Mel Kiper draft grades

Lefty

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Kiper gave only two teams a solid A for this year's draft, the Cardinals & Eagles. His last statement regarding the Cardinal's draft, "All in all, Ossenfort used 12 picks and hit all of the Cardinals' top needs, including throwing four defensive backs at a porous pass D. This is a well-rounded and super-talented class."

He also gave the Steelers & Commanders A-.
 

AZCrazy

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Maybe older age has set in, but Kiper has mellowed dramatically. He likes everyone that gets picked now.
 

oaken1

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Maybe, but I tend to agree. Not because of Kiper, but using my own eyes.
it was obvious there is a plan and that we scouted these guys ourselves. They did not pick many of the players I wanted but they hit the positions.
Overall I am pretty satisfied with the draft. Im really hoping they hit because this is our foundation for the next decade.
 

Cardsfaninlouky

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it was obvious there is a plan and that we scouted these guys ourselves. They did not pick many of the players I wanted but they hit the positions.
Overall I am pretty satisfied with the draft. Im really hoping they hit because this is our foundation for the next decade.
I keep going back to the culture thing both Gannon & Ossenfort spoke of from day 1. It's fun to go back & forth discussing whom they should've picked, there's many reasons why they picked whom they picked. Obviously scouting & fit to their system plays a big part, the other part is the "culture". These players have to eat, drink & sleep football with a winning attitude, if they're lacking in any of those areas, they won't be Cardinals. I for one love it & can't wait to watch this team grow & win moving forward. Training camp can't get here soon enough.
 

QuebecCard

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Mean’s absolutely nothing. Just go look at his track record. It’s as hit and miss as it gets.

I think MHJ is as complete a WR prospect as I’ve ever seen after that who knows

So MEL has made some bad calls over the past 40 years - I'm shocked, shocked I tell you.
 

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Overview: Amid heavy speculation they’d trade out, the Cardinals at No. 4 stick-and-picked Harrison, the best player in the draft. I’m no fan of their second first-rounder; Robinson is a slightly overaged end-tackle tweener who managed 13 sacks across 47 college games. GM Monti Ossenfort did savvily jump 107 slots (No. 186 to No. 79) in exchange for dropping from No. 43 to 35 in Friday’s trade with Atlanta. Melton is tough, hyper athletic, and was a ballhawk at Rutgers. He was underrated throughout the pre-draft phase; longtime DBs guru Nick Saban deemed Melton his favorite “sleeper” in this draft. At 6-foot, 216 with 4.39 wheels, Benson averaged over 6.0 yards per college carry and over 11.0 yards per reception. He’s a true homerun hitter who should upgrade on James Conner sooner rather than later. Adams made starts at three different positions on the Fighting Illini’s offensive line. Extremely physical with plus athleticism, Reiman was drafted earlier than expected but melts facemasks as a blocker and represents an ideal on-field complement to catch-first starting TE Trey McBride. Jones stands 6-foot-2, 185 with freaky athleticism and was an on-ball playmaker at B.C. A team firmly in rebuild mode, I love that the Cards added 12 players and stayed focused on upgrading premium positions.

Grade: B
 

Finito

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So MEL has made some bad calls over the past 40 years - I'm shocked, shocked I tell you.

Everybody has. The draft is an absolute crap shoot. If you haven’t learned these draft grades are meaningless by now you never will.
 

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Harry

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I’m glad you followed my advice when I posted ignore anyone who didn’t give them an “A”. This was unquestionably in nearly 60 years of following Cardinal drafts, one of the top 3 I can recall. I know people will say “wait until you see how they play.” That’s a different subject and grade. I believe you look at what scouts thought at the time and evaluate which GMs got the most highly rated players. Injuries and other factors can blow up a draft. Based on what we know today, Ossenfort and his scouting staff did an incredible job.
 

Chopper0080

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I’m glad you followed my advice when I posted ignore anyone who didn’t give them an “A”. This was unquestionably in nearly 60 years of following Cardinal drafts, one of the top 3 I can recall. I know people will say “wait until you see how they play.” That’s a different subject and grade. I believe you look at what scouts thought at the time and evaluate which GMs got the most highly rated players. Injuries and other factors can blow up a draft. Based on what we know today, Ossenfort and his scouting staff did an incredible job.
Yeah...any complaints from me are just nit picky. They targeted adding players to a weak secondary (4) and also continued to add players to the offense, specifically to a power rushing attack. They might look to add a vet EDGE player before the season.
 

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old man post:

draft grades are like Ivy League grades: B is the new "D", C is the new "F".

I suspect many of the graders have scouts on teams that feed them info, and they dont want to make sources look bad
 
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