Mel Kiper Has Mason Rudolph As a Top 10 QB For 2017 Draft

I should qualify this post by saying I don’t believe Mason Rudolph will go to the NFL after this season. Head coach Mike Gundy doesn’t believe he should, either. He’s probably right.

But ESPN draft messiah Mel Kiper Jr. has Rudolph as his No. 10 QB for the 2017 Draft right now. Every single QB he has listed is either a sophomore or a junior. Here is the full list.

1. *Mitch Trubisky, North Carolina
2. *Patrick Mahomes, Texas Tech
3. *Deshaun Watson, Clemson
4. **DeShone Kizer, Notre Dame
5. *Brad Kaaya, Miami (Fla.)
6. *Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma
7. *Luke Falk, Washington State
8. **Wilton Speight, Michigan
9. **Clayton Thorson, Northwestern
10. *Mason Rudolph, Oklahoma State

One asterisk denotes a junior, and two asterisks denote a redshirt sophomore for the 2016 season.

At this time last year, Kiper had some guy by the name of Dak Prescott as his No. 10 QB (gulp) so I don’t want to completely dismiss these rankings, but it’s encouraging to me that Kiper has Baker Mayfield ahead of Rudolph. Why? Well, Baker Mayfield ain’t going to the NFL after this year which tells me Mason Rudolph probably isn’t either.

“We haven’t had very many players here I felt like were ready to enter that level of football as juniors,” said Gundy. “That’s including Weeden and Blackmon and Russell Okung. Even though they were great players, I didn’t feel like they were ready for what that level can put out there or put in front of those guys. That’s my opinion.”

Here is the thing about Rudolph (and Washington) — they are true juniors. They didn’t get that redshirt freshman year to develop, enjoy college etc. That works in your favor if you’re Oklahoma State or a fan of Oklahoma State football. Still, it’s pretty cool that Rudolph is getting love from Kiper, Todd McShay and others.

Oklahoma State QB Mason Rudolph makes some ridiculously accurate throws outside the numbers along the sideline @Zac_Robinson5#BigTimeThrow pic.twitter.com/Nw0ZKoUwTS

— Steve Palazzolo (@PFF_Steve) November 12, 2016

His time in the NFL will come. I just hope it’s in 2018 and not 2017.