Mel Kiper defends Kyle Hamilton along with other falling draft prospects

Mel Kiper has had some of the draft’s elite defensive prospects pegged since last summer. However, some of his top athletes — including Notre Dame’s Kyle Hamilton, Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux and LSU’s Derek Stingley Jr. — are seeing their draft stock slide ahead of Thursday’s 2022 NFL Draft.

In ESPN’s First Draft special prior to the huge night, Kiper defended the defensive prospects that have been falling throughout the process.

“Kyle Hamilton, to me, is going to be the player we’re going to be talking a lot about,” started Kiper. “Ironically Todd [McShay], and I’ve looked at this since August. I had it right then lined up. [Kayvon] Thibodeaux one, Derek Stingley Jr. two, Kyle Hamilton three. Here we are talking about Kayvon Thibodeaux may be droppping just a bit. Derek Stingley Jr. dropping — and maybe going nine, in that nine range. Minnesota twelve being as far as he can drop. Kyle Hamilton maybe dropping down to that eleven spot. Seven to eleven area. So, there’s three defensive players that were the elite of the elite.

“Stingley Jr. had the great 2019. We know Thibodeaux was No. 1 out of high school. No. 1 going into the year. Played through the injury after getting injured against Fresno State. We know Kyle Hamilton. Todd, I’ll ask you this — at any point in time when you were watching Kyle Hamilton in his career, did you ever question his speed? I didn’t. So, do we really care? .. At any point in time, did you see No. 14 and think, I don’t think he’s that fast. I don’t think he’s that rare. I don’t think he’s that unique. Did you ever say that, Todd?”

While some NFL teams have been wary of the three defensive prospects Mel Kiper mentioned, the ESPN NFL Draft analyst has no qualms. The football world will be keeping a close eye on where the trio of potential stars land.

More on Derek Stingley Jr., 2022 NFL Draft

Furthermore, Todd McShay shared his latest intel on the aforementioned Derek Stingley Jr.’s draft stock heading into Thursday night – saying that Stingley most likely won’t be available for the Minnesota Vikings to draft at No. 12 overall.

“I think they’d love for cornerback Derek Stingley to fall to them, but if everything I’m hearing over the last few days is true, I don’t think Stingley gets there at No. 12,” McShay said. “To me, if you can get a top-10 player at No. 12 in a position that you need, I would go that route.

“Stingley, though – I’m hearing rumors that Houston might like him at three, ahead of Sauce Gardner. I’ve heard that Seattle at No. 9 likes him. So, according to what I’m hearing, I’m not sure that he’s going to get to 12. … If he does, that would be the pick.”

A 6-foot-1, 195-pound defender, Stingley is listed as a potential top-10 pick in most mock drafts. However, looking at the latest mock draft from ESPN NFL Draft insider Mel Kiper Jr. and McShay on April 19, they had Stingley going No. 12 to the Vikings – but that could always change, as McShay pointed out.