With the NFL Draft Looming, Prospects Should Keep It Simple: Don't Be an Idiot

Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott was in Starkville, Mississippi, in early March when he made a decision. It was a dangerous decision. It was a decision he wishes he could take back. 

Prescott was stopped for speeding around 12:45 in the morning, according to the Clarion-Ledger's Michael Bonner and Sarah Fowler. Officers believed Prescott was inebriated, and they charged him with being under the influence.

News of the arrest spread quickly across the NFL. One NFC team executive described his team's reaction as "terribly disappointed." The people on that team had come to like Prescott as a person and a player. They knew the arrest would damage him and halt what had been an ascent up draft boards.

You see this happen every year. There are always players who forget a vital lesson: When it comes to the draft, teams are watching everything, and they are making simple but pivotal judgments about prospects. They're thinking, If this guy cannot stay out of trouble at the most important time of his professional life, what will he be like once he's actually selected?

That "terribly disappointed" team? Prescott "dropped steeply" on its draft board, the executive said. It's likely the same thing happened to varying degrees on every draft board in the league.

Who will be the next person to do something unbelievably dumb before the draft, ruining his stock? Hopefully, no one, but as history shows, it's always someone.

There's less than a week left until the draft. Will there be another prospect who doesn't get it?

What's clear is that the NFL world is different. It changed dramatically after the Ray Rice and Greg Hardy debacles, which not only put domestic violence in football on the front pages but initiated national discussions and forced teams to take harder looks at who exactly was populating their rosters. This included college players.

Now, let's not be silly. If a chainsaw-wielding, ski mask-wearing goon ran a 4.3 and had a 45-inch vertical, he'd get drafted. Teams would just ask him to leave the chainsaw in the locker room.

Teams still crave talent, and they will still overlook certain things. Serious crimes, especially violent ones and domestic crimes, however, will lead to a player going undrafted. That's the big change from just a few years ago. Prescott, for example, will still get selected despite the charge of driving under the influence.

Yet Prescott, said one team personnel executive, went from a possible second-rounder to a fourth- or fifth-rounder.

So, yes, NFL teams are at times still totally and completely full of crap on this issue. But if you want to see where the NFL is headed, look no further than two teams: the Arizona Cardinals and Indianapolis Colts.

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Colts general manager Ryan Grigson did something that's extremely rare in the NFL. He admitted at his draft press conference this week that in 2012, he took chances on more character risks, when it was expected that Indianapolis wasn't going to be a good team.

Now that it has limited picks, Grigson said he has to be more careful.

“Was I willing to take more risks in 2012 because everyone thought we were going to stink? Yes, sure,” the general manager said. “But you know what? I’ll say this: When you have only six picks, when you have limited resources—meaning you don’t have an abundance of draft picks, you don’t have an abundance of cash—you’ve got to really knock this out of the park.”

Translation: can't waste limited picks on a player who might rob a bank down the road.

This type of public admission doesn't generally happen.

In Arizona, for the first time in the franchise's history, the team assigned grades for personal character and for football character. So it grades a prospect for football character, and for personal character.

According to the story of the Cardinals' draft, coach Bruce Arians said in a news conference on Tuesday the two grades were "standing there staring you in the face."

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

I heard something about this system last year from an Arizona scout, but I didn't think the Cardinals would actually implement it. Often, teams talk about emphasizing character then look for ways to get out of emphasizing character. It's always funny watching teams justify taking a turd. There's more dancing around the subject than rhythmic gymnastics.

I'm not certain how many teams do what the Cardinals do—I don't think there are any others. Character evaluation becomes part of the overall process and isn't singularly evaluated. So the Cardinals are actually taking character in draft prospects seriously. Very seriously. This is a good thing.

"There may be players who have had some issues off the field," general manager Steve Keim said during Tuesday's news conference. "A lot of these college kids make mistakes. It’s a great balance to understand, ‘OK, he’s made some mistakes, but his football character is tremendous. He’s been a hard worker, has great intangibles, he’s a great teammate.’ So if we’re willing to take a risk, it’s going to be a risk on a guy who has great football character."

The Cardinals still might take a bad guy or two, like every team, but a grade assigned specifically to character is an interesting change. 

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

The awareness of character issues has become so huge that, at the combine, I was staggered by how many players apologized for their mistakes. It was an apology tour. Chase Goodbread of NFL.com summed it up perfectly:

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They all put their best foot forward, but one of them, Ole Miss DL Robert Nkemdiche, stepped into something of a mess.

Then there was Eastern Kentucky's Noah Spence, who was peppered with questions about the two failed drug tests that got him ousted from Ohio State, and the constant string of drug tests he's since passed that gives NFL clubs some assurances about his behavior while at EKU. Baylor DE Shawn Oakman addressed his dismissal from Penn State, and Ohio State DL Adolphus Washington apologized for his arrest for soliciting prostitution and his subsequent suspension from the Fiesta Bowl. OSU DE Joey Bosa declined to discuss his suspension for the Buckeyes' 2015 season-opener in any significant detail, saying he would address it with NFL clubs 'one-on-one.'

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As for Prescott, he issued his apology as well. Prescott said he takes "complete responsibility for my actions. I’m very remorseful for my misjudgment. I want to apologize to my true supporters, my family, Mississippi State University, the NFL and the kids who look up to me. I won’t ask for forgiveness; however, I’ll show the true man I am and exhibit my character through my actions and behavior moving forward."

Will there be another Prescott? Hopefully not.

But probably so.

Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report.