2012 NFL Draft: Projecting Spots for Cliff Harris, Other Controversial Players

The college football season came to a close Monday night when Alabama shut out LSU 21-0 to win its second national championship in three years. Both Alabama and LSU featured rosters chock full of high picks in April's NFL draft, with three players probably coming off the board in the first 10 picks.

As mock drafts and all sorts of other draft speculation begin to fill up websites and sports comment boards, now is the time of year when every NFL fan becomes a sideline general manager for their favorite team and shares their opinion on whom their teams should go after in the coming draft.

With that in mind, we give you seven players who will be picked at some point in the draft, and the baggage they carry that make them somewhat risky. All carry a high potential, and any team that takes them hopes the past mistakes are in the rear-view mirror as they head toward their possible pro careers.

Let the speculating begin.

7. Michael Floyd, WR, Notre Dame

At 6'3" and 225 pounds and considered the most productive wide receiver in Notre Dame football history, you'd think Michael Floyd would be a sure thing to be a star at the next level.

Blessed with size and strength and a high football IQ, Floyd came out of prestigious Cretin-Derham Hall High School in Minnesota (the school produced baseball players Joe Mauer and Paul Molitor, Heisman Trophy-winner Chris Weinke and current NHLer Ryan McDonough) and lit it up at Notre Dame from day one as a freshman.

Red flags have gone up around Floyd, however, after being arrested three different times for alcohol-related incidents while at Notre Dame. Two citations for underage drinking while back in Minnesota in 2009, coupled with a DUI in March of 2011, have NFL teams prodding the gifted receiver a little more than usual.

Dumb mistakes to be sure, but indications are that Floyd has learned his lessons. Most draft boards have Floyd as the second- or third-best receiver available behind Justin Blackmon and either just ahead of or just behind South Carolina's Alshon Jeffery.

Floyd will have an outstanding NFL career, and we see him being off the board in the first 20 picks, not likely to get past the Chicago Bears with the 19th pick.

6. Tommy Streeter, WR, University of Miami

We're counting the 6'5", 215-pound Tommy Streeter as a controversial pick because nobody really knows what to make of him at this point.

Streeter's announcement that he would enter the draft shocked most analysts as he doesn't have a very prolific career at Miami behind him. Other than having Drew Rosenhaus as an agent, nothing Streeter has done on the field screams "big time."

Though he wasn't even a starter for Miami's first five games and only had five career catches heading into his junior year, Streeter came on hard in the second half of the season and led the Hurricanes with 46 catches for 811 yards and eight touchdowns.

What Streeter has in spades is the P word: potential. He's like a 6'10", 260-pounds high-schooler in basketball—he looks like the sky could be the limit, but he could end up being Kwame Brown.

Rosenhaus will sell him hard, and the prediction is that Streeter goes in the third round to Carolina, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville or Miami.

5. Bruce Irvin, OLB, West Virginia

First of all, we're going to give Bruce Irvin a ton of credit for getting as far as he already has. For a kid who was academically ineligible for high school football, spent time in a juvenile detention center and had to go back and get his GED, and then went from one junior college to another before landing at West Virginia, the fact that he will be drafted—and drafted high—is a huge credit to him.

But if you think that rough background and limited experience doesn't raise red flags with NFL organizations, you don't know Mel Kiper from Mel Torme.

Make no bones about it, Irvin is a tough kid and scouts love his potential as a 3-4 linebacker or even as a DE in a 4-3, but some teams may shy away from someone with his background. 

At 6'2" and 245 pounds with a ton of raw athleticism and mean streak to boot, Irvin will probably go in the late second or early third round. Irvin might look really good in a New England Patriots jersey.

4. Alameda Ta'amu, DT, Washington

Alameda Ta'amu is simply a massive human being. A human wrecking ball in the middle of the defensive line for the University of Washington, Ta'amu played this past season at 6'3" and 337 pounds and is the kind of force every team is looking for in their defensive interior.

So what's the worry?

Do you remember Southern Cal wide receiver Mike Williams, who several scouts said would eat himself out of the league, only to do so before becoming a Pete Carroll reclamation project in Seattle?

That's the same worry with Ta'amu. His weight has been as high as 390 pounds and he's played as heavy as 360. Credit must be given to Ta'amu for committing himself to staying in shape this year for the Huskies, but scouts will be poking and prodding Ta'amu like a contestant on The Biggest Loser to make sure they aren't wasting an investment on someone who can't stay fit enough to play.

The Combine will be very important for Ta'amu, he's a wild card at this point who will probably go anywhere from mid-second round to late in the third round. There is just too much on the plus side of his ledger to fall much further than that.

3. Janoris Jenkins, CB, North Alabama

Janoris Jenkins has taken the long way to the NFL.

A superb athlete, Jenkins is the kind of cover corner that all NFL teams covet in this pass-happy era of the NFL. Playing in the shadow of Joe Haden at the University of Florida, Jenkins proved himself as the heir apparent before getting booted off the squad by new coach Will Muschamp after his second offseason arrest in the spring of 2010. 

While most thought Jenkins would enter that summer's supplemental draft, Jenkins instead transferred to North Alabama, where he dominated at the lesser level.

Jenkins has everything you look for in a corner: elite athleticism, great hips and footwork and a nose for the football. Three arrests while in college will raise some question marks, however, and Jenkins will be put heavily under the microscope by anyone considering investing in him.

Bottom line: The kid can play and will be picked late in the first round or early in the second round at the latest. It would be tough for Minnesota to let him pass by if he were there at the top of the second round.

2. Vontaze Burfict, LB, Arizona State

If you didn't notice middle linebacker Vontaze Burfict in Arizona State's bowl drubbing at the hands of Boise State, it's because he didn't play. He didn't play in the second half in the last conference game against Cal either, after getting two personal fouls in the first half.

The college career of ASU's highest-profile recruit ever can only be called enigmatic at best. When he's on and playing well, Burfict is an absolute terror who simply blows people up. When he's off, he's a petulant, personal foul waiting to happen. (Just ask Oregon State quarterback Ryan Katz, who Burfict headbutted in a 2010 game.)

There might not be another player in this year's draft who has scouts more torn on what they're looking at. Is he the next Ray Lewis or the next Brian Bosworth?

At 6'3" and 250 pounds, Burfict fits the mold of the dominating middle linebacker, but he's a player who's shown incredible instinct and ability one game, only to look lost and unwilling in the next.

Like every player on this list, Burfict will be put under the microscope at the Combine and in team interviews. Teams will want to know that Burfict can refine his game and show the discipline one needs to make it at the next level. Burfict's antics could intimidate many on the college level, but he won't fool anyone in the NFL until he proves he can back it up.

Burfict is a serious wild card that could go anywhere from the middle of the first round to late in the second. The guess here is that he goes late first to early second.

1. Cliff Harris, CB, Oregon

If NFL scouts thought they were getting the disciplined, squared-away, all-business defensive back play of Cliff Harris of the 1970's Dallas Cowboys, they wouldn't hesitate to draft the 2012 Cliff Harris out of Oregon.

They're not. And when we say "out of Oregon," we mean it literally. The controversial Harris was dismissed by head coach Chip Kelly after one too many run-ins with the law during his time in Eugene. 

The mercurial cornerback's transgressions range from driving without a license or insurance to doing 108 mph on an Oregon freeway. 

On top of all that, Harris is certainly undersized at 5'11" and 180 pounds (soaking wet).

But the kid is a talent. As a sophomore he led the country with 23 passes defended and led the Pac-10 with six interceptions, including two off Andrew Luck. Harris is also an electric return man, bringing back three punts for touchdowns and was a consensus All-American that year.

He'll get drafted to be sure, but it's anybody's guess when somebody will be willing to roll the dice on an undersized screw-up. Harris will have to wow everyone at the Combine with his athletic ability and make some sense of his past in the interview process.

The guess is someone will take a shot on Harris between the fourth and sixth rounds.