{"id":304676,"date":"2025-08-21T01:35:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T01:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/304676\/"},"modified":"2025-08-21T01:35:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T01:35:13","slug":"mel-kiper-endorses-new-york-jets-taking-lanorris-sellers-no-2-overall-in-mock-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/304676\/","title":{"rendered":"Mel Kiper endorses New York Jets taking LaNorris Sellers No. 2 overall in mock draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Carolina<\/a> quarterback LaNorris Sellers<\/a> exploded into one of the most electric players in all of college football last season, as he passed for 2,534 yards, 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also rushed for 674 yards and seven more scores, good enough to lead the Gamecocks to a 9-4 record (best since 2017).<\/p>\n

Due to his stature and knack for explosive plays, many have tabbed Sellers as one of the best quarterback prospects heading into the 2025 NFL Draft. Paired with Texas<\/a>\u2018 Arch Manning<\/a> and Clemson<\/a>\u2018s Cade Klubnik<\/a>, Sellers could certainly be a strong member of one of the most talented trios of quarterbacks in the NFL Draft in some time.<\/p>\n

ESPN\u2019s NFL Draft analysts Field Yates and Mel Kiper Jr. conducted their first 2026 NFL Mock Draft on Wednesday<\/a>, where they projected Sellers to go No. 2 overall to the New York Jets. Yates and Kiper Jr. both gave their reasoning on the high mark for the Carolina quarterback.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Jets did sign Justin Fields<\/a> this offseason (two years, $40 million including a $10 million guarantee next year) which means if the Jets want to move on next year, they can do so but its going to cost basically a $10 million ball of medicine,\u201d Yates said. \u201cIf they\u2019re picking second overall Mel, it probably means the Justin Fields scenario did not work out this year. That\u2019s just how I see it personally. If they\u2019re back in the quarterback market, I think LaNorris Sellers might have as much upside as any quarterback including Arch Manning by the way when I say that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sellers seems poised to be highest drafted QB in program history<\/p>\n

\u201cSellers, during the second half of last season, really turned things on as a passer. This guy has immense physical gifts. He has this Josh Allen<\/a>-esque build. He is a freight train playing quarterback for the University of South Carolina and he was an outstanding runner this past season with massive rushing upside not just on designed runs, but also breaking from pressure when under duress in the pocket. The arm is still coming around Mel, but the second round progress leads you believe that he\u2019s going to be really high if he declares.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dating back to 1939, South Carolina has had just three quarterbacks selected in the NFL Draft. Sellers would be the first ever selected in the First Round, as the highest drafted QB in program history was Spencer Rattler<\/a> in 2024. He was selected with the No. 150 overall pick in the Fifth Round.<\/p>\n

\u201cLaNorris Sellers is only 20 years of age and won\u2019t even be 21 until the Draft,\u201d Kiper said. \u201cHe won\u2019t turn 21 until June. Some quarterbacks are 23, 24, right. He\u2019s 20 years of age at the Draft. Will that passing and consistency be there with Nyck Harbor<\/a> being his go-to guy? LaNorris Sellers at two makes sense but there\u2019s other quarterbacks in the mix.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers exploded into one of the most electric players in all of college football…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304677,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[7,226,5801,1917,255,2321,2097,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-304676","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-jets","10":"tag-lanorris-sellers-23-south-florence","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-jets","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkjets","15":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115064191525913166","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}