The 2017 NFL Draft has come to an end. There were a few unexpected trades that took place and surprisingly some players with character issues and past incidents with the law were taken in the first three rounds.
The diluted sample club
Michigan safety Jabrill Peppers tested positive for a diluted sample at the NFL Combine, a charge that he denied. His agent released a statement saying that he was sick, had a history of cramping and was drinking a lot of liquids. Peppers has never failed a drug test before, and this news did not seem to affect his draft stock.
The Cleveland Browns took him with the 25th pick in the first round.
Alabama linebacker Ruben Foster also tested positive for a diluted sample at the Combine. Foster also says that he was very sick, with diarrhea, cramping and that he was throwing up. He says that he visited a doctor to get medication and started to hydrate himself by drinking a lot of water. Unlike Peppers, this affected Foster's draft stock as NFL teams had plenty of other concerns about him.
Foster had surgery on a partially torn rotator cuff, and teams were questioning his future health. He also got into a heated argument with a hospital worker at the Combine, which caused him to be sent home early from the event. There have also been some teams worrying about his smarts and the company that he keeps from the rough neighborhood he grew up in.
The San Francisco 49ers traded back up into the first round to take him with the 31st pick, which was a drop has he was expected to go higher in the first round.
The actual controversial picks
Ohio State cornerback Gareon Conley was projected to be one of the top picks in the 2017 NFL Draft. However, a story broke just two days before the draft that he was under investigation in Cleveland for alleged sexual assault.
This puts teams in a difficult situation, not knowing if Conely did anything wrong or not. Conely has vehemently denied the charge against him, but he could still be indicted for the crime and have it go to trial if a prosecutor convinces a grand jury. This put some teams off since he could be found guilty. Despite this, the Oakland Raiders picked him with the 24th pick in the first round.
The Minnesota Vikings traded up to pick Florida State running back Dalvin Cook with the 41st pick in the second round. These character concerns, along with some injuries and a full running back class kept him from going earlier. In high school, he was arrested and charged with robbery. He was also detained and accused of possessing and firing a gun on campus. In both cases, all charges were dropped against him.
During his freshman year, Cook was charged with criminal mischief involving his use of a BB gun to break car windows, and police cited him for mistreating puppies by tying them directly around the neck with a heavy chain. He was also named as an 'associate' in an assault case for allegedly using a firearm.
During his sophomore season, he was accused of punching a woman outside a bar and charged with assault. He was found not guilty by a jury.
In one of the biggest surprises of the draft, the Cincinnati Bengals took Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon with the 48th pick in the second round. It was unknown when or if Mixon would be picked due to him punching a woman in the face and pleading guilty to misdemeanor assault in 2014. He served 100 hours of community service, counseling and was suspended for the season. It was not until over two years later when a video of the incident was released that the incident became a national controversy. In 2016 Mixon was also suspended one game for an incident involving his handling of a parking citation.
He allegedly tore the ticket in half and threw the pieces in the parking attendant's face.
Alabama linebacker Tim Williams was selected by the Baltimore Ravens with the 78th pick in the third round. In September 2016, he was arrested on misdemeanor charges of carrying a handgun without a permit. A plastic bag of marijuana was also found in the car, but Williams faced no charges for possessing it. At the NFL Combine, he admitted to failing multiple drug tests in college. This scared teams off from the potential first found talent after past players like Randy Gregory and Josh Gordon have been suspended multiple times for failed drug tests.
Michigan cornerback Jourdan Lewis fell to the Dallas Cowboys, who took him with the 92nd pick in the third round.
Lewis was charged, but not arrested, for misdemeanor domestic violence in March involving an incident with his girlfriend. He is alleged to have dragged her across a room by her neck and held her down during an argument. Lewis has to plead not guilty and says that he is completely innocent. He faces a trial in July over the incident.
