Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett is one of the most interesting players entering the 2011 NFL draft. You have a player that has the physical skill set to be successful but there have been several reports of "character concerns" with Mallett. No one has really qualified what that means other than to cite "rumors" of his drug use.
To date, no one has found any hard evidence that those "rumors" are accurate but they're consistently connected to Mallett. Nolan Nawrocki of Pro Football Weekly wrote this week that one GM said Mallett admitted to his drug use during an interview.
One GM said Mallett was the first quarterback ever to admit his drug usage to him in interviews, and his willingness to be honest about his past and acknowledge issues is viewed as a positive. Concerns about his history of use could impact his draft position, though.
He hasn't addressed the issue with the media which is probably the best move. What matters is what the teams know so it makes sense for him to keep that information between them.
So where will Mallett go in the 2011 NFL draft? He went to the Seattle Seahawks with the 25th pick in SB Nation's 2011 NFL mock draft. It's hard to get a clear picture on where he'll land but the end of the first round, or the beginning of the second round is a good guess.