Plenty of NFL franchises were sent back into the draft room on Friday as news surfaced from NFL Media's Albert Breer and Ian Rapoport that Florida State cornerback P.J. Williams was arrested on a DUI charge.
Such a transgression certainly is not viewed positively by teams and is especially troublesome for Williams' draft stock coming less than four weeks from when the picks will be made. NFL Media analyst Mike Mayock checked around the league with various personnel and reported on NFL Network's "Path to the Draft" that the defensive back might not slide as far back as some would think when all is said and done.
"He looked really good during positional workouts and I felt he generated a positive buzz from a bunch of NFL coaches and scouts that I talked to (at pro day) in Tallahassee," Mayock said. "I talked to six or seven teams this afternoon and here's kind of the overall feedback: it's, first off don't overreact, let's make sure we get all facts. Second of all, what it's really going to do is shine a little brighter light on this kid's character. We'll all be interested to see what's found. Let's face it: We all know about the October transgression. I think they're going to look at that more closely, plus everything this kid's been involved in.
"Now, I had an early to mid second-round grade on him. How do I think this will affect him? I think he could go anywhere from late two (second round) to the end of three (third round). But I don't think he'll fall out of the top 100 picks."
One thing that might be troubling to clubs is the DUI charge is Williams' second driving-related incident in the past six months. As Mayock noted, Williams earned notoriety in a New York Times story for leaving the scene of an accident before later returning and receiving two traffic tickets. Mayock thinks Williams could slide in a similar manner to another prospect from a few years ago.
"I think it depends on what is determined as everybody does some real heavy homework on this kid," Mayock added. "If you look back in 2012, Orson Charles, the tight end from Georgia, he went in the fourth round to Cincinnati. I had him at No. 92 in my top 100. Effectively, it cost him plus or minus a round, and this is a very similar situation."
Williams -- NFL Media analyst Daniel Jeremiah's No. 35 overall prospect in the draft -- will no doubt be scrambling over the next few days to set up visits and phone calls with interested teams in order to explain his actions and try to convince general managers and coaches that the DUI is an isolated incident.
You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.
