Despite not playing a single game last season for the Oklahoma Sooners, Dorial Green-Beckham is regarded as one of the best wide receivers in the 2015 NFL draft, and is likely to end up with either the San Francisco 49ers or the Cincinnati Bengals.
Green-Beckham has completed visits with both teams, and presents a very intriguing prospect because of his size and athleticism, but also due to the fact that he’s something of an unknown, not playing a single game for Oklahoma after transferring from Missouri, not getting the waiver approval from the NCAA, forcing him to sit a year before declaring for the draft.
There are also the off field issues. He’s been twice arrested in marijuana-related incidents, but the more worrying event has been the burglary and assault investigation by police in which he allegedly pushed a female down some stairs during the incident. He didn’t face charges from the incident, but he got kicked off the Missouri team in 2014 for the combination of things.
He had a very good 2013, catching 59 passes for 883 yards and 12 touchdowns. At 6’5, he’s drawing comparisons to Calvin Johnson and Julio Jones, but can he really be that kind of playmaker and game changer for either of these teams? Is he worth the gamble? And is marijuana still something that makes teams think twice about a player they want?
He is going to get picked lower than his talent tier, which means it’ll be either in the late first round, but if not there, it could be a very steep and drastic fall. The Bengals never shy away from rehabilitation projects, so Green-Beckham might fit there just fine. At 21st overall, that might be a decent value pick for the Bengals. The 49ers have the 15th overall pick which might be a bit early. Is he still going to be available when they pick in the second round at 46th?