First round NFL draft dreams uncertain for MSU's Malik McDowell
EAST LANSING – On a balmy August day inside Spartan Stadium, Malik McDowell delivered a blustery declaration.
He did not plan to leave Michigan State early even if he was projected to be a top-10 NFL draft pick.
“If I’m not top three,” he said that afternoon, “I don't leave. … It's one through three, that's the only way I'm going.”
Things changed. He decided to leave after his junior season. Now, the Southfield native will be confronting a different reality Thursday night in Philadelphia.
McDowell will be there, waiting to hear his name called among the 32 first-round picks. But there also is a good chance he might not hear it until Friday, during the second and third rounds.
MORE MSU DRAFT COVERAGE:
For Michigan State TE Jamal Lyles, Lions workout 'a dream'
Spartans' Josiah Price enjoying 'crazy process' of NFL draft prep
Tyler O'Connor turns to Drew Stanton for quarterback help
Montae Nicholson: 'No regrets' leaving Michigan State to pursue NFL
NFL teams quiz Michigan State prospects, want facts about 3-9 season
A number of draft analysts and anonymous NFL talent evaluators believe the 6-foot-6, 295-pound McDowell is one of the best defensive linemen in this year’s draft class based on pure physical ability alone.
However, no one seems to be focusing on his statements on the field. It’s all questions.
About his character. About his work ethic. About his injury history.
ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay’s opinions alone show how polarizing McDowell’s draft stock is right now.
McShay had McDowell going at No. 26 to Seattle in his most recent mock draft, but he dropped him to No. 41 on his final overall rankings. The analyst wrote that McDowell has the third-highest ceiling in the draft (behind LSU RB Leonard Fournette and Miami TE David Njoku). He also lists McDowell as the player with the third-most character concerns based on his on-field, saying he “could easily go boom or bust.”
“Coming into the year, I thought he was one of the 10 best prospects and I think he's the most naturally talented interior defensive lineman rushing the quarterback in this class,” McShay said on a teleconference last week. “As the losses started to pile up, the effort started to go in the tank. … I can understand how teams are going to pass on him because of the risk of using a first-round pick on a player that you think could potentially quit on you.”
McDowell played both inside at tackle and outside at end for MSU during its 3-9 season, totaling 34 tackles and 1.5 sacks in nine games while dealing with injuries all season. He missed the Spartans’ final three games in 2016 before opting to bypass his final year of eligibility, finishing his MSU career with 7.5 sacks and 90 tackles over 36 games, including 24.5 for lost yardage.
MORE MALIK MCDOWELL:
Westside Cubs to pros: Michigan trio on verge of living out NFL dream
NFL Network draft analyst: 'No effort' from MSU's Malik McDowell
ESPN analysts split over whether Malik McDowell will go in first round
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. listed McDowell as his No. 3 player on his Big Board back in late September; Kiper dropped McDowell to 38th on his final pre-draft board. Only one of six NFL Network experts’ mock drafts have McDowell going in the first round.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that a number of NFL executives also remain split on McDowell:
* An AFC executive: “Taking character out of the equation, McDowell should be the second pick in the draft. If anybody tells you differently, they’re playing possum.”
* Another NFL team personnel employee: “Worst interview in our room at the combine. Completely sucked the life out of the room. He’s everything that’s wrong with the modern athlete. Been entitled his whole life. Not a worker. Doesn’t practice. Asks to be taken out of games all the time. Rolls his ankle and you’d think he had three compound fractures the way that he reacts. It’s hard enough with guys that aren’t (expletive).”
* An NFC North scout: “He has a chance to be a dominant player in our league. I mean dominant. It hasn’t turned on for him all the way yet but if it does, he could be like Mario Williams. He’s just a little lazy, and I worry about whether he is going to be a self-starter.”
* An NFC talent evaluator: “This guy is an undisciplined and indifferent kind of a player. He’s so gifted but he’s kind of his own man. You’d have to have a coach that could relate to him, that he trusted. If you did the guy could be as good as these other guys.”
That uncertainty could make McDowell one of the most interesting – and last sitting – prospects sitting among the 22 attendees in Philly. He said at the NFL Draft Combine that he still feels he should be a top-5 pick “because I’m a good player.” He brushed off concerns about his character and work ethic, saying, “that is not a problem at all.” He said the injuries prevented him from playing more in his final season at MSU.
And he explained the Spartans’ free-fall with six words that fit a fate that’s now out of his own control.
“You win some,” he said, “you lose some.”
Contact Chris Solari:csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.