If Robert Nkemdiche's NFL scouting evaluation doesn't suffer due to a bizarre incident in which he fell from an Atlanta hotel window over the weekend, it certainly won't be helped by a marijuana charge resulting from the police investigation into the incident.
The Ole Miss star defensive tackle, a junior who has yet to announce whether he will apply for early eligibility into the 2016 NFL Draft, has been charged with marijuana possession, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. A police report cited by the AJC indicates police found seven rolled marijuana cigarettes in Nkemdiche's Grand Hyatt hotel room. After the fall, Nkemdiche was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition. According to the police report, the Rebels' star apparently "broke the window and then walked approximately 15 feet and climbed over a wall and fell approximately 15 feet."
TMZ obtained a recording of a 911 call from the incident. On the call, a woman says the man who fell is bleeding and "didn't seem coherent."
Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze would not comment on whether Nkemdiche would be suspended for the Rebels' Sugar Bowl game against Oklahoma State.
'"I haven't sat down and spoken to him, and I owe him that," Freeze said, adding, "... You've got to see the whole thing for what it is and I haven't had the time to do that yet."
NFL Media analyst Lance Zierlein selected Nkemdiche as one of the top defensive tackles in college football entering the 2015 season. He recorded seven tackles for loss and three sacks despite suffering a concussion against Memphis that prevented him from playing the following week against Texas A&M. At 6-foot-4 and 300 pounds, Nkemdiche has started for the Rebels since he was a freshman and is among the most athletically gifted defensive linemen in the college game. So athletic, in fact, that Ole Miss has used him sparingly in his career at both running back and tight end.
If Nkemdiche applies for early draft eligibility, he will draw plenty of questions from NFL coaches and personnel executives about the hotel incident at the NFL Scouting Combine in February.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
