Being a nice guy doesn't mean he is dedicated to honing is craft as a football player. He is nice to his teammates, but doesn't put the work in the gym or have the discipline to stay in shape. I don't want to use the #5 overall pick on a big athletic nice guy, who is out of shape, and lazy.
You don’t become the most dominant player on the most dominant defense in the most dominant conference in college football, by being lazy.
Football players, no matter how good, are allowed to have a human experience. Do we question Tom Brady’s commitment to football when he skips training camp to go on a trip with his family in a last ditch effort to save his marriage? Was Shelby Harris lazy when he left the team to deal with a personal matter during the season? Was Marshawn Lynch lazy when he didn’t want to practice? Was Russ lazy when the inevitable summer dad bod pick would circulate in the off-season.
What matters is what he shows in games and how he meshes with a locker room.
I think it’s fair to question his commitment to football. That’s a very valid question of any person entering a job. But it’s not like he’s been resting on college laurels. The dude was arrested during the combine, had his story plastered everywhere, has had every aspect of himself psychoanalyzed by football fans that don’t know the details of his story, the chemistry in his locker room, or even the details of the scheme he played in.
I don’t know why it’s impossible to even consider that maybe, having a public arrest and not having his plea accepted until the day AFTER his pro day, entitles a man in his early 20s to some level of grace. Everyone’s so convinced he’s this Malik McDowell clone, when he could just as easily be someone that just needs to be in a locker room again and allowed to focus on his craft instead of on this media circus that he’s been on since draft season kicked off.