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Mel Kiper: ‘Extraordinary’ Combine Results Fuel Chase Claypool’s Rise

Take a peek at most NFL mock drafts and position rankings, and the consensus is that wide receiver is this year’s deepest position. As many as 20 receivers have popped up in recent top-100 prospect rankings.

Notre Dame’s Chase Claypool stands out at the position, according to one of the most respected draft voices, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr., who slotted the former Notre Dame receiver in the first round at No. 30 overall to the Green Bay Packers in his latest mock draft, released earlier this week. It’s another step in his climb up draft boards since Notre Dame ended its season with a win over Iowa State in the Camping World Bowl Dec. 28.

Kiper explained Wednesday on a conference call with reporters that Claypool’s rise is a product of his strong offseason highlighted by an NFL Combine, where he ran a 4.42-second 40-yard dash, registered a 40.5-inch vertical jump and did 19 reps on the bench press at 6-4 and 238 pounds. The 40-yard time ranked seventh among wide receivers. It came on the heels of a strong outing at the Senior Bowl in January.

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Claypool appeared as a first-round pick in Mel Kiper's latest mock draft.
Claypool appeared as a first-round pick in Mel Kiper's latest mock draft. (Mike Miller)

“Those are extraordinary numbers,” Kiper said. “They’re historically great numbers for a kid his size.”

Claypool ended the year with 66 catches for 1,037 yards and 13 touchdowns, all of which led Notre Dame. He was named the team’s MVP. He caught seven passes for 146 yards and a touchdown in the Camping World Bowl. In a win over Navy Nov. 16, he snagged four touchdowns and had 117 receiving yards.

“He had a second-round grade, at worst an early third,” Kiper said of Claypool’s end-of-season stock. “The combine on the heels of a solid career allowed him to be where he is right now.

“He also has dual versatility. If you’re looking for a ‘move’ tight end, he can be that guy.”

Meanwhile, Kiper sees defensive ends Julian Okwara and Khalid Kareem as likely day-two selections, like most other draft analysts. Before the 2019 season, Okwara was seen as a possible first-round pick, but he missed the final four games of the year after suffering a broken lower leg bone in the win at Duke Nov. 9.

“You can go back to two years ago when he was really good,” Kiper said of Okwara. “If you look at the tape then, he had some first or early second round tapes. I would think if you want a pass rusher with some length, you could look at him in the late second, early third.”

Kareem revealed at the combine that played the last half of season with a torn labrum in his left shoulder and had surgery in January to repair it. He did not work out at the combine or play in the Senior Bowl. Okwara only participated in bench press at the combine.

“He has solid tape,” Kiper said of Kareem. “He’s at worst a third-round pick.”

The Notre Dame players’ next opportunity to work out in front of NFL scouts would have been at Notre Dame’s pro day April 1. That won’t happen, though, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The draft itself is in limbo too. It will no longer be held in Las Vegas and will instead be a remote event. For now, it is still set for April 23-25, but the NFL’s general manager subcommittee has recommended postponing it, ESPN reported earlier this week.

Asked for his view on a postponement, Kiper said he would move ahead as scheduled.

“Everybody needs normalcy to set in,” Kiper said. “We keep doing the radio, doing the draft stuff, the mocks. Everything’s going along.

“Everything is going to be different, and we just have to adjust. … It’s important to give people something to focus on and occupy their minds, and the draft’s kind of an escape during these trying times.”

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