With the NFL Draft Looming, Prospects Should Keep It Simple: Don’t Be an Idiot

Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott was in Starkville, Mississippi, in early March when he made a decision. It was a dangerous decision. It was a decision he wishes he could take back. 

Prescott was stopped for speeding around 12:45 in the morning, according to the Clarion-Ledger’s Michael Bonner and Sarah Fowler. Officers believed Prescott was inebriated, and they charged him with being under the influence.

News of the arrest spread quickly across the NFL. One NFC team executive described his team’s reaction as “terribly disappointed.” The people on that team had come to like Prescott as a person and a player. They knew the arrest would damage him and halt what had been an ascent up draft boards.

You see this happen every year. There are always players who forget a vital lesson: When it comes to the draft, teams are watching everything, and they are making simple but pivotal judgments about prospects. They’re thinking, If this guy cannot stay out of trouble at the most important time of his professional life, what will he be like once he’s actually selected?

That “terribly disappointed” team? Prescott “dropped steeply” on its draft board, the executive said. It’s likely the same thing happened to varying degrees on every draft board in the league.

Who will be the next person to do something unbelievably dumb before the draft, ruining his stock? Hopefully, no one, but as history shows, it’s always someone.

There’s less than a week left until the draft. Will there be another prospect who doesn’t get it?

What’s clear is that the NFL world is different. It changed dramatically after the Ray Rice and Greg Hardy debacles, which not only put domestic violence in football on the front pages but initiated national discussions and forced teams to take harder looks at who exactly was populating their rosters. This included college players.

Now, let’s not be silly. If a chainsaw-wielding, ski mask-wearing goon ran a 4.3 and had a 45-inch vertical, he’d get drafted. Teams would just ask him to leave the chainsaw in the locker room.

Teams still crave talent, and they will still overlook certain things. Serious crimes, especially violent ones and domestic crimes, however, will lead to a player going undrafted. That’s the big change from just a few years ago. Prescott, for example, will still get selected despite the charge of driving under the influence.

…

continue reading in source www.bleacherreport.com