Davis, Joseph are top-40 picks in Mel Kiper’s latest mock draft

Jacob Noger | UK Football

It’s become abundantly clear that Kentucky will have two players hear their names called in the first and second rounds of the upcoming 2021 NFL Draft.

As we inch closer toward the draft, which begins on April 29, former UK linebacker Jamin Davis and cornerback Kelvin Joseph have emerged as consensus top-50 prospects. In fact, in Mel Kiper’s latest mock draft over at ESPN, the draft guru listed Davis as the No. 26 overall player in the draft, while Joseph came in at No. 40 overall.

The former is projected to go to the Cleveland Browns, while the latter is expected to go to the Denver Broncos.

“Davis is another defender who is rising since the season ended,” Kiper said of the standout linebacker. “He’s really only a one-year starter — he started one game in 2019 — but he was tremendous last season with 96 tackles, three interceptions and a sack. Davis was all over the field making plays. He could play any of the linebacker spots for the Cleveland 4-3 defense.”

As for Joseph, Kiper praised the former Kentucky cornerback’s impressive performance at the school’s pro day.

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“Yes, Denver signed Ronald Darby and reunited Kyle Fuller with Vic Fangio, his defensive coordinator in Chicago, but that’s only a one-year deal. Cornerback is still a position the Broncos should target in the first two rounds,” he said. “Joseph, an LSU transfer, ran the 40-yard dash in the 4.3s at his recent pro day and had four picks last season, his lone year playing at Kentucky.”

Back in March, Davis came in at No. 14 in Kiper’s latest NFL Draft Big Board, good for second among linebacker prospects. In that update, Kiper listed Joseph as the No. 7 overall cornerback in the draft, along with listing Max Duffy as the No. 7 overall kicker/punter in the class and Drake Jackson as the No. 8 center. The Big Board gives a clean ranking of the draft’s top players, while the analyst’s official mock draft is an update accounting for specific team needs and trades.

For the entire mock draft, which has five quarterbacks coming off the board in the first ten picks, head over to ESPN here.