Character concerns weren’t that big of a deal
Joe Mixon to the Cincinnati Bengals. It was almost too perfect. A team that has not placed much importance on character taking a young adult that was shown punching a woman on video a couple years back. Mixon’s draft stock was a topic of debate leading up to the draft with some concluding that he would end up falling out of the draft completely.
Eventually, Mixon landed with one of the four teams that decided he was worth a draft pick. This will obviously lead to questions about the Bengals’ priorities, especially with the likes of Vontaze Burfict and Adam Jones already on the roster.
A day prior, the Oakland Raiders picked up former Ohio State cornerback Gareon Conley in the first round. A top-end corner on the field, Conley was just recently accused of a felony. Though, charges have not been filed and Conley himself passed a team-orchestrated lie detector test leading up to the draft. Still, there is an ongoing investigation here. That should have been a pretty big red flag.
It really didn’t stop there. Dede Westbrook was picked up by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fourth round. Just watch this clip to understand what those around the NFL think about the former Oklahoma wide receiver.
ESPN went in on Dede Westbrook after he was drafted pic.twitter.com/FJZTujamQY
— The Spun (@TheSpun) April 29, 2017
Then, in the sixth round, Cleveland added former Florida defensive tackle Caleb Brantley. It came about a week after Brantley himself was charged with knocking a woman unconscious during a fight earlier in the month. Heck, the Browns might have admitted they made a mistake within minutes of selecting the defensive lineman.
#Browns Sashi Brown on Caleb Brantley: "Facts may come up that may prevent us from keeping him on our roster''
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) April 29, 2017
This just goes to show us how little character itself matters to NFL teams. That should be a concern for those looking at the league re-branding itself after a span of ugly off-field incidents.