Mel Kiper Is Trending For His Questionable QB Draft Projections

Mel Kiper is trending this week for his questionable quarterback rankings for the upcoming NFL Draft. The draft expert released his top prospects at the position, with four of the first five hailing from the SEC.

In the 2023 class, it appears that Kiper values upside more highly than on-field production, leading many to question the projections on social media.

This year’s quarterback group is headlined by former Heisman winner Bryce Young, national title hopeful CJ Stroud, and SEC Player of the Year Hendon Hooker. But none of those three players leads the way in Mel Kiper’s most recent list.

Instead, it’s Kentucky’s Will Levis who’s projected to be the first passer taken off the board. In fact, the draft analyst believes he could be the first player selected, regardless of position. Here’s what he had to say about Levis in an interview back in October.

“If I had to bet… who’s going to be the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft right now, I’d bet on Will Levis from Kentucky.”

Now, many are doubtful that Levis deserves No. 1 status. The signal caller played in 24 games for the Wildcats over this last two seasons, completing just under 66% of his passes for a total of 5,232 yards and a 43-to-23 touchdown to interception ratio. As a senior, he averaged just 176 yards per game in SEC play, throwing nearly as many picks as scores.

Kiper says the stats don’t matter due to his playing on a middling Kentucky team, making NFL comparisons to Josh Allen and Matthew Stafford. But at some point, the on-field performance has to matter.

Kiper wasn’t done yet. He double down on the upside vs. production mindset, putting Anthony Richardson at No. 4 despite his completing less than 54% of his attempts in 2022. While both fit the mold of a prototypical professional passer with big arms and 6-3, 225-pound frames, but many football fans are skeptical of Mel Kiper’s top picks.

Take a look at what they were saying online.

One fan wrote, “Mel Kiper has to be trolling us at this point,” while another added, “Mel Kiper cannot be serious.”

Personally, I’d take my chances with Bryce Young or CJ Stroud if I were selecting the future of my franchise, but to each their own. We’ll see if Mel Kiper’s top picks wind up succeeding in the NFL or if the questionable projections come back to bite him.

Related: Mel Kiper reveals QB with ‘Most Upside’ in ’22 NFL Draft