Dorial Green [Bay]-Beckham?
By Joe Byle
With the 2015 NFL Draft and combine fast approaching, the Green Bay Packers have more questions than answers in terms what to do with their 30th overall pick.
While the defense needs help at defensive line (tackle in particular), cornerback, and inside linebacker, I think the team should look elsewhere all together. That is because a 21-year-old, highly talented, physically gifted, potential superstar may be sitting there.
That player would be Dorial Green-Beckham. The 6’6″ junior from the University of Oklahoma, by way of the University of Missouri, was once the No. 1 recruit in the nation, and was exceptional in his true freshman and sophomore years at Missouri.
But while he excelled on the field, questions of his character rose from off the field incidents. Green-Beckham was arrested twice during his two years at Missouri, both being marijuana charges (he pleaded guilty to one, and was not charged with the other).
He had another incident, in April 2014, where he allegedly pushed a female student down a stairway. No charges were pursued, as the victim didn’t cooperate.
After the incident with pushing the student, Green-Beckham was soon dismissed from the Missouri football team. He would then transfer to Oklahoma but had to sit out the year due to NCAA rules. After the 2014 college football season, Green-Beckham declared for the 2015 NFL draft.
So why should a player who hasn’t played in more than a year, with considerable character issues be considered for a first-round pick?
I look at what he has done since he was dismissed from Missouri. For nine-plus months, he has managed to stay out of trouble. Although he wasn’t going to play for Oklahoma in 2014, he had to attend rehab and was subject to drug testing. The fact that he stayed quiet this year is big to me.
In a year where Jameis Winston was viewed as the unanimous top pick for 2015 before the season, he couldn’t stay out of trouble, Green-Beckham, unlike Winston, sat out the season and went without problem and helped clean up his image.
Now to the interesting part, why should Green Bay pick him? I want to preface my comments with I am making this argument with the thought that they will, should, and need to keep Randall Cobb and that Green Bay’s needs to improve on defense this offseason.
Dorial Green-Beckham is a great athlete, a 6’6″, 225-pound frame, and ran a 10.59 100 meter dash in high school; he is as physically gifted as they come.
The potential for the offense with him is unlimited. In his freshman and sophomore years, he had a combined 87 catches, 1,278 yards, and 17 touchdowns. He played well in the SEC and he didn’t have anywhere near the supporting cast he would have in Green Bay.
Missouri had some other good receivers, but not a Jordy Nelson or Cobb (Davante Adams isn’t too far behind), no Eddie Lacy, and definitely not Aaron Rodgers throwing him the ball.
With a star back in Lacy, and a solid backup in James Starks, Green Bay will probably have at least one back in the game on almost every play, and between John Kuhn or a tight end, they may not run a lot of four-wide sets, but that shouldn’t limit the role Green-Beckham would have. They could use a continuous rotation of the four wide receivers in three-wide sets to always keep one fresh.
And when they do go four-wide, the offense would be almost unstoppable. No wide receiver could be double covered, the defense would have to respect the run game, Rodgers can run it at anytime, and the O-line is coming off of its best season in years.
Aside from that, I personally think that any other player available at 30 will come with just as many questions as Green-Beckham (in terms of how they will translate to the NFL, not necessarily character), but nowhere near the potential he has.
Trading down is something that GM Ted Thompson likes to do, which depending on Green-Beckham’s stock may be an option, but I would feel as comfortable taking him at 30 as any other player, To an extent, he may be a safer pick, He won’t be the starter, and won’t be relied on as much as a player who would be drafted to play on defense.
This is just a thought where what he could bring, outweighs the need on defense. A matter of picking the best player available. The impact and potential of a player like this would be a steal at pick 30. I personally believe he would be a top 10 pick had he played last year, if not top five.
The character issues are there, but to me, he did the best thing he could do, and seemingly straightened himself out. And of course, right now it is all just a thought, if he puts on a good showing at the combine, he likely won’t be anywhere near 30. But on a list of players who realistically can be there, he is my No. 1 by far.
He has the size of a Calvin Johnson, maybe not as fast, and has been compared to A.J. Green and Kelvin Benjamin (how nice would he have been last year?)