Derrius Guice’s long wait is finally over over.
The star LSU tailback was selected in the second round by the Washington Redskins with the No. 59 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft on Friday night.
It was a bizarre tumble down draft boards for a player that’s been projected as a first-round pick throughout the process. Some reported that a NFL teams were weary of drafting Guice because of a potentially unflattering TMZ story — even as TMZ’z executive producer said no such bombshell existed.
According to Ian Rappaport of the NFL Network, Guice dropped due to maturity issues and “unreported” off-the-field incidents during his time at LSU. Rappaport said teams worried that Guice was “high maintenance” and “can’t handle his emotions.”
Mike Mayock, another NFL Network analyst, added that NFL general managers told him that Guice is the subject of an ongoing investigation that could be embarrassing to Guice and the team that drafts him if it’s made public.
Three running backs wert off the board in the first round: Penn State’s Saquon Barkley, who went second to the New York Giants, San Diego State’s Rashaad Penny, who went 27th to the Seattle Seahawks, and Georgia’s Sony Michel, who went 31st to the New England Patriots.
Three more backs came off the board in the second round as Guice’s tumble down draft boards continued: Georgia’s Nick Chubb went to the Cleveland Browns, USC’s Ronald Jones, who went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Auburn’s Kerryon Johnson, who went to the Detroit Lions.
Guice is the second Tiger tailback to be drafted in as many years. Leonard Fournette, who Guice backed up for two years, went fourth overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars last year.
Despite nagging injuries, Guice rushed for 1,251 yards and 11 touchdowns this season. He rushed for 1,387 yards and 15 touchdowns while splitting carries with Fournette during the 2016 season.
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