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La’el Collins to enter 2016 NFL Draft if he’s not drafted on Day 2

By Patrick Schmidt

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Former LSU offensive lineman La’el Collins will not sign with any team is he’s not drafted in the first three rounds and will enter the draft next year.

La’el Collins dropped out of the first round after the former LSU Tigers offensive tackle is seeing NFL teams avoid him as he is waiting to have his name cleared in a murder investigation in Baton Rouge.

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In the days before the draft was to begin on Thursday, Collins left Chicago where the draft is being held and flew back to his home state after his ex-girlfriend was murdered. She was pregnant but the unborn child was saved and it is unknown if Collins is the father of the baby.

In the new era of the NFL where former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was recently found guilty of murder and domestic violence dominated the headlines last season, teams are wisely distancing themselves from any player with any sort of legal trouble of character issues.

Collins is not a suspect in the case, but as the days pass without him being cleared of any involvement, his chances of hearing his name called before the draft ends on Saturday are growing remote. He has already slipped out of the first round after he was projected to be taken in the first half of the first round but if he doesn’t get drafted by the end of the third round, he’s not signing with any team this year.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Collins and his representatives decided if he’s not taken in the second or third round he will not sign a contract with a team and will enter the draft next year.

Provided Collins is completely exonerated and he’s only guilty of knowing someone who was murdered this is completely unfair and incredibly sad that his professional career is beginning so rocky.

He could have been a first round pick with an eight-figure contract and a potential starting job in his grasp and now he faces a year away from football and a dark cloud hanging over his head that will always be associated with him when people mention his name. His efforts to pull out of this year’s draft and enter the supplemental draft were rebuffed so this is his last option and if he’s completely innocent, he should be upset about the situation he finds himself in.

I don’t blame NFL teams passing on Collins without any official word from the Baton Rouge Police Department because even if it’s a one percent chance that Collins is involved in any way, that risk far outweighs the potential reward.

If he goes undrafted tonight and enters the draft next year with the legal trouble behind him, he will still have the first round tools that made him a coveted prospect this year, but you better believe teams will be concerned about him spending a year away from football.

Maybe Les Miles and LSU arrange some sort of graduate assistant job for him at LSU to keep him a part of the community and around the game to make sure his mental state is as strong as his physical state.

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