How players can drop in the draft Every year there are storylines that impact the draft, usually these revolve around the battle to be the number one pick or who will be the first quarterback to be selected, for an example of this just have a look at the political war that Brady Quinn has been waging these last few weeks, a war that he is destined to lose by the way because he just isn’t as good as he thinks he is. The appearance of work out warriors that have had franchise changing impact on certain teams draft boards, names that come to mind include Matt Jones, Brian Bosworth, Brian Urlacher, Adam Archuleta, Akili Smith, Mike Mamula, Jevon Kearse, Chris Hovan and of course Tony Mandarich. Sometimes a rule change can impact a draft board or should impact a draft board, in recent years with the pass interference rules being tweaked following the 2005 AFC title game, this change has had one of the larger impacts because it has changed the relative value of the so called ‘shut-down corner’, some even believe that the shut-down corner no longer exists following these rule changes. The Pacman "Game Over" influence Yet this year we have seen a story line that relates to the draft that could have a far greater impact, than any of the typical draft events and even more than a substantial on the field rule change such as pass interference and no I’m not talking about the Calvin Johnson declaring for the draft or the Detroit Lions tying to hold everyone to ransom over the second pick. I’m talking about the alleged pre dawn shooting that took place in a Las Vegas Casino during the NBA All Star weekend, an infamous event that the now suspended Adam “Pac-Man” Jones was said to present at. Now I’m not saying that this alleged incident was the reason for the implementation of Roger Goodell’s “Zero-Tolerance” policy on player conduct, but it may have been the straw that broke the camels back in this case, then again it could have been any of a number of incidents involving NFL players and personnel in the last 2 years. For a number of years it appears that the Cincinnati Bengals have more than any other NFL franchise being willing to take a chance on undoubted first round talent that had character issued that allowed them to fall to the 2nd or 3rd round, working under the principal that talent will win out in the end. Given that in recent years the Bengal’s player’s appearances in court could easily outnumber the quantity of Bengal’s appearance in the playoffs, this in the long run may not be the best policy. Justice not being done In all fairness I believe that in recent drafts that the character issues have become increasingly more important to some teams. Last year Winston Justice fell all the way from a top 15 pick past the Buccaneers and was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles early in the second round, I believe that this fall in draft status had more to do with his character than it did with his talent level. Justice is just that type of talented prospect who would have had his character issued overlooked because of the on the field abilities he brings to game day, Justice missed the entire 2004 season for USC after team conduct violations (a charge of solicitation of prostitution in 2003 and exhibition of a replica firearm in 2004). With the new conduct policy apparently in place the drafting of a prospect with red flags like these appear have much more dire consequences than in previous drafts. Many draft experts have been projecting the draft position of these prospect since probably mid way through the junior year in high school, it is true that some prospects were previously downgraded because of character issues but since the ruling came down from the NFL in regards to Pac-Man and Chris Henry I have seen little if any movements in the draft stock of these prospects. I think that it is foolish and naïve to believe that the results of the draft have not been altered dramatically by this change in policy, the teams were already becoming cautious of these type of prospects right now they should be almost scared of drafting them. I don’t care how talented a prospect is, if he’s not on the field, he is not an asset and could be just a wasted pick. The big character risks in this draft These are some of the bigger names in the draft with questions about there character that may be more significant following the new conduct policy (Round predictions are according to the current projections published on Pro Football weekly’s web site) Jarvis Moss (1st round) he was suspended for one game in his junior season, officially the suspension was for a violation of team’s rules. The exact reason was never confirmed by the school or coaching staff. Brandon Meriweather (1st Round) Was heavily involved in the ugly scenes from the on the field fight between Miami and FIU, was caught stamping on an FIU team member. He was also involved in a shooting incident, his team member Willie Cooper was shot at and Meriweather returned fire, while his actions may have saved Cooper from further injury the fact he was involved in such an incident has to be a concern. Eric Wright (2nd Round) Was arrested on suspicion of rape and the police discovered him with a large number of ecstasy pills, he transferred from USC to UNLV before he was expelled. Tarell Brown (3rd Round) Missed the Ohio State game after Gun and Drugs charges were brought against him. Troy Smith (4th Round) Transferred to a new school in high school after he was kicked off the basketball team following an in game elbowing incident, in college he was charged and found guilty of disorderly conduct when he and Steelers Wide Receiver Santonio Holmes were involved with a fight on campus with 5 women which resulted in a smashed car window and a women reporting a broken jaw. Marcus Thomas (5th Round) Was suspended for 5 games early in his senior season after he failed a test for Marijuana, this was his second failed test. Shortly after he rejoined the team he was kicked off after failing to live up to the conditions for his return to the team. He went to an out of town trip (believed to be a party in Orlando) rather than attend a mandatory drug-education class.