Mel Kiper Jr. was certainly surprised that Trenton Simpson didn’t have his name called until the latter part of the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft on Friday night.
Kiper, the longtime ESPN draft analyst, had Simpson ranked as the No. 35 overall prospect in this year’s draft class and the No. 1 inside linebacker. Simpson was widely projected to be picked in the second round, at the latest, and there was even some belief that he could potentially end up being a first-round pick.
However, the Baltimore Ravens were able to get Simpson in the third round when they selected him with the 86th overall pick.
During ESPN’s coverage of the draft, Kiper weighed in on Simpson falling to Baltimore 23 picks into the third round.
“Trenton Simpson, I’m amazed he’s still there,” Kiper said. “He was 35th on my board… Didn’t play linebacker until his junior year in high school. He was a running back. Super coachable. Great kid. 6-2, 235 with 4.4 speed. Tremendous strength. He’s got sack production, tackle production. All three phases of linebacker play. Point A to point B in fast fashion, probably as good as any linebacker in this draft.
“Now, his angles to the football could be better, could break down a little better on arrival. But I’ll tell you what, interviews were off the charts, the numbers are phenomenal, and here he is almost at the end of Round 3.”
Simpson displayed his speed during the pre-draft process, blazing a 4.43-second 40-yard dash at the scouting combine. He then put on a show at Clemson’s Pro Day, flashing his athleticism during on-field workouts and testing very well while posting the best times among the participants in the three-cone drill (4.24 seconds) and the L-drill (7.06).
The former five-star prospect signed with Clemson in December 2019 and spent the last three seasons playing for the Tigers. He earned All-ACC selections from PFF (second team) and Phil Steele (third team) as a sophomore in 2021 before collecting multiple third-team all-conference honors as a junior in 2022, when he compiled 77 tackles (4.0 for loss), 2.5 sacks, three pass breakups and two forced fumbles over 12 games (all starts).
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