By Rich Tandler
There are mock drafts and then there is Mel Kiper’s mock draft.
Even though there is no evidence that his draft predictions end up being any more accurate than those of anyone else, the ESPN analyst has managed to fashion himself into the gold standard of draft analysts. So, when his mock draft comes out, people pay attention.
The first mock is up and it is behind a pay wall on ESPN.com. But Dan Graziano on the site’s NFC East blog was good enough to reveal the picks in the Redskins’ division.
According to Kiper, with quarterbacks Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III and receiver Justin Blackmon off the board, the Redskins will select cornerback Morris Claiborne of LSU with their first-round pick, the sixth overall. With all due respect to Mel, that probably isn’t going to happen for reasons outlined in this article from last week.
Kiper knows that the Redskins are pretty set at corner and need help offensively. The issue is that he doesn’t project trades into his mock draft. If the Redskins can’t or don’t want to trade up from the sixth slot to get Luck or Griffin, they could well trade down and find offensive talent later in the first round.
A lot will change between now and the April 26 draft and Mel’s projection for the sixth pick is almost certain to change. And we’ll be here to talk about it along the way.
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