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ESPN's Mel Kiper Discusses Michigan Football's Draft Prospects

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Devin Bush moved up in Mel Kiper's latest mock draft.
Devin Bush moved up in Mel Kiper's latest mock draft. (AP Images)

Following the NFL Combine and most Pro Days, ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper released his third mock draft Tuesday.

Kiper has two Wolverines going in the first round of the draft, with defensive end Rashan Gary going to the Buffalo Bills with the No. 9 pick and linebacker Devin Bush Jr. going to the Cincinnati Bengals with the No. 11 pick.

After the release of his latest projection, he talked with media on a teleconference to discuss various draft prospects.

While he dropped Gary five spots since his second mock draft, he is still high on him.

“He’s got a rare skill set,” Kiper said. “He was the No. 1 player coming out of high school for a reason. He’s 277 pounds. He’s 6-4.5. He’s got really long arms. He ran 4.58 [forty-yard dash]. He has really good upper body strength and he’s a tremendously gifted athlete. He’s got everything you want to be the No. 1 pick in the draft, except the sack production.”

Kiper thinks Gary is a hard player to evaluate due to his lack of raw numbers he produced when he played for Michigan. In his three seasons, he only had 10.5 sacks and 24 tackles for loss. In his final season, he only had 3.5 sacks in nine games.

“This year didn’t go his way with the injury and obviously some of the criticism that came his way because of that,” he said. “Rashan Gary is an enigma. You expect more than 10 sacks in a career with that type of talent. You expect 20-+ career sacks with that kind of talent and he didn’t get it. The thing is, will the scheme allow him to turn loose in the NFL? Will that allow him to be more productive as a pro than as a collegiate? That’s what you’re going to roll the dice on.”

At the NFL Combine, Bush ran the second-fastest 40-yard dash amongst linebackers and had the best vertical jump of the linebackers at 40.5 inches.

After his performance, Bush moved up 19 spots in Kiper’s mock draft.

“He’s been all over the place with me because I liked him as a player so much and you talk to people, your contacts in the league and you get different opinions,” he said. “It’s finding the right fit. I just felt like Cincinnati being a fast, cover linebacker can be a guy that really upgrades that line of defense for them.”

Kiper is releasing his Big Board on Wednesday and said that Bush would be at No. 9 in his ranking of all draft prospects regardless of position.

“I think he’s one of the top players in this draft,” he said. “I think you could argue he’s one of the ten best players in this draft. I’m thinking he’s that good. At the end of the day, after running that tremendous 40 time that he ran at that Combine when he and both [LSU linebacker] Devin White ran almost identical 4.43, 4.42 and shows his range and his sideline-to-sideline speed.”

Defensive end Chase Winovich also impressed at the combine running a 4.59-second 40-yard dash, fourth among all edge players at the combine. Winovich's 20-yard shuttle time of 4.11 seconds was No. 1 among players at his position.

“I’ve always liked Winovich,” Kiper said. "I think again after you get past the initial group of pass rushers, he’s in that second tier. He gives you everything he has. He ran under 4.6. I wouldn’t say a lock second rounder, but certainly has an opportunity to be a second-round draft choice after all is said and done. I’ve liked him all along.”

Cornerback David Long finished last season graded as the No. 51 cornerback among FBS schools, according to Pro Football Focus. Among that group of cornerbacks, he had the 36th best coverage grade. While he wasn't the in the top-tier of cornerbacks, per PFF, Kiper noted that Long has the athletic traits to be selected high in the NFL Draft.

“You run a 4.55, that’s going to help you,” he said. “You have almost a 40 [inch] vertical, that’s always a plus. Did he play as well as he tested? At times I didn’t always see that. There were games where I think at one previous time this year that he could maybe be a second round pick. I have a fourth round grade on him. I upped that to a third based on his testing and the way he played in certain game.”

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