Mel Kiper Jr makes the case for Ohio State QB CJ Stroud at No. 1 overall

With the NFL Draft Combine taking place this week, focus in the football world has shifted to this year’s class of future pros. More specifically, most conversations surround the year’s crop of quarterbacks, which are a fairly divisive bunch among scouts and analysts.

Of course, there’s Bryce Young and CJ Stroud — high profile recruits and extraordinary talents that took snaps for two of the best teams in football. On the other hand, there’s Will Levis and Anthony Richardson, cannon-armed and physically imposing, but didn’t shine on great teams like the other two, thus sparking an array of arguments.

Young has been seen as the top dog by most for a while now. However, ESPN NFL Draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. on Tuesday laid out the case for Ohio State’s CJ Stroud to go No. 1 overall — or, to at least be the first quarterback picked.

“Molly, he’s in the mix!” Kiper howled on First Take when asked by host Molly Qerim if Stroud could go first. He then added the following explanation, noting that Stroud’s performance against Georgia in the College Football Playoff really has some teams excited.

“You talk to teams, talked to one that said CJ Stroud is QB1. That Georgia game had a lot to do with it. In that Georgia game, we saw CJ Stroud use his legs, and we did not see that much during his career. At times, you get pressured and fold up like a tent, but in that game he didn’t. It was a pressure-packed game, they were 6.5-point underdogs, they really should have won that game. Marvin Harrison Jr. doesn’t get hurt, they win that game, okay, and they move on.”

Clearly that game was impressive and has Kiper’s attention. But he wants to see how Stroud tests at the combine this week before penciling him in as likely top pick.

“But CJ Stroud, I think, proved that. I want to see how he tests out athletically, 40-yard dash time will be important. If you get those numbers and you say — boy, we can build on it, we can see on a regular basis what happened in that Georgia game, with his accuracy to all levels throwing the football — you could justify taking him as the first quarterback.”

This is by no means a declaration from Mel Kiper. After his praise of CJ Stroud, Kiper also noted that two other quarterbacks have a strong claim to the throne in this draft class.

“Certainly you could justify Bryce Young if you can reconcile the size — more so the weight, I want to stress that, the weight — of Bryce Young. And Will Levis, if he played in 2022 like he did in 2021 he’d have been the No. 1 pick guaranteed, and that wasn’t his fault.”

Several options at the top, all with plenty of reasons to believe but also a number of concerns for each that could scare franchises. Should be a fascinating race as we head towards spring.