Some prospects are often topics of heated debates among evaluators, especially if they're failing to live up to preseason hype or having off-field issues that lead to questions about their intangibles.
Who is the most polarizing player in college football? I reached out to five NFL personnel executives to get their answer. Here are their responses:
Executive 1: Robert Nkemdiche, DT, Ole Miss
"I'm sure you'll here this name a bunch. Nkemdiche is very talented, but he's also very troubled. There will be some interesting discussions."
Executive 2: Nkemdiche
"Easy. It's Nkemdiche. He's very talented (but) there are a lot of issues off the field."
Executive 3: Connor Cook, QB, Michigan State
"Some will be blindsided by the talent and look past the intangibles."
Executive 4: Cardale Jones, QB, Ohio State
"He's very gifted, but the guy got benched. Grades will be all over the lot on him."
Executive 5: Cook and Christian Hackenberg, QB, Penn State
"It's always the quarterbacks. Opinions will vary."
Verdict: That's two votes for Nkemdiche, one and a half for Cook, one for Jones and a half vote for Hackenberg.
Conclusion: I'm not surprised by any of these answers. Nkemdiche has big-time talent, but his latest off-the-field issue is a bad look for him and it has evaluators scurrying to collect more background information. The quarterback position will always elicit a variety of opinions because evaluators place different values on specific traits.
Follow Daniel Jeremiah on Twitter @MoveTheSticks.
