Projected Top-10 NFL Draft Pick Had Flagged Drug Test at Combine: Report

2020 NFL Draft offensive line rankings

Getty Mekhi Becton of the Louisville Cardinals

Former Louisville offensive tackle Mekhi Becton has enjoyed one of the more meteoric rises of any prospect ahead of this year’s NFL Draft. However, with less than a week until the event, the offensive tackle may have just seen his stock take a fairly large hit.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Becton is one of multiple players who had their “drug tests flagged at the NFL Combine.” The potential top-10 pick never failed a drug test during his days at Louisville, however, the flagged test will place him into Stage 1 of the NFL Drug Program, per CBA rules.

Rapoport added that If Mekhi Becton has no further flagged tests or issues in 60 days, “he will thereafter assume the same status as Players who have never been referred to the Intervention Program.”


Former NFL Player Responds to Becton’s Failed Test

TJ Lang is a former 10-year NFL pro who captured a Lombardi Trophy in 2010 with the Green Bay Packers before closing out his career as a member of the Detroit Lions.

Like many of us, Lang caught wind of Beton’s flagged drug test from Rapoport’s tweet, and apparently he’s not too concerned, evident by his take shown below.

Lang, of course, is reiterating to the infamous gas mask video of Laremy Tunsil that leaked moments before the 2016 NFL Draft, causing him to spiral down draft boards in real-time.

Tunsil has since developed into one of the premier offensive tackles in football with the Houston Texans, and is on the verge of breaking the bank on a new deal.


Becton’s Stock Has Taken a Dip of Late

Rewind to the end of the college football season and Mekhi Becton was on essentially on no one’s radar as a potential first-round pick in this year’s draft, at least from a media standpoint.

That is, until NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah shocked many by plugging the towering Becton into the top-five of his initial 2020 Mock Draft. Jeremiah had Becton landing with the offensive tackle-needy New York Giants with the fourth-overall selection. From there, other draft experts followed suit.

However, since then Becton’s allure has somewhat died down. By no means has Becton’s stock completely slumped. However, he appears to be on the outside looking in when it comes to potentially landing in New York, as “buzz” has continued to grow around Jedrick Wills being the Giants’ offensive tackle of choice.

We’ve also seen recent hot takes regarding Becton where Pro Football Focus stated he has the potential of being the “biggest draft reach in recent memory.” While an anonymous scout even went as far as to question his love for the game, stating “he loves to cook and eat more than he loves frigging football.”

Don’t expect Becton’s to go tumbling down draft boards due to one flagged drug test. The Louisville product has something you can’t teach, he’s 6-foot-7-inches and moves like a man 100-pounds lighter than his nearly 365-pound listed weight.

Teams will continue to line up for the possibility of working with a player of his elite traits. With that said, teams on the outskirts of the top-10 may be able to get their hands on Becton after a few weeks of bad press, something that seemed improbable just a month ago.

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