Mel Kiper Jr. on NC State D-line in NFL Draft: 'They're all going to go'

NC State’s quartet of defensive ends Bradley Chubb and Kentavius Street, and tackles Justin Jones and B.J. Hill are each going to hear their names called at some point during the three-day NFL Draft that runs April 26-28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, according to ESPN NFL Draft guru Mel Kiper Jr.

“They’re all going to go,” he said in a conference call Thursday.

Chubb is the clear headliner as a group, a potential top-5 pick who some think could go as high as No. 2 to the New York Giants, after the club recently traded star defensive end Jason Pierre- Paul to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In his latest mock draft, which was released Thursday, Kiper projected the Giants to go with a quarterback and Chubb to be selected sixth by the Indianapolis Colts, who have traded down from the third overall selection. But the expert admitted that Chubb is the No. 2 player on his big board of the top prospects, meaning if it went down like he projected the Colts would be getting great value — and maybe the player they originally had their eye on — despite moving back for a trio of second-round picks.

“I think Chubb would be a really good pick for the Colts, they would’ve taken him at 3 — [instead] they picked up three starters by moving down and could still get the guy they wanted,” Kiper explained. “Even if he was gone, they could still get [offensive lineman] Quenton Nelson from Notre Dame, so the Colts right now made the best move you’ve seen in the draft in a long time.

"To still get one of the two or three players you were looking at, at 3, at 6 and get three potential starters [via the second-round picks] out of that whole deal was pretty amazing.”

The former Wolfpacker has been compared to last year’s No. 1 overall pick, Myles Garrett, quite frequently, and there are even some who think the Cleveland Browns, owners of the No. 1 and 4 picks this season, could pair him with Chubb. Kiper noted that whether Chubb goes fourth to the Browns or sixth to the Colts, either team would be getting "a great player."

“I loved him all year,” Kiper said. “I had him highly rated from the get-go. When Dave Doeren came on with us on the radio, he said, ‘He sprints on the practice field every day, he’s a tone-setter for our defense.’

“He tested great, everybody said he’s got to run under 4.65, he did. So he fits everybody, every scheme that you want he would fit. … Every 5-10 years you get somebody like [2014 No. 1 pick Jadeveon] Clowney and Garrett; that’s a rarity to see players like Clowney and Garrett come along. Chubb’s not that far behind, but he’s not in the Garrett/Clowney mold, in terms of having that elite grade and being that freakish guy. If that was the case he’d be a little higher up the board than he is, he’d be at No. 1.”

While it’s a forgone conclusion that Chubb will be the first Wolfpacker off the board, as well as the first former NCSU defensive linemen selected in the draft, Kiper has a clear No. 2 in the pecking order as well — the defensive tackle Hill, who he said could go in the early to middle parts of round two.

Kiper noted that his mock draft currently has the Washington Redskins taking Washington defensive tackle Vita Vea at No. 13 overall and the Los Angeles Chargers selecting Alabama defensive tackle Da’Ron Payne at No. 17. If those don’t come to fruition, though, he could see both looking long and hard at Hill with their second choices. The squads pick at No. 44 and No. 48 overall, respectively, in round two.

“Those are two teams right there if they don’t go defensive tackle early they could go in round two very easily for a defensive tackle with that kind of capability [of Hill],” he said.

Kiper is sure Street and Jones will also be selected during the event, he’s just not sure of the order. He called Street a third- or fourth-round pick, with Jones not far behind.

“I’d say Jones after that, right in that third-, fourth-, fifth-round area,” he said. “I think Hill comes off the board next [after Chubb], then Street with Jones kind of equal.”

Notes

• On the call, Kiper was also asked about the second-tier running backs in the draft after Penn State’s Saquon Barkley, and the first name he rattled off was the Wolfpack’s Nyheim Hines, the early entrant who turned heads at the NFL Combine with a 4.38-second 40-yard dash. The time was the fastest for a running back this year and tied for ninth overall among all position players, while it was the fourth-fastest at his position over the last five combines.

Kiper compared the 5-8, 198-pound Hines to 13-year NFL veteran Darren Sproles, a 5-6, 190-pounder who has piled up 3,366 yards and 22 touchdowns on the ground with an additional 4,656 yards and 30 touchdowns coming through the air. Like Hines, Sproles has also been a dangerous returner during his career, adding another 11,000-plus yards and nine scores on special teams.

“The guy I like the best from that next tier would be [Georgia’s] Nick Chubb, with Hines more of a wildcard because he’s so versatile,” Kiper said.

• Kiper wasn’t the only person raving about the NC State defensive line Thursday in the media. NC State head coach Dave Doeren was on NFL Network’s Up To The Minute, talking Chubb — of whom he said, “I do know the Giants like him a lot” after noting they had been to several NCSU practices — and his front-linemates.

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Doeren admitted he has never had a more talented defensive line “at one time” — but it wasn’t just on-the-field accolades that made the quartet “a really special group.”

“Just the way they helped us change the culture of our program,” Doeren said is what he would remember the most about the foursome. “They were such great teammates and collectively there were a lot of individual awards that they earned, but the way they stuck together as a group of seniors and what they meant to us.

“Recruiting them 4-5 years ago, those guys went through a lot, helped us go to four straight bowl games and win three of those four games, and win three of the last four against our rivals. It couldn’t have been done without their leadership.”

Now, they'll lead the way for what is expected to be a record-setting draft for NC State.