Joel Klatt explains dropping Kelee Ringo in top 50 players ranking

The 2023 NFL Draft is officially one week away and that means some of the top college football players over the last couple years are about to find their new NFL homes, including star Georgia cornerback Kelee Ringo.

But one FOX analyst has Ringo dropping on his big board ahead of the draft. Joel Klatt explained his move of Ringo down 18 spots on his board to No. 45.

“Kelee Ringo. From the original top 50 he’s actually down 18 spots,” Klatt said. “That is a bit of a false flag, if you will, because you would think something has gone wrong with Kelee Ringo. And it’s less about that and more about the slotting for the cornerbacks for me have just kind of changed.”

That much generally checks out.

Only so many teams have major pressing needs at any individual spot, and depending on the number of prospects available within a certain range of the draft, there can be runs on a position or cooling periods where that position isn’t being selected for a while.

Klatt explained why Ringo has dropped for him and who has risen to take his place.

“When the slotting changes, all the sudden he’s got to be a little bit lower on the board,” Klatt said. “So it’s nothing that Kelee Ringo did wrong or that my evaluation has drastically turned on him as much as it is there’s been some corners, namely DJ Turner from Michigan, Emmanuel Forbes from Mississippi State, that to me have just kind of risen. My evaluation of them has changed, in particular after their testing. So that’s why Kelee Ringo is down 18 spots.”

Ringo, though, certainly offers some intriguing potential for NFL teams.

For one, he checks in at a listed 6 foot 2, 210 pounds, so he’s got length to burn. He’s also a plus athlete, burning a 4.36 second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine while turning in a 10-foot, 2-inch broad jump.

All of that on top of his outstanding production at Georgia.

In the last two years Ringo racked up 76 tackles, 3.0 tackles for a loss, 1.0 sacks, four interceptions, a forced fumble and 19 passes defended.

That’s plenty enough for any NFL team to fall in love with Kelee Ringo and draft him ahead of where Klatt now has him slotted on the big board at No. 45. But the 2023 NFL Draft will come next Thursday, and everyone will get a chance to see what the NFL thinks of the Georgia star.

“It’s nothing against him, it’s just slotting,” Klatt said. “That’s what happens when you’re trying to create these big boards. There’s a lot of good players, they’ve got to end up somewhere and Ringo ends up at 45.”