Mel Kiper Jr believes LSU defender improved his draft stock vs two rivals

As the 2022 NFL Draft inches closer and closer, teams are beginning to look past just the first-round guys. Players who are taken on the second and third nights can win championships as well and according to ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper, there could be an LSU Tigers player sitting there in the third round that would be worth a shot.

Kiper was recently on the ESPN YouTube channel, streaming with Todd McShay discussing the upcoming NFL Draft. He said a name that popped out to him was LSU defensive tackle Neil Farrell Jr. after his tape against Alabama and Ole Miss.

“I watched him during the year and he was popping,” Kiper said. “When you study him, Neil Farrell Jr. — Todd, watch this kid. He’s got a spin move, he gets after it along the interior. I go back to the Ole Miss game and the Alabama game and I was really impressed with what I saw of Neil Farrell Jr. Defensive tackles, once you get past that top four or five, might be wise to pop him in there because I think this kid in that late Day Two area might be an intriguing guy.

“Maybe that’s a little rich right now but I think late Day Two, which will be the third round, maybe the fourth round, is where a Neil Farrell Jr. may come off the board. Really like what I saw of him against obviously Alabama, a heck of a football team, and Ole Miss as well. He didn’t just pop, this kid was solid, consistent and I’ll tell you — I love the way he gets after the quarterback. He’s really disruptive along that interior.”

From a stats perspective, Farrell had his best two days of the season against the Crimson Tide and Rebels. He recorded seven tackles and a sack in both while having three tackles for a loss in Oxford and 2.5 in Tuscaloosa. Farrell performed well against two of the top offensive lines in the SEC last season.

Coming out of high school, Farrell was ranked a four-star prospect on the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting services. He was a top 20 state from the state of Alabama, being a native of Mobile.

Farrell played in over 50 games for the LSU Tigers during his time in Baton Rouge over a five-year period. His best season may have come during the 2019 championship run, where the defensive tackle recorded 46 tackles, seven tackles for a loss, and three sacks.