Mel Kiper modifies 2011 draft rankings

by Dan Kadar on May 5, 2010 7:02 PM EDT in 2011 NFL Draft

Shout it from your roof top: Mel Kiper of ESPN is changing around his 2011 NFL Draft rankings. I know, weaksauce, but we have to have something to post about around here.

But anyway, this is ESPN Insider content, so I won't go into all of his rankings, just some that stick out. You can find the ranking here. Kiper ranks the top five for each position.

The first thing that caught my eye is that he moved Mark Ingram up to the No. 1 running back slot and moved previous No. 1, Daniel Thomas or Kansas State, to No. 3.

Also of note, Kiper has Pittsburgh wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin rated above Alabama's Julio Jones. That may have as much to do with production as anything else. Last year, Baldwin had 1,111 yards and eight touchdowns to Jones' 596 yards and four touchdowns.

But be certain that no position in the next draft will be as highly pored over as wide receiver. There is six guys – Baldwin, Jones, A.J. Green, Michael Floyd, Terrance Tolliver and Austin Pettis – that are all big, fast and could get a first-round grade.

This is Kiper's first stab at putting juniors into the rankings. One player he lists is Georgia's Brandon Boykin, his No. 5 cornerback. Last season Boykin had six pass breakups and three interceptions. What I know about him is that he has quick feet. He's also sensational on special teams. He reminds me of Javier Arenas, but slightly taller.

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Moving Daniel Thomas down the RB rankings makes a lot of sense. As a big, upright runner with good but not great speed, he’s got 2nd/3rd round written all over him.

Nice player, but I don’t see him going higher than Toby Gerhart did this year.

Daniel Thomas vs. Kansas — YouTube

by Alo on May 5, 2010 7:15 PM EDT reply actions

I agree. He does a lot of things well but just doesn’t have that great 2nd gear or breakaway speed which limits him as a playmaker on offense.

the guy I honestly compare him with the most is James Starks. Starks was a projected 2nd rounder before he got injured. Like thomas, he could do a lot of things but wasn’t extremely big or fast. Thomas is a bit bigger and slower than starks, but they are similar in that they are productive backs that produce yardage but aren’t gamebreakers.

I think 2nd round is perfect for thomas.

Personally, in my mind it goes Ingram, Murray, then maybe Royster.

I teach good life choices. That’s why I almost didn’t graduate High School.

by bross09 on May 5, 2010 8:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Wow

Brantley #3 QB?

by Yankees10 on May 5, 2010 7:35 PM EDT reply actions

John Brantley??

I teach good life choices. That’s why I almost didn’t graduate High School.

by bross09 on May 5, 2010 8:07 PM EDT up reply actions

Wow indeed

Im pretty sure Brantley wasn’t the starting QB for his team last year, so what is the ranking based off of? Is Kiper out at Florida’s Spring Game and assuming a monster season for Brantley or is that based on High school projections? 15 of 19 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns in a Spring game must mean fantastic NFL Prospect. Also it doesn’t mention that the players have to be Juniors or Seniors, only that they need to be “among seniors and players expected to consider entering the ’11 draft.” Does this include Brantley even? Is he going to declare if he has a monster season, I doubt it. Why no mention of Andrew Luck? Redshirt Sophomore season coming up and already has extensive playing time. I would think his prospect of jumping the NFL makes more sense. Enough, Kiper is a Bum. Also as a Miami fan, he has Orlando Franklin listed as the 4th best guard when in actuality he’ll be the starting Left Tackle this year for a Miami team thats going to win a National Championship!!! Haha ok maybe we wont but Kiper’s a bum and thats the end of my rant.

by Jory1111 on May 5, 2010 9:06 PM EDT up reply actions

ha…yeah.

I dunno if I would call luck having extensive experience. he did have a very good season, but I would still like to see at least one more year out of him (possibly another) in college before I label him as a sure thing prospect like many are.

I teach good life choices. That’s why I almost didn’t graduate High School.

by bross09 on May 6, 2010 3:58 PM EDT up reply actions

I despise ESPN insider. The information that people want to know the most we have to pay for. Like these guys don’t already have enough money.

You have to hate losing more than you love winning.

by Mr MaLoR on May 5, 2010 11:22 PM EDT reply actions

+7 trillion

The Driver of the Sweed Bus - All aboard, next stop 70 Catches 900 Yards 7TD's
^ Ooooops did I jinx it?

DaMon Cromartie Smith to make the 53 Man Roster!

by Josh Roberts (ESGB) on May 6, 2010 3:36 AM EDT up reply actions

Haha

This is kind of stupid isn’t it? He’ll change his board every couple weeks for the next 3-4 months without a single game being played or any workouts being held.

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by Adam Stites on May 6, 2010 2:02 AM EDT reply actions

Yeah...

Actually, he’ll do that throughout the process so he can say “Well, I did have Player X ranked Y or going to Team Z at one point in the process” regardless of where he ends up…

MileHighReport.com member since 02/06/07, promoted to "Position Coach" (i.e. new staff writer) on 02/16/10!

by ejruiz on May 6, 2010 9:53 AM EDT up reply actions

A more charitable explanation

Kiper’s gotten a chance to go back to the ’09 tape and focus on a different set of players: previously, his focus primarily was on the 2010 guys.

For example, you might notice that Marcell Dareus is pretty frickin’ good when you’re studying Mount Cody and Rolando McClain, but you get an even better sense of his upside when you have an opportunity to focus on him almost exclusively.

So it makes sense that Kiper would tweak his rankings as he does more pre-season prep work.

by Alo on May 6, 2010 4:31 PM EDT reply actions

This. I don’t think its fair to throw the guy under the bus in May. I’m not a fan of the March/April tweaking. But I’m fine with it throughout the lead up.

Mocking the Draft: Talking NFL Draft all year.

by Dan Kadar on May 6, 2010 5:16 PM EDT up reply actions