The NFL combine is coming up this week in Indianapolis and Georgia linebacker Alec Ogletree has started off on the wrong foot, as he was arrested earlier in the month for DUI, according to ProFootballFocus.com.
Ogletree is considered to be one of the top linebacker prospects in college football and decided to declare for the draft right after the Bulldogs' win against Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl in January. Ogletree led the team with 13 tackles and had one sack with a forced fumble in the game.
Along with Jarvis Jones, Ogletree formed one of the best linebacker tandems in the country and finished with 11 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks in 10 games.
Ogletree is considered to have top-10 draft talent and ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. has him rated as the eighth overall pock in the draft, writing that he is "a great pursuit player and a guy who will shoot gaps and make stops in the backfield." Ogletree is 6-foot-3, 237-punds and has a combination of speed and skills that reminds scouts of Denver linebacker Von Miller.
The DUI arrest could knock down his value, leaving some of the teams drafting later to decide whether he is character risk now or not. Ogletree began his career as a safety before moving to linebacker as a sophomore and he missed the first four games this season after failing a drug test during spring practice.
If his stock is hurt in the draft, it could be to other teams' benefit, as they could get a top 10 draft pick later in the draft, much like what happened when Randy Moss came out of Marshall and was drafted by the Vikings after being passed over by a number of teams.
Georgia has a number of players that could be taken in the first round, including Jones, who is likely to be a top-five draft pick. The combine will be a chance for Ogletree to show off his physical skills along with players like Manti Te'o, Matt Barkley, Matt Glennon, Geno Smith and many more.
Players will be tested at the combine on speed, agility, strength, positional drills as well as mental aptitude. The NFL is providing live coverage of the event all week on NFL Network as well as NFL.com.
According to ESPN.com, Ogletree's agent told the website about the incident in a statement.
"Last weekend, my client Alec Ogletree was pulled over for speeding and a lane violation in Arizona," agent Pat Dye told the website. "After the officers smelled alcohol, they conducted tests and also cited him for DUI. Although Alec regrets this incident terribly, he is thankful that there was no accident and that no one was hurt. Because this matter is still pending, we cannot comment further publicly at this time."
