NFL Draft 2017: Why Reuben Foster will drop after failed drug test
By Joel W. Cade
2. Does talent trump off-field issues?
There are some in the scouting and draftnik community that think Reuben Foster will still be a top 10 pick even after all his issues this draft season.
One expert is Mike Mayock of NFL.com.
In a recent conference call Mayock stated his belief that neither the Combine incident nor the failed drug test will affect his NFL Draft status.
"“There are some red flags there,” Mayock said on a conference call. “I think the combine incident has been wiped clean by almost every team. I think that was way overdone and the kid should not have been sent home. That’s my opinion and most people in the league believe that. “As far as the diluted sample at the combine, that’s always really disappointing and has to be taken into consideration. I think the shoulder is apparently going to be OK from a re-check perspective, I don’t see him sliding all that far. I think he’s a top-20 pick all day long in any draft. Could he have been a top-10 pick? He still might be a top-10 pick.”"
One thing is always true in the NFL, talent trumps off-field issues.
Mayock is not alone in thinking Foster will be just fine come draft night. NFL.com Media Analyst Charlie Casserly believes that if Foster handles this correctly, his draft status will remain unaffected by his diluted sample/failed drug test.
"Based on what I know of Foster — and granted, while I know him as a football player, I’m not extremely familiar with him on a personal level — this initially seems like the kind of thing that’s a one-time incident. He doesn’t have a history of misbehavior that I know of. So if he’s open and honest with team brass about what went down — and gives a compelling explanation of why it won’t happen again — this shouldn’t affect his NFL draft stock. The worst thing a player can do is get caught in a lie. You’ve already made one mistake — don’t make a second. Just admit it and move on — NFL teams will follow suit."
While these experts think his stock won’t be affected, just take a look at how far Laremy Tunsil fell last year.