If Florida State wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin did indeed recently blow off a workout with an NFL coach because he was too tired, it could affect his draft stock. His agent, however, is denying that happened.
On Thursday, Gil Brandt of NFL.com reported on Twitter that a source had told him Benjamin “blew off” a workout with an unnamed NFL coach who made a special trip to see him. A few hours later, Brandt updated that report and said Eugene Parker, Benjamin’s agent, told him that claim wasn’t true. Brandt, however, says he’s sticking with the story nonetheless.
So, does the truth lie somewhere in between, or is this just a case of a team trying to drop the stock of Benjamin with hopes that he will fall to them in the draft? We may never know for sure.
Perhaps Benjamin was advised by Parker not to partake in a scheduled workout after Clemson offensive lineman Brandon Thomas recently suffered a torn ACL in a pre-draft workout with the New Orleans Saints and the perhaps the coach who was scheduled to see said workout felt jilted, or was informed late. That’s just speculation on my part, but I could see something like that happening.
With less than a month to go until the draft, NFL teams interested in Benjamin will have to decide whether or not the report is true and Parker would be smart to thoroughly explain what happened if anything happened at all. Of course he owes no explanation if this is just a false claim.
Parker represents several top potential draft picks and that list includes Clemson wide receiver Sammy Watkins, who many believe will be the first player at his position to be drafted next month. The well-known agent also represented former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward during his playing days.
The Steelers appear to have some level of interest in Benjamin as they were present for his Pro Day workout and took him out to dinner the night before the event. Many believe that Benjamin will be drafted somewhere in the first round next month.
