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J.J. McCarthy’s stock may be rising heading into the NFL Scouting Combine, but Mel Kiper Jr. isn’t buying the Michigan quarterback as a top 10 pick.
On “First Draft ” with ESPN colleague Field Yates on Monday, Kiper addressed the McCarthy top 10 buzz when it came time to make a selection for the Atlanta Falcons, who own the No. 8 pick in this year’s first round.
“It’s always tempting. Like we said, are you going to reach for J.J. McCarthy? I’m not if I’m the Giants, I’m not if I’m Atlanta,” Kiper Jr. said.
So what would Kiper Jr. do if he were Atlanta and you were dead set on drafting a quarterback?
“Try to move up. If you can move up and get Caleb (Williams) or Jayden (Daniels) or Drake (Maye), I would be aggressive, if I were Atlanta, to try and do that,” Kiper Jr. said. “If you’re sitting at eight and you cannot move up? I’m not taking J.J. McCarthy at eight. It’s too high for me.”
Instead, Kiper mocked Alabama pass rusher Dallas Turner to the Falcons at No. 8.
“Dallas Turner had the kind of year that he needed to,” Kiper said. “Will Anderson Jr. moves on, who is going to be the guy. Can he [Turner] be the guy and he was…This year he took his game to a new level.”
McCarthy meanwhile, will throw for NFL evaluators at this week’s scouting combine as he attempts to state his case for being an early first-round pick.