NFL Media analyst Bucky Brooks believes former Missouri wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham should transfer and play another season of college football rather than sit out the year with an eye toward the 2015 NFL draft.
It's reportedly a decision Green-Beckham, who was dismissed from the Tigers' football team last month, is wrestling with as the 6-foot-6, 225-pound star contemplates his future, and he'll no doubt be receiving plenty of advice in the coming weeks.
Green-Beckham is listed as a "wild card" among Brooks' top college football wide receivers to watch in 2014, and Brooks' scouting breakdown suggests the former Missouri pass-catcher needs to refine his on-field skills as well as repair his reputation.
"DGB would be wise to make his way to an FCS school where he can continue to develop his game, while repairing his reputation as a talented, but troubled, playmaker," Brooks wrote.
Green-Beckham spent two troubled seasons at Missouri before he allegedly forced his way into his girlfriend's apartment and pushed a female resident, resulting in her falling down some stairs. He was dimissed from the program on April 11, the same week he was the subject of a police investigation into the incident.
Under NCAA transfer rules, he could play at an FCS program this fall, but would have to sit out a year if he were to transfer to another FBS school. Sitting out a year to play another season or two of college football doesn't appear to be much of an option, however, and FCS school Eastern Illinois is reportedly the destination Green-Beckham is considering.
EIU just lost record-breaking quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to the NFL draft, but Green-Beckham could have a former SEC quarterback to work with in Jalen Whitlow, who has transferred from Kentucky. That's no small consideration for a player who can't afford, along with questions about his character, to also have a drop in production due to quarterback woes.
Some wonder what Green-Beckham would ultimately have to gain by playing any more college football. Among them is Missouri football beat writer David Morrison of the Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune:
The best recent example of a sit-out year for an NFL draftee is former LSU defensive back Tyrann Mathieu. After multiple positive drug tests and his dismissal from the LSU football program, Mathieu entered rehab and returned to LSU as a student only, sitting out the 2012 season. The Arizona Cardinals subsequently picked him in the third round of the 2013 draft, and after an outstanding rookie season, Mathieu has set the stage for a promising NFL career.
Mathieu made it look almost too easy. Green-Beckham, whose circumstances aren't exactly like Mathieu's, would be foolish to assume he can take Mathieu's path and achieve the same results. That doesn't mean he won't be drafted if he sits out the year, but NFL clubs would be far more comfortable evaluating him after a third year in the college game, and a first year out of college trouble.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
