Michigan State Football: Malik McDowell falls in Mel Kiper’s mock draft
By Stephen Robb
Michigan State football’s Malik McDowell took a dip in Mel Kiper’s recent mock draft — where does he fall to?
Malik McDowell recently dropped out of Mel Kiper’s ESPN first round mock draft. However this is just the opinion of one man, although he’s one of the most respected draft experts out there.
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Yes, this is a mock draft and, yes, this is Mel Kiper — the same man who had Jimmy Clausen as a first round grade when he came out of Notre Dame. Now Clausen is, at best, a mediocre backup but Kiper keeps plugging along.
Bill Polian famously said, “Who the Hell is Mel Kiper?” Okay, I love Mel’s hair and tend to favor his opinion because I am follicly challenged.
Recently, Kiper released his mock draft 2.0 and Malik McDowell was not in the first round. This is not surprising because the mock draft board is a best guess at this point before the NFL Combine, yet these experts do have NFL connections and hearsay.
However, it’s equally unsurprising that McDowell has fallen in this mock draft because of his less-than-impressive junior season. He is a first round talent, however, he has not always revealed that on the field.
McDowell was of little to no factor in many important games this past season for the Spartans. I can never fault a player for desiring to improve the comfort of their life and their families. However, Malik would have benefited greatly from another year in a MSU uniform.
This past season was not the coming out party he had planned on. Although he still has the opportunity to wow the critics at the combine.
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McDowell is a tremendous talent and I hope he is able to seize his opportunity.