Should Mekhi Becton news take him off NY Giants’ draft board?

News of Mekhi Becton having a failed drug test at the 2020 NFL combine is devastating for one of the top offensive tackle prospects — should it take him off the NY Giants’ board?

Even though the new NFL collective bargaining agreement is exponentially more lenient on drugs of abuse for players, it’s still a very bad sign to see a prospect failing a drug test during the biggest job interview of their life. Mekhi Becton was rumored to be in the mix for the NY Giants, but this latest news may change things.

According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, Becton was flagged and will enter the 60-day ‘stage 1’ part of the new drug program.

Via Twitter:

Under the new CBA rules, a player basically faces no punishment for their first failed ‘drugs of abuse’ test. This does not include steroids or PED’s which still carry a heavy six-game suspension

This is sure to work in the favor of Becton, as in theory, he would still have three more tests to fail before he was at risk of missing games. In essence, from a player’s second-to-fourth failed test, all that would happen is they would begin to miss game checks.

So, teams aren’t really as concerned as that really only affects the player. Still, it is a terrible sign for Becton to be planning for the NFL combine for months – the biggest moment of his young life – and still not be able to refrain from using drugs.

I’m as liberal as one can be one it comes to drugs and believe players should be able to use them if they make their bodies feel better after going through the rigors of football (except for the hardcore opiates that teams had been shoving down players’ throats for years). But again, it’s the timing of this that makes things worrisome for me.

Becton had been one of the fastest risers in the entire NFL Draft process after an electric combine performance valued him into the top ten, or even top-five discussion. Now, we’ll have to wait and see if he’ll stay in that portion of the draft.

This is especially worth discussing when it comes to the NY Giants, as GM Dave Gettleman has made it known – and practiced things this way – that character is amongst the most important parts of his evaluation. Simply put, he’s not going to like this.

Will Becton’s massive frame and All-Pro potential nip that in the bud? I doubt it, specifically when it comes to Big Blue.

Many will point to the Laremy Tunsil ‘gasmask debacle’ and try to draw parallels (as Tunsil has turned out to be a fantastic pro), but it’s fair to mention that Tunsil did not fail a test and that video could have been several years old. This is all about the timing, as you would want a player you’re investing so much in to have the smarts to refrain from using any drugs so close to the combine.

I still think Becton goes in the top half of the first round, but it likely won’t be to the NY Giants.