Typically the talent that surrounds the best overall player in the NFL Draft also receive a major share of attention from NFL teams as they gear up together for the jump from college to the pro level. Yet Stanford receiver Chris Owusu could be out of luck when it comes to potentially being drafted this weekend despite his ties to Andrew Luck, David DeCastro, Coby Fleener and other Stanford products. Given the attention on concussions in the NFL, that’s the way things have unfortunately fallen for Owusu.
“Owusu has received NFL medical clearance,” writes Jim Trotter, "but teams are still gravely worried about his three concussions in a 13-month span. “He’s off our board,” the GM said. “He was from the start. It wouldn’t matter if he was RG3, he’d still be off our board. With that kind of history it’s not worth the risk of him being seriously injured, especially with all the attention you’re going to receive. If you draft him you’re going to be under the microscope the whole time. Every time he gets hit it’s going to be magnified tenfold.”
While no team is going to say specifically that Owusu is off their board on the record — at least before the draft — it does create a potential low-risk, high-reward scenario for teams open to taking a chance on Owusu. He’s been medically cleared as noted earlier, so he’s available and ready to play in the NFL. Perhaps even a late round choice would secure the services of a player who would be typically taken much higher. That has to be worth a sixth or seventh round pick for some teams.