Mel Kiper Jr. moves Drake London way up in his latest mock draft

NFL draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. sees plenty of jumps in players’ draft position in the upcoming draft and one of the biggest jumps comes from USC Trojans wide receiver Drake London. London is Kiper’s top wide receiver prospect in this year’s draft so it comes as no surprise that he is a projected top-10 pick. However, in his most recent mock, ESPN draft guru sees the USC product jumping all the way into the top five.

“As long as Mekhi Becton, left tackle, is good to go and they feel secure with Becton at left tackle, protecting Zach Wilson, you go for a guy to bring something they don’t have; that great length, that catch radius, the ability to win contested situations, the ability to be covered yet you’re open,” said Kiper. “He didn’t get a lot of separation, but this guy with that basketball background, (who) would really help Zach Wilson out tremendously. Redzone, getting those touchdowns. When you have Berrios and you have Elijah Moore, diminutive guys, a bigger receiver with the length that Drake London provides will be a real asset.”

For the Jets, it is a toss-up on who they could go after in this year’s draft. With New York needing help all over the field, they could go for a flashy pick in London or Notre Dame’s safety Hamilton. Or they could go with offensive line help to protect their first-round pick from last year, Zach Wilson.

Mel Kiper Jr. moves Kyle Hamilton up in his latest mock draft

Although former Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton saw his season cut short due to injury, his NFL Draft stock remained high. In fact ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. moved Hamilton high up the board this week in his Mock Draft 3.0.

Hamilton, who was Kiper’s No. 4 pick in his first two mock drafts this offseason, is now projected to go No. 2 overall to the Detroit Lions. The former Fighting Irish standout increased his draft stock tremendously at the NFL Combine and Kiper reflected that in his latest mock.

He also had some high praise for Hamilton during his Mock Draft 3.0 reveal special.

“At two, Kyle Hamilton is a unique, rare talent,” Kiper said. “You can’t compare him to anybody else. He is who he is. He had eight career interceptions. Only appeared in seven games this year because of the injury or [he’d have had] maybe double-digit INTs. I think for what they need, a foundation piece, a chess piece that you can move around.

“You still got to beat Aaron Rodgers in that division. He ain’t going away. He’s still a Packer. So I think Kyle Hamilton makes a lot of sense. He is one of the top two or three players, some think the best player, in this draft.”

In seven games in 2021, Hamilton had three interceptions to go with 34 total tackles. But in 31 games over three years, he had eight interceptions, 97 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss for Notre Dame. He suffered a knee injury in the Fighting Irish’s game against USC in October and ended up missing the rest of the season.

Still, he’s sure to be one of the top names to go in April’s NFL Draft in Las Vegas.