NFL Draft 2017: Why Reuben Foster will drop after failed drug test

3. More than just a positive test?

There have been off the field concerns about Reuben Foster since the beginning. But none of them were significant enough to warrant a red-flag in the draft process. However, a lot of small things can add up to become a major concern.

One of the off-field concerns center around his childhood friends. Teams are concerned that his friend structure may lead to more off field concerns. Foster has tried to alleviate those concerns, according to NFL.com.

"“I came from a rough environment, I’m my own man. Growing up, those were the people from my neighborhood. At college, my teammates became my family.”"

Teams understand that players cannot control how they grew up but only how they can live now. Still the background does concern some teams.

The first major issue for Foster came at the NFL Scouting Combine. While waiting his turn for medical checks, Foster reportedly got into an altercation with a “student medical worker”. He objected to the way he was being treated. Foster was sent home from the Combine.

Teams will do their due diligence. Even NFL.com draft analyst Mike Mayock did not seem to think it will affect his draft status. Per an NFL.com report he stated:

"“Unless it becomes more than what we’ve heard, I don’t think it’s really going to impact him.”"

Most teams seem to agree that the Combine incident would not affect his draft status.

Then the news of the failed drug test came out.

Foster did the right thing by trying to get ahead of the story. He began calling NFL teams to tell them the news himself and explain what happened. He decided he needed to break the news because

"This is something that’s going to get out. I don’t make excuses. I’m a real dude. I try to be a good person. … I just hope the coaches understand and that’s all I can hope and pray for."

Foster explains that the failed test was due to food poisoning.

"“I couldn’t eat much, but I had to drink water and Gatorade,” said Foster, who began the process as the consensus top linebacker based on his game tape and measurables. “Then a few coaches said something about me being too light. And I’m a coach-pleaser. I don’t care what everybody thinks, but I care what coaches think. So I drank and ate as much as I could without throwing up. Then I went in there, drinking and drinking water, trying to flush out my system from whatever was making me sick and trying to keep my weight up and took the test.”"

Foster will enter the season in the Substances of Abuse program but that does not seem to phase him much. “Put me in the program,” he said. “Test me.”

All taken on their own, these incidents could be dismissed. But when they come in a conglomerate like this, they begin to take their toll. Teams become leery of guys with multiple medical and off-field concerns.

But will all of this affect his draft status? The experts are divided on when answering this question.