Kiper keeps Wyoming QB as Browns’ 1st pick

Mel Kiper Jr., swimming against the current, still has the Browns taking Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen with the first pick of the NFL draft on April 26.

Most other draft analysts rank Sam Darnold as the best among the class of quarterbacks in the 2018 draft. Included in that group is Mike Mayock of NFL Network, Todd McShay of ESPN, Daniel Jeremiah of ESPN, Will Brinson and Jared Dubin of CBS Sports and Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated.

There are exceptions. Pete Prisco of CBS Sports, like Kiper, has the Browns taking Allen with the first pick. Walterfootball.com has the Browns taking Penn State running back Saquon Barkley first and Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfieldfourth. Walterfootball.com has Darnold lasting until the Cardinals take him with the 15th pick.

“(Allen) has the best arm of anybody in this draft,” Kiper said on Feb. 21 during a conference call to coincide with the release of his second mock draft. “He has tremendous size. He has tremendous athleticism for a big man. He has mobility. He has all this physical traits you want.

“He has athletic prowess. He has the will to learn. He has great competitive desire on the football field. He could have sat out the bowl game against Central Michigan. He opted to play and played really well. He came out in the second half of the Senior Bowl and lit it up. He makes throws no one else can make.”

Kiper compares Allen to Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. Stafford was the first pick of the 2009 draft.

Stafford completed 57.1 percent of his passes during three years at Georgia. He threw 51 touchdown passes and 33 interceptions in his college career.

Allen, 6-foot-5, 233 pounds, completed 56.2 percent of his passes in two seasons at Wyoming while throwing 41 touchdown passes and 22 interceptions.

Kiper dismisses Allen’s low completion percentage by saying he lost key components of his supporting cast, but that could prove to be a major sticking point as far as the Browns are concerned.

DeShone Kizer, picked 52nd by the Browns in the 2017 draft, completed 60.7 percent of his passes at Notre Dame.

Kizer started 15 games for the 0-16 Browns as a rookie. His 53.6 completion percentage was the lowest in the NFL. He threw a league-high 22 interceptions.

“There were critics of Matthew Stafford when he came out,” Kiper said. “He was only 57 percent and change when he came out of Georgia — not much better than Josh Allen is. I see a lot of similarities in Matthew Stafford and Josh Allen.”

Kiper is leaving himself some wiggle room and says Darnold, Josh Rosen or Mayfield can do enough at the NFL Scouting Combine next month or in their pro days to overtake Allen as Kiper’s top choice.

Rosen, from UCLA, will go second to the Giants in the mock drafts of Prisco and Dubin.

“It’s a very fluid situation,” Kiper said. “Nothing is etched in stone. They all have red flags.

“Allen has to be accurate at the combine and pro day. If people see that and they see the footwork improvement — he’s going to test off the charts. If he makes ‘Wow’ throws does a great job from a consistency standpoint, he’s going to be hard to pass up.”