2022 NFL Draft: Mel Kiper explains why Nakobe Dean could drop to second round

Could Nakobe Dean see a slide on draft day? According to Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN, the Georgia linebacker could wait longer than anticipated to hear his number called later this April.

While it seemed unthinkable when Dean was starring for the Bulldogs, Kiper mentions that the positional value of the off-ball linebacker position is seeing a downtrend. In an ESPN First Draft special, Kiper explained why Dean could fall to the second round.

“Nakobe Dean and Devin Lloyd have been kind of battling for the top spot at inside linebacker. Nakobe Dean is a pure football player. Bottom line is all those great Georgia players look to him for leadership. Look for him to set the defense, look for him to be basically the extension of the defensive coordinator. There’s nobody smarter in this game, football IQ than Nakobe Dean. The production — off the charts,” started Kiper. “If you go Nakobe Dean, this is where you run into a problem here.

“Devin Lloyd is all over the field, making plays and getting through traffic — has to work on that. But the thing about the linebacker position that these two guys play, and you think about the needs of these teams — once you get past, say the Eagles, if you give one of them there. Maybe New England. Good luck trying to find a landing spot. Maybe one of these two drops into the early second round because of this.

“We talked about running backs being not phased out completely, because you still had a couple running backs in the first round last year, right? You might not have any this year, but linebacker, that off-ball linebacker, it’s hard to find a spot. And they are being a little bit phased out, or at least the value not nearly what it used to be. We used to have linebackers galore going in the first. If you put one of those two to the Eagles, and you don’t put a linebacker like that to the Patriots — I don’t know where you go from 20-32, unless you’re mocking trades. Then you got one dropping into the second round.”

While Kiper sees the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots as potential landing spots, he believes Dean could be in for a long night if one of those two teams pass up on the chance to draft him. Nevertheless, Mel Kiper believes one team will be elated to draft Nakobe Dean — it just may come later than the Georgia star originally anticipated.