flyer.
There are 6 offensive linemen selected in Kiper’s mock draft. This includes two interior linemen in Notre Dame’s Quentin Nelson and Ohio State’s Billy Price. In the past couple years we have see plenty of interior offensive linemen come off the board earlier than expected.
Obviously, this is just the 1st of what will be many mock drafts by Kiper.