Ole Miss Football: Robert Nkemdiche NFL Draft stock plummets after fall, marijuana charge
Robert Nkemdiche was charged with possession of marijuana one day after he was hospitalized for falling out of a hotel window.
Ole Miss defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche has the potential to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, but after falling out of a fourth floor hotel and getting charged with marijuana possession, how much has the Rebel damaged his draft stock?
The 6-4, 296-pound Nkemdiche was named a second-team All-American on Sunday but hours earlier Nkemdiche fell out of a broken out hotel window, tried to climb a wall and fell 15 feet to the ground. He had cuts to his back and leg that required stitches and was conscious on the scene, but Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze hasn’t said whether Nkemdiche will be physically available or otherwise for the Sugar Bowl against Oklahoma State.
When the news broke about Nkemdiche’s fall the instant reaction was how could something like this happen and how is it possible that he tried to walk it off and he didn’t suffer any significant injuries or worse. As Freeze said, Nkemdiche is lucky he wasn’t on the 10th floor because this could have been a tragedy.
Won't get into all details, but gist is that Nkemdiche falls four floors and actually gets up and tries to walk it off.
— David Ching (@davidching77) December 14, 2015
It’s almost impressive Nkemdiche wasn’t hurt worse. How he avoided broken bones and/or potential head trauma will undoubtedly have some NFL scouts and talent evaluators lauding Nkemdiche’s toughness and pain threshold after he tried to dust himself and walk it off. That’s the old school line of thought after all.
It’s not so much the fall that NFL teams will be concerned about that could hurt Nkemdiche’s chances of being the potential No. 1 overall pick, it’s what happened in the hotel room before the window was broken out and the marijuana cigarettes were rolled.
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The seven marijuana cigarettes found in the hotel is what will have NFL teams concerned about potentially drafting Nkemdiche. Character counts more than ever in the NFL and if you are a risk to be suspended by the NFL’s substance abuse drug policy because you’re a marijuana user, you’re going to fall on draft boards.
It happened last year with Former Missouri outside linebacker and SEC Defensive Player of the Year Shane Ray who was a projected top-five pick before he was cited for marijuana possession before the draft and slid to the No. 23 pick. It hurt Nebraska defensive end Randy Gregory, a projected top-15 pick, who failed a drug test at the combine and slid to the bottom of the second round.
A player Nkemdiche has similar traits and abilities is former Miami Hurricanes defensive tackle Warren Sapp who had a Hall of Fame career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But he never would have been on the Buccaneers if not for reports of a failed drug test for cocaine and marijuana. Sapp would have been a top-two pick, but NFL teams didn’t want to invest a first round pick, millions of guaranteed dollars and the keys to the franchise to a guy who may flake on them.
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Nkemdiche has Sapp-like ability when he’s healthy. He can play a three-technique in a 4-3 defense or he can be a end in a 3-4 front. Anywhere you line him up, he’s going to command attention. His potential has outweighed his production (17 tackles for loss, 7 sacks) but before the fall and before the marijuana charge, Nkemdiche was projected to be the No. 1 pick, according to Sports Illustrated’s Chris Burke.
If you’re an NFL general manager and your job is on the line, are you going to pound the table for a player with a clean background and similar talent or are you going to do it for a player with some red flags? On the scale of red flags, marijuana possession may be on the minor side of things, but as long as it’s a banned substance in the NFL, you won’t get sympathy when you’re busted with it.
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Nkemdiche absolutely has seen his NFL Draft stock take a hit this week. But it’s also mid-December and the draft isn’t for another 4.5 months and he’ll have plenty of opportunities to raise his stock with a potential performance in the Sugar Bowl, combine with his interviews and Ole Miss’ pro day in the spring.
His draft stock has taken a hit, but he can, and will be a top-five pick if he doesn’t have any transgressions between now and the April 28 2016 NFL Draft.