Mel Kiper Jr. typically publishes his final mock draft on the morning of the first round, but he’s confident enough in the process to release it two weeks early. Now we get to pour over the result and look at some of the stunning moves.
We won’t go over the mock pick-by-pick. You can find that over on ESPN — but here’s what jumped out at us from Kiper’s decisions.
The Patriots get a steal at No. 3
Kiper has New England landing Drake Maye with the No. 3 pick, which is more or less in line with how things are shaping up. If this comes to pass it will be a massive coup. Maye is QB1 on my personal board, as well as others, and to not just get him — but get him after two quarterbacks is a huge boon.
This is one of those moves that both reeks of “It could happen” and “I can’t believe everyone let this happen” when we reexamine the 2024 Draft in five years.
The Vikings do the unthinkable (and the predictable)
As soon as Minnesota made the trade to secure a second first round pick it was destined they’d move up for a QB, and now Kiper makes that a reality with J.J. McCarthy.
This makes a ton of sense. The Vikings won a lot of games with Kirk Cousins under center, so why not move up to draft another Kirk Cousins? That’s McCarthy’s ceiling, and the floor — well, it could be another Mac Jones in the making.
The WR board is out the window
The biggest head-scratcher in Kiper’s first round is Xavier Worthy going to the Chargers with the No. 23 pick (obtained in the McCarthy trade up). I get the mystique about getting the fastest man in the combine, but to see Worthy going over guys like Brian Thomas Jr. and Adonai Mitchell is stunning.
Could Worthy work out as a pure burner speedster? Sure — or it could blow up like so many of these guys have before. It’s just wild to see him go from a 5th or 6th round pick prior to the combine to now being in the first round.
The Giants move up for a QB
We’re talking the No. 33 pick here and with a night to think it over Kiper has New York moving up with Carolina so they can take Bo Nix with the first pick of Day 2.
The way the board shapes up this could make a lot of sense, though it’s a little wild to see the Giants give up substantial assets for Nix. I don’t think he’s a great QB, and I think giving up draft capital to get him is pretty wild.
Wait… what are the Rams doing?
It’s ANOTHER quarterback. This time Michael Penix goes to the Los Angeles Rams in yet another trade up for a QB in the second round. I’ll be honest, I kind of like this move.
I know there are big question marks around Penix, but nabbing him in the middle of the second for a small trade is pretty good for a team that doesn’t have a lot of holes. The Rams are facing down a rebuild, and Penix actually suits the McVay offense pretty well.
It might sound weird on paper, but I could see this working.
