Oklahoma wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham can't show NFL scouts much of anything these days, except perhaps for his practice performance, while he sits out a year under NCAA transfer rules.
But if there is a positive to come from the former Missouri star's first few months with the Sooners, it's silence. Green-Beckham's checkered past demands a new track record of staying out of trouble at OU, and the way wide receivers coach Jay Norvell tells it, the third-year sophomore is doing just that.
"He's like a different guy," Norvell said, according to The Oklahoman. "He's been working really hard and doing a lot of great things off the field too. ... He's growing and maturing."
Green-Beckham helped Missouri reach the SEC Championship Game last season, racking up 883 receiving yards and 12 touchdown catches. But his run-ins with the law -- two marijuana-related arrests and a burglary investigation in which he was not charged but allegedly pushed a female down some stairs -- resulted in his dismissal from the school. As a third-year sophomore, Green-Beckham could enter the NFL draft as early as next year. But indications are that he plans to stay at least long enough to play for the Sooners in 2015.
Norvell said Green-Beckham did not attend OU's loss to Kansas State on Saturday due to a recent foot injury.
"Ever since he was a young kid, he's been the star of his team and playing," Norvell said. "I think he's gotten a chance to step back from the whole thing and kinda maybe see the game in a different light. I think it's helped his maturity. I think it's helped him appreciate it."
The NFL is in the process of strengthening its personal conduct policy to better address domestic violence among its players. As such, college players with any history of violence toward women, alleged or otherwise, figure to be evaluated with more scrutiny by NFL clubs in their scouting evaluations for the draft. Green-Beckham and former Texas Christian defensive end Devonte Fields, who was also dismissed and transferred, are two such players.
Both will try to rehabilitate their reputations with their new schools (Fields is playing at Trinity Valley Community College) along with maintaining their on-field skills.
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