Kiper's mock draft has Porter Jr. to Steelers, Kancey to Eagles

ALTOONA, Pa. -- There are tons of mock drafts nowadays, but still none garner anywhere near as much attention as the original draft guru, Mel Kiper Jr.

Like him or not, when Kiper puts out a new mock draft for ESPN, it creates an enormous amount of buzz. And his first mock draft of the year, out Wednesday, has two very noteworthy predictions of interest in Pittsburgh.

Kiper has the Steelers taking Penn State cornerback Joey Porter Jr. at No. 17 in the first round, which isn't a big surprise. As we recently profiled, numerous other mocks have Porter coming to Pittsburgh, where his dad played and helped the Steelers win a Super Bowl.

Kiper also has Pitt defensive tackle Calijah Kancey going No. 10 to the Philadelphia Eagles. That projection is very surprising since Kancey is generally considered more of a late first or early second-round pick at best, with some mocks even having him going in the third round.

PORTER TO STEELERS

Porter was a second-team All-American for Penn State this past season, emerging as one of the best shutdown cornerbacks in college football. He's 6-foot-2, 194 pounds with speed and good length, and cornerback is certainly one of the Steelers' needs in the draft.

Here's what Kiper wrote about Porter:

"Like father, like son in Pittsburgh? The Steelers drafted linebacker Joey Porter in the third round in 1999, and they have a need for his son in 2023. Porter is an aggressive 6-foot-2 corner who was a three-year starter for the Nittany Lions. He picked off just one pass in his career, but he had 11 pass breakups in 2022, so he gets his hands on the football when it’s headed in his direction. The Steelers likely will be hoping one of the top offensive tackles drops to them, and they could also target a defensive tackle."

The big question with Porter is whether he'll still be on the board when the Steelers draft at 17.

He could go higher, depending on several factors such as how he performs at the combine and pro day compared to other top cornerbacks.

KANCEY TO EAGLES

Surprise, surprise! Nobody has Kancey going as high as Kiper in their mock drafts. The 6-0, 280-pounder was a unanimous first-team All-American this season -- the school's first since Aaron Donald in 2013 and only the 13th different player in program history to earn that distinction.

Kancey led the nation among interior linemen with 14.5 tackles for loss, while also notching 7.5 sacks.

While several mock drafters are high on Kancey, it's Kiper who sees the most potential for him in the draft.

Kiper wrote of the Pitt star:

"Kancey’s 2022 tape is extremely impressive, and I moved him way up my Big Board. He wreaked havoc the past two seasons, racking up 13.5 sacks when lined up as a defensive tackle, the most in the country. At 6-foot, 280 pounds, he’s undersized, but so was former Pitt tackle Aaron Donald. (To be clear, he’s not Donald, but he’s still pretty good.) We know Philadelphia general manager Howie Roseman invests heavily in the D-line, and Kancey would fit next to 2022 first-rounder Jordan Davis."

MAJOR LOVE FOR LEVIS

Here's a look at Kiper's top 10:

As you can see, Kiper is among many mock drafters giving lots of love to former Penn State quarterback Will Levis, who transferred to Kentucky.

Levis is such a fascinating case because he still seems to be very much a project as a quarterback who will need 2-3 years of development time to be ready. And yet, most people are projecting him to go in the top five or top 10, a spot where most young quarterbacks have to start very soon, if not immediately.

Personally, all the draft love for Levis makes very little sense, which I explained in detail here last month.

Here's Kiper's breakdown of Levis: