Hey, Mel Kiper Jr: Stick To The NFL Draft

09/19/2024 10:38 AM

Mel Kiper Jr. is trending in the football world on Thursday morning for his bold - and controversial - suggestion on ESPN's "Get Up."

Kiper Jr., the most famous NFL Draft expert of all-time, is frustrated by the state of offensive play in the National Football League. He believes that the problem is the way defenses are playing. Many NFL defenses will play two high safeties - in layman's terms, safeties that are some 15 to 20-plus yards back from the line of scrimmage - to make sure that they aren't beaten over the top by a long pass. It's a good strategy to prevent big plays, but it limits what the offense can do. And, for Kiper Jr., it's ruining the sport.

The prominent NFL Draft analyst wants to see more deep passes and more excitement during games. He's sicking of bubble screens, short routes and the "dink and dunk" style of play that many NFL quarterbacks have become accustomed to.

"The NFL is being ruined by these two-high safeties," Kiper Jr. said.

.@MelKiperESPN believes two-high safeties "should be outlawed" 👀

"The NFL is being ruined by these two-high safeties." pic.twitter.com/d65PFJysIq

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) September 19, 2024

Kiper Jr.'s rant started when discussing Bryce Young's struggles and benching in Carolina. 

Sorry, Mel, but maybe just stick to the NFL Draft. Some of the points he made are just...bizarre. He brought up former Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw, who threw for about 160 yards per game. Only six of the top 50 single season passing leaders played before the two deep safeties style of defense was implemented.

Maybe NFL teams should just establish the run and maybe defenses pay for playing two high safeties. Or maybe NFL teams should just figure out a different way to go deep.

"This is the weirdest football take I think I've ever heard? After years and years of rule changes that benefitted the offense, we're mad defenses adjusted? Run the ball!" one fan wrote.

"Love Kiper but this might be one of the worst football takes I've ever heard," one fan added.

"I will never understand why people make these arguments. This is exactly the type of BS that got the shift banned in baseball. Like you got 2 high, run the damn ball. Teams don't wanna pay RBs, and now the joke is on you because they are more valuable than they've been in years," one fan added.

"The problem is that teams aren't running 2 deep to take away the routes Mel laments missing. They're trying to take away digs and crossers. You can still throw gos and posts! They're there! The problem is that teams don't think it's optimal to throw gos and posts all day," one fan added.

Maybe just stick to the NFL Draft, Mel. He did have an all-time rant on the Panthers' handling of Bryce Young that everyone should get behind.

"I think mishandle is the word because when you drafted Bryce Young, you knew he was an outlier," Kiper said. "Like, Russell Wilson was bigger. Taller, but only 5'10" and three quarters. That opened it up for the 5'10" quarterback. But Russell Wilson was 205 [pounds], 208 coming out. Not 180. 

"Kyler Murray, because of Russell Wilson, became the No. 1 pick overall. Different body type than Bryce Young. So, you knew Bryce Young was not only short, but a small, diminutive quarterback who needed help, right?

"Also, continuity. You draft a quarterback. Everybody says he's got this great infrastructure in Carolina around him with the head coach, the coordinator, the quarterback coach. Everything's there. The senior assistant, everything's in place. And then you see him beat C.J. Stroud on the field as a rookie. You take out the three games he threw multiple interceptions, he was six touchdowns, three picks. That's some decent games last year."

Kiper is still high on Young.

"You go into this year, and you change everything because C.J. Stroud's doing so well in Houston," Kiper said. "'We gotta destroy this thing. We gotta blow it up and start all over because C.J. Stroud's doing so great in Houston. These coaches are getting it done.' So, we bring in an offensive coach who was with Baker [Mayfield] and others, right? Bring in a new pass game coordinator, new quarterbacks coach for Bryce Young. Then, we don't play him in the preseason! We play him one series in the final preseason game.

"I'll give you a little note: C.J. Stroud played in two preseason games this year. Derek Carr played in two preseason games. Why? Because Klint Kubiak was coming in with a new offense, and Derek Carr's a veteran and played in two preseason games.

"Bryce Young played one series in the final preseason game against the nobodies on the defense for the Buffalo Bills. Does that make sense to you that two games in we're saying he can't play?"

He finished: "Yes, his confidence was shattered. Yes, he does need to sit behind Andy Dalton for a little bit. But to blame this on Bryce Young is ridiculous. The blame here goes to the organization, the owner for mishandling."

Those takes: good. 

Banning two high safeties: Come on, Mel.

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