Mel Kiper: NFL Weatherman - The Rise and Fall of Teddy Bridgewater

by Paul "Closer" Wanecski
Let us be honest for a moment, no one can predict who will and who will not be successful on an NFL level. When you factor in the level of competition, the social pressure and suddenly making more money than you can possibly conceive, the struggles on a young NFL are well documented. The strong do not always survive, but, wouldn’t it be great to be paid to tell America what you think and have nearly zero accountability?

Enter Mel Kiper, NFL Weatherman. We will move past the 10 Mock Drafts he has put out in the last 6 months and focus on only one player: Louisville QB Teddy Bridgewater.

To say that he has been moving out like the tide on Camp Bridgewater is an understatement. Chronicling the rise and fall of Teddy Bridgewater, Mel Kiper has stated:

May 2013: Kiper placed Bridewater as the number 2 player on the “Big Board” of players.

October 2013: Kiper was quoted through multiple media outlets that the first two players off the board could be South Carolina Defensive End Jadaveon Clowney or Bridgewater.

January 2014: Premiers an updated draft prospectus, now showing the Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel will be selected with the first pick, with Bridgewater now slipping to Minnesota at the 8th pick, showing him to be the 3rd QB selected in that round behind UCF QB Blake Bortles.

February 2014: Kiper releases his new “Top 5 picks”, with rankings from 1-5 of Johnny Manziel to Houston, OL Greg Robinson to St. Louis, Clowney to Jacksonville, Bridgewater to Cleveland and WR Sammy Watkins to Oakland.

March 2014: Kiper shows Bridgewater slipping to Oakland at 5, while also displaying OLB Khalil Mack to Houston, Robinson to St. Louis, Clowney to Jacksonville, Bortles now to Cleveland, with Bridgewater to Oakland. You may have noticed, Manziel is no longer in the “Top 5” (he actually goes to Minnesota at 8).

April 2014: he made comparisons for Bridgewater to Aaron Rodgers, stating that Rodgers was the number 1 QB several weeks before the draft, yet he slid into the 20’s. Now, Bridgewater at this point has not proven to be the same passer that Rodgers is, so this comparison is pretty ridiculous. He then said the same thing once happened to Brady Quinn…nice recovery, Mel.

With all this being said, the question is, can you truly trust anything Mel Kiper says? Well, unfortunately, no one is perfect, but, who WOULDN’T want to be Mel Kiper? You get to study film all day. People write articles about you and you can apparently have any hair cut you want. Needless to say, it’s a pretty sweet deal but that doesn’t mean he does a good job. Mel has been all over the place, giving no more reason to why his opinions on a player change other than “…..” The long and short of it is taking his statements for what they are worth, an opinion, nothing more. Do your own research and learn. The things Kiper says are funnier when you know he is dead wrong.