With less than 24 hours to go now before the start of the 2015 NFL Draft, things aren’t looking too positive for LSU tackle La’el Collins, who many have rated as one of the top offensive lineman in this year’s draft.
According to multiple reports Wednesday evening, Collins has yet to meet with detectives in Baton Rouge who are handling the recent murder of Brittney Mills, a former girlfriend of his. As of Wednesday evening, neither Collins nor his attorney had contacted detectives to schedule an interview, according to Ross Dellenger and Ben Wallace of the New Orleans Advocate. Tuesday evening it was reported that Collins is not a suspect, however.
Several Wednesday evening reports are also suggesting that more than a few teams have removed Collins from their draft boards ahead of Thursdays first-round and you cant really blame them for doing that being as the LSU offensive lineman has yet to completely clear his name. Collins was in Chicago for the draft when the original story broke Tuesday evening but has since left to return to Baton Rouge.
Just texted a league executive asking whether or not La'el Collins was clear on his board right now or not. His response, "clearly off"
— Lance Zierlein (@LanceZierlein) April 30, 2015
If indeed teams are forced to completely remove Collins from their boards prior to the start of the first round, that could potentially alter a few picks Thursday night. The Pittsburgh Steelers are scheduled to have 22nd overall selection in the first round and having one less player that was likely to come off the board prior to their pick possibly removed from that scenario completely, it might prevent another one from falling to them.
If Collins winds up being totally exonerated of any wrong-doing or involvement, that will be fantastic, but it looks like he could lose millions of dollars in the process. as it stands right now, you have to wonder if he’ll be drafted at all this weekend.
