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Did Laremy Tunsil drop too far in the NFL draft?
The NFL draft has come and gone, but not without controversy. And, for the first time in recent memory, the drama surrounds an offensive tackle.
▶ MIKE MAICKE
@MJ_Maicke.
It's the ultimate position of anonymity. Typically, if you're an offensive tackle and a household name, you're known by fans for the copious amounts of crucial holding penalties, not for your outstanding play.
However, there's an exception to that rule this year. The name Laremny Tunsil is now known across the nation.
Offensive linemen are always going to be underappreciated despite good—and important—play.
But no, it's not for a pivotal block or an effective pre-snap audible at the line.
For those of you who avoid the NFL draft like the plague (I'm not blaming you by the way; it's a complete bore), Tunsil was a top draft prospect from Ole Miss who was expected to be taken very early, right around the top five.
But then came the event that would change his draft positioning and reputation forever.
bong through a gas mask moments before the beginning of the NFL draft. On top of that, Tunsil's Instagram was allegedly hacked, posting what appeared to be screen shots of text messages between Tunsil and an Ole Miss staff member, indicating that Tunsil was given financial benefits at Ole Miss.
Tunsil then dropped and dropped far, all the way to the Miami Dolphins with the 13th pick.
Now excuse the ferocity of my take, but the hypocrisy of these teams that passed on Tunsil and those who condemn him is truly appalling.
Are we really going to sit here and attempt to judge Tunsil like this? I know, I know, how dare a young man attempt to change his family's life and help his mother out with finances. What a complete crime.
That judgment is essentially coming from people of completely different backgrounds who have no idea what life is like for some of these athletes whose only escape is professional sports. Their only way to give their family hope for a better future comes with football or basketball.
you about competitive D-I sports (essentially targeting football and basketball):
Most consistently competitive programs either break NCAA rules, find ways to circumvent them or lean right up against them in one way or another in order to get the top players to their university.
"But, wait, my team..."
No, stop it. Your team does it too.
This isn't an attack on players or the coaches that do give out these benefits. Most of the time these benefits are helping a poor family low on their finances.
This is an attack on the horrible hypocrites who are backward in their expectations of these athletes — the same backward hypocrites that still, in today's age with recreational marijuana being legalized in multiple states, think that smoking pot and crippling drug addiction are the same thing.
I'm rooting for you, Tunsil; you had a rotten thing happen to you, and it's blown up by the takes of people who could never picture a situation like yours.
It's time for everyone to grow the hell up and get real, and I'm not talking to you, Laremy.
EVAN RIGGS @EvanRiggsUDK
With the various incidents from players like Ray Rice, Greg Hardy and Johnny Manziel not to compare them other than in the existence of the incidents over the last year and a half, NFL teams are more wary of problems off the field than ever before.
Rest assured, Tunsil is far from the only player in the 2016 NFL draft who has smoked marijuana. Heck, it's possible this is a very common occurrence across the entire NFL.
The fact is that Tunsil already has a list of question marks thanks to
That was on full display last Thursday during the NFL draft.
That slide cost him around $7 million, according to reports from ESPN, and I have no problem with that. In fact, I think his slide was justified.
Just minutes before the draft, a video that appeared to show offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil smoking marijuana from a bong surfaced on his Twitter. Tunsil was expected to be a top five pick, but nobody was willing to take a chance on him until the Miami Dolphins, who held the 13th pick in the draft.
I have no issue with the Instagram photos that claim that he was asking his Ole Miss coaches for financial help for him and his mother, and I don't think any NFL team did either.
things other than football, and this was just the last straw.
But there are other incidents that should raise eyebrows.
Last December, Ole Miss defensive end Robert Nkemdiche fell from a fourth-story hotel window and was charged with possession of marijuana. Nkemdiche claimed that Tunsil was present during interviews related to the incident.
A week before the draft, Lindsey Miller — Tunsil's stepfather — filed a lawsuit against Tunsil and alleged a physical attack by Tunsil. Both men filed domestic violence charges against one another.
That incident had no impact on his fall in the draft and neither did accepting impermissible benefits in 2014. Improper benefits aren't a concern for an NFL team because they don't exist anywhere but the NCAA.
There are a lot of unanswered questions here, but I can't say I blame an NFL team for not wanting to inherit this situation.
The Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans were two teams that many
thought would take Tunsil, but they elected to go with Ronnie Stanley and Jack Conklin, two offensive tackles with fewer red flags.
In the NFL, if your talent outweighs your character issues, there will always be a team willing to take a chance on you.
Tunsil is definitely the most talented offensive tackle of those three. In fact, I would argue Tunsil has the talent to be a fantastic NFL player. When he was on the field at Ole Miss, he only allowed two sacks while playing against NFL-caliber defensive linemen every week in the SEC.
The problem was Stanley and Conklin are no slouches. They both have the potential to be very good NFL players with far less baggage off the field.
It would be a different situation if Tunsil had no incidents or character concerns prior to this video. But in this case, the video was the last straw.
In today's NFL, where all it takes is one poor decision by a player to create a PR nightmare, I probably wouldn't risk something as valuable as a top-10 pick on Tunsil either.
So I can't blame any of the 12 teams that passed on Tunsil for playing it safe.
- Edited by Sarah Kruger
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