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ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. released his updated big board on Thursday, and Georgia quarterback Carson Beck did not make the top 25 list.
Could Beck slide down the board after a lackluster start to the 2024 season?
“It’s questionable now. It’s very questionable now whether he’ll do it,” Kiper said when asked if Beck would advance to the first round (8:35 mark). “He’s got to do some things late in the year — he’ll have a chance with Georgia, they’ll be in [College Football Playoff]“Let’s see what he can do there, on the biggest stages.”
Kepper ranked Beck as the No. 4 available quarterback behind Colorado’s Shadere Sanders (No. 11 overall on his big board), Miami’s Cam Ward (No. 12 overall) and Alabama’s Jalen Milroe (outside the top 25). Texas’ Quinn Ewers ranked fifth among quarterbacks, followed by Penn State’s Drew Allard, LSU’s Garrett Nussmeyer, Indiana’s Curtis Rourke, Ole Miss’s Jackson Dart and Ohio State’s Will Howard, in that order.
Beck, a senior, threw for 1,993 yards, 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions on the year, completing 66 percent of his passes while taking seven sacks. His interceptions are actually up from six last year, while his completion percentage — while steady — isn’t as impressive as last year’s 72.4 percent.
Yes, though, Georgia is 6-1 and a major threat again after a convincing win over top-ranked Texas two weeks ago. But if Beck wants to hear his name called in the first round of April’s NFL draft, he needs to set a firmer bar for the league’s evaluators.