Mel Kiper Jr. explains one defender on big board in top 10

There were four defenders selected in the first nine picks of the 2023 NFL draft. Needless to say, ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. isn’t expecting that to be the case in 2024.

Kiper released his updated big board recently, which ranks the top players in the upcoming NFL draft. He has one defender in the top 10 currently in UCLA linebacker Laiatu Latu at No. 9.

Kiper recently appeared on the First Draft podcast and explained why he only has one defender currently in the top 10.

“I don’t think the defensive players lived up to the hype from August, you know, the projections we had,” Mel Kiper Jr said. “Some of the guys were OK, good. But they weren’t spectacular to earn a top 10 grade.”

Laiatu Latu is far and away the defensive player that Kiper is the highest on right now. He posted incredible stats this season, recording 49 tackles, 21.5 tackles for loss and 13 sacks. Latu also intercepted a pair of passes and forced two fumbles.

Laiatu Latu retired from football at one point when he was playing at Washington due to a neck injury, before transferring to UCLA and continuing his career. After leading the Bruins with 12.5 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks in 2022, he had an even better year this year.

“Latu, when you think about the injury at Washington, goes to UCLA and kind of says, ‘OK, I’m healthy, I’m fine, the injury’s a thing of the past.’ Just like Jaelan Phillips. Jaelan Phillips did that same thing, going from UCLA to Miami. So he left UCLA to Miami and made himself a first-round pick and made that injury a thing of the past,” Kiper explained. “Latu went from Washington to UCLA and with the Bruins made it a thing of the past.”

Phillips ended up being drafted in the first round, No. 18 overall, of the 2021 NFL draft after he previously retired from football due to an injury. He recorded 15.5 sacks over his first two seasons in the NFL.

Kiper expects Latu to follow in his Phillips’ footsteps and be a first-round pick and an excellent EDGE rusher at the next level.

“I’m telling you, no pass rusher I watched this year in college football got it [like Latu]. He understands how to utilize and change up his pass rush moves, adjust on the fly, close, bend, quickness,” Kiper said. “Everything about being a pass rusher, he has. And that’s why he was consistent week in and week out. … If the medical comes out OK, to me, pass rusher wise, he was the best pass rusher in the country week in and week out.”