ESPN’s Mark Schlereth: Nebraska’s Randy Gregory ‘will be a good player, but maybe not a great character guy’
Apr 27, 2015, 11:29 PM | Updated: 11:42 pm
If Nebraska’s Randy Gregory falls to the Arizona Cardinals at number 24 on Thursday it won’t be because of anything he has done on the field.
Gregory ranks ninth on Nebraska’s all-time sack list with 17.5, which he accumulated in only two seasons. As a junior in 2014, Gregory was named 2014 second-team All-American (FWAA) and first-team All-Big Ten (Media, Coaches).
But after testing positive for marijuana at the NFL Scouting Combine in February his stock has taken a hit.
“Randy Gregory is in the Marijuana program, and once you are in the program, you are tested highly and consistently,” ESPN anlayst Mark Schlereth told Bickley and Marotta on Arizona Sports 98.7FM. “That is the big issue and reason why he slips and (Jameis) Winston doesn’t. Gregory will be a good player, but maybe not a great character guy.”
Last week, Cardinals’ GM Steve Keim weighed in on the risk players like Gregory pose.
“It’s tough. When you see a guy with a tremendous amount of talent but he’s got off-field issues, you’re thinking to yourself, ‘what kind of kid really is he?'” Keim said. “But, at the end of the day, you realize through years of experience that guys either don’t make it because they have off-field issues, they have injuries, they can’t learn it or they don’t love it enough. Those are really to me the four principles of why guys don’t make it. You look at players and you say, ‘is he a complete player? Does he play hard? Does he play smart? Does he play physical?’ If you can check the boxes there, I think you have a chance.”
On the flipside there’s always the chance things go south. Take Cleveland Browns receiver Josh Gordon, for example. One of the most talented receivers in the NFL, he only played in five games last season and is currently suspended for the 2015 season due to violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
“Teams get really concerned about losing a guy because he’s gonna get suspended because he enters the league already in the substance abuse program,” Schlereth said.
The 2015 NFL Draft starts Thursday in Chicago.
