Alabama Football: Why Did Reuben’s Draft Stock Take Deep Dive?

Alabama football did well in the First Round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Why did Reuben Foster barely make it into the first round?

Alabama football fans and NFL Draft experts were wrong about Reuben Foster. Everyone was sure Reuben would be picked in the top half of the first round. Instead, Reuben went late to the San Francisco 49ers with the 31st overall pick.

Why did the top-rated inside linebacker in the draft and one of Alabama football’s all-time great linebackers drop so low? Is Reuben to blame? What did the fall from grace cost Reuben? What does this mean for Reuben’s NFL future?

We will try to answer all these questions, beginning with how many dollars did Reuben lose in his fall down the draft board.

Any attempt to calculate lost money is hypothetical. It is not known publicly how high any team seriously considered drafting Reuben. A reasonable comparison is the dollar difference between a 16th pick and a 31st pick.

Marlon Humphrey was selected 16th. Marlon’s contract will be almost $12 million with a $6.79 million signing bonus. Reuben’s contract will be $9 million with a $4.7 million signing bonus. A reduction of between $2 million to at most $3 million is significant but will not threaten Reuben’s financial future.

At least one pundit, Darren Rovell stated Reuben’s fall cost him $17 million. For that to be true, Reuben would have to have been strongly considered by an actual NFL team as a 4th or 5th pick in the draft. Maybe he was. We don’t know.

What we do know is that something detrimental to Reuben happened over the last few days or weeks. We wrote a semi-serious take on Reuben and the Combine confrontation, Reuben trips up off the field at Combine. A mistake by Reuben but no deal breaker as Nick Saban commented NFL teams don’t draft “Candy-Stripers.”

A few days ago it was learned that Reuben did not pass his Combine drug test. The test result was dilute, meaning while no banned substances were detected, Reuben will face repeated drug tests the same as players who test positive for banned substances.

Based on a couple of recent interviews, Reuben has not done the greatest job responding to questions about his character. Not so much by what he said, but more what he did not say. To some observers, Reuben responses were evasive.

These multiple concerns are not insignificant but they do not fully explain Reuben’s draft problems.

Reuben’s big problem was doubt from NFL teams that his surgically repaired shoulder is sound. As reported by Michael Casagrande on al.com, Nick Saban commented about Reuben and his health.

"“Look, the way we like for things to get handled, that didn’t get handled,” We have the best doctors in the world in Dr. (James) Andrews and Dr. (Lyle) Cain who operate on most NFL players and his agent chose to take him someplace else. I think (Andrews and Cain) have tremendous credibility. So, you know, all these choices and decisions that you make have consequences and I hate it for our players when they do it, but he didn’t seek my advice in what he should do. So, if that was an issue, that was an issue. It shouldn’t have been an issue but if it was, I don’t really know much about it.”"

Saban’s observation, despite his claim about not knowing much, explains why NFL teams were worried to draft Reuben. Additional reports coming out on Friday suggested multiple teams were sure Reuben will need additional surgery.

Is this the end of the consternation over Reuben’s draft drop? Maybe it should be, but it will not stop continued scrutiny.

Tom Pelissero of USA Today suggested NFL teams had more than health concerns about Reuben. Quoting a NFL scout who requested anonymity:

"“There also are more general questions about how well Foster – like some Crimson Tide stars in the past – will adjust to life outside Alabama, where troubled players have immense resources and hand-holding to get through their lives. You better have a Dez Bryant-like infrastructure around him, referring to how the Dallas Cowboys coddled their star receiver early in his career.”"

The big unanswered question is what all this portends for Reuben’s NFL future. We make no claim to know. Alabama football fans revere Reuben. Thursday night San Francisco picked up some new fans. We will all continue to root for Reuben, on and off the field.

Next: Post Spring 2017 Depth Chart

Don’t miss our updates for the remaining rounds of the NFL Draft. Tide players Cam Robinson, Ryan Anderson, Tim Williams, Dalvin Tomlinson, Ardarius Stewart and Eddie Jackson are all expected to be drafted.