By Chris Marler
January 15th was the last day for underclassmen to declare for the upcoming NFL Draft this April. Kiper has updated his big board weekly for the last month or so. This is the first big board he’s updated that includes all the underclassmen who officially declared for the draft, so needless to say there was plenty of movement. In fact, there are ten players whose ranking changed from his last installment.
All in all, there were 11 SEC players included in the top 25. However, what was most interesting was that there were only two listed in the top ten and they were at No. 9 and No. 10, respectively. The SEC has had at least three or more top ten picks and at least one top five pick in each of the last six drafts.
Here’s a look at the Top 25 Players Kiper has on his big board
- Travis Hunter, DB/WR, Colorado
- Abdul Carter, EDGE, Penn State
- Mason Graham, DT, Michigan
- Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado
- Cam Ward, QB, Miami
- Will Johnson, DB, Michigan
- Ashton Jeanty, RB Boise State
- Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona
- Jalon Walker, LB, Georgia
- Kelvin Banks Jr, OT, Texas
- Will Campbell, OT, LSU
- Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State
- Josh Simmons, OT, Ohio State
- Malaki Starks, S, Georgia
- Mykel Williams, OLB, Georgia
- Colston Loveland, TE, Michigan
- Shavon Revel Jr., CB, East Carolina
- Walter Nolen, DT, Ole Miss
- Derrick Harmon, DT, Oregon
- Jihaad Campbell, LB, Alabama
- Luther Burden III, WR, Missouri
- Nic Scourton, DE, Texas A&M
- Shemar Stewart, DE, Texas A&M
- James Pearce Jr., OLB, Tennessee
- Kenneth Grant, DT, Michigan
Remember, this isn’t a mock draft with projected landing spots for these players. This is just the top players in the draft regardless of position and team needs, according to longtime NFL Draft scout and analyst Mel Kiper. The Draft will be held on April 24-26 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
