5) Nate Harris, inside linebacker, Louisville.
Harris and a friend used a gun to rob a man of a bracelet, a ring, and a necklace while the man was playing checkers in Miami Beach. The armed-robbery rap cost him a scholarship at Miami (which at the time was busy recruiting crime-superstar linebacker Willie Williams for that same position) and left him the only entrant in this draft with prison/boot camp experience. He’s a fourth without the rap, a seventh at best right now.
6) Ramonce Taylor, running back, Texas.
Taylor is this year’s “supernaturally large quantity of marijuana” entrant. Last May he was caught by police with live .40-caliber ammo in his car and a backpack containing more than five pounds of marijuana, a second-degree felony punishable by 2–20 years in prison. Apparently he was on his way to settle a dispute. He looks like a seventh right now; the weed bust probably cost him a round.
7) Marvin Mitchell, inside linebacker, Tennessee.
Mitchell got a disorderly conduct arrest last May after he threatened to “knock out” another customer at a campus-area Rocky Top market in the middle of the night. Minus the arrest, the Pats might have been looking at him, but not now.
8) Ryan Moore, wide receiver, Miami (Fla).
Moore is your basic girl-choking wideout. Last August, he grabbed a woman by the neck, threw her to the ground, grabbed another woman and assaulted her, then kicked in the door of the car belonging to one of them. He also sucks. Look for him to end up an undrafted free agent for the Fish.
9) Justin Medlock, placekicker, UCLA.
A kicker who gets a DUI arrest is unacceptable. He goes undrafted. Interestingly, and oddly, another draft-worthy kicker — Darren McCaleb of Southern Mississippi — was also arrested for hitting his girlfriend in 2005. I doubt any draft in history has ever featured two kickers with arrest records.
10) Juwan Simpson, linebacker, Alabama.
Simpson was pulled over last year and caught with the usual: baggie of weed, stolen handgun. The arresting officer had a narc dog. He got hit with possession, receiving stolen property, and carrying. Look for him to go in the sixth round. Pats fans take note: he might go to us.
11) Bo Smith, defensive back, Weber State.
This draft’s bar-fight champion, Smith was bashed in the head with a baseball bat. Like Oklahoma linebacker Rufus Alexander, who was arrested for his part in a fight he didn’t start, teams appear to have absolved Smith for the bar fracas. Syracuse’s Tanard Jackson is a third fight survivor, having been stabbed in the chest in 2004.
12) Tony Franklin, defensive back, Virginia.
Franklin has been frequently linked to the Patriots in draft rumors, but uncharacteristically for players who have aroused the attention of Belichick and Co., he has a weed bust in his past. He’ll go in the fifth and don’t be surprised if he ends up in Foxboro.
There are others with spotty pasts — Duane Coleman of Clemson, Brandon Meriweather of Miami, and K-State’s Thomas Clayton come to mind — but the list actually isn’t as long as it has been in the past. Plus, there are no top-10 picks with serious flags. Tune in next week to see who paid the most for his crimes.
Matt Taibbi can be reached atM_Taibbi@yahoo.com.
