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Kevin Colbert: You want to find out entire story behind character concerns
Posted by Josh Alper on April 28, 2015, 7:14 AM EDT
On Monday, Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert held his pre-draft press conference and spent some time talking about how much he liked this year’s group of outside linebacker prospects.
That meshes well with the team’s need to upgrade their defensive punch heading into next season, but the talent is only part of the package that teams have to evaluate. There’s also the issue of character, something that Colbert says the team takes seriously while evaluating prospects they’re considering adding to the roster.
It doesn’t eliminate a player from consideration by the team — the Steelers drafted tackle Mike Adams in the second round after a failed drug test at the combine — and it is something that will be of particular interest with edge rushers after Shane Ray’s arrest for marijuana possession and Randy Gregory’s positive drug test at the combine.
“You try to find out what the exact circumstance was,” Colbert said, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Why a guy was suspended. Why a guy tested positive. Why a guy got thrown off a team. I think you always look into it. You just can’t take the public part of it and think this is it. There’s a story behind everything that goes on — right, wrong or indifferent. It’s our job to get to the root of the matter and figure out whether we want to take the chance or not.”
Ray and Gregory both visited the Steelers during the pre-draft process, although Ray’s arrest just happened on Monday so the Steelers wouldn’t have had a chance to dig into it at that time.
[URL]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/04/28/kevin-colbert-you-want-to-find-out-entire-story-behind-character-concerns/[/URL]
Posted by Josh Alper on April 28, 2015, 7:14 AM EDT
On Monday, Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert held his pre-draft press conference and spent some time talking about how much he liked this year’s group of outside linebacker prospects.
That meshes well with the team’s need to upgrade their defensive punch heading into next season, but the talent is only part of the package that teams have to evaluate. There’s also the issue of character, something that Colbert says the team takes seriously while evaluating prospects they’re considering adding to the roster.
It doesn’t eliminate a player from consideration by the team — the Steelers drafted tackle Mike Adams in the second round after a failed drug test at the combine — and it is something that will be of particular interest with edge rushers after Shane Ray’s arrest for marijuana possession and Randy Gregory’s positive drug test at the combine.
“You try to find out what the exact circumstance was,” Colbert said, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Why a guy was suspended. Why a guy tested positive. Why a guy got thrown off a team. I think you always look into it. You just can’t take the public part of it and think this is it. There’s a story behind everything that goes on — right, wrong or indifferent. It’s our job to get to the root of the matter and figure out whether we want to take the chance or not.”
Ray and Gregory both visited the Steelers during the pre-draft process, although Ray’s arrest just happened on Monday so the Steelers wouldn’t have had a chance to dig into it at that time.
[URL]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/04/28/kevin-colbert-you-want-to-find-out-entire-story-behind-character-concerns/[/URL]
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