If NFL teams drafted purely based on talent, Arden Key and Derrius Guice would seemingly be locks to go in first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. However, due to increased attention and thought given to off-the-field behavior and personal conduct, the two Tigers may find themselves slipping during the selection process.

After missing much of the previous offseason due to various undisclosed reasons, Key did not match his sophomore production on the field for the LSU in 2017. That lack of production, along with what NFL personnel believe to be recreational drug issues, could cause the pass rusher to plummet next weekend.

According to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero, unnamed NFL talent evaluators are pretty low on Key at the moment:

“He was a shell of what he was,” an AFC scout said. “His actions have proven to be habitual, and I don’t know that he can kick it.”

Generally speaking, marijuana use isn’t much of a red flag for teams. “For him, it is a big deal because it’s affected his playing career at LSU,” an NFC personnel director said. “The kid needs a lot of support and a lot of help. He needs to not smoke.”

They aren’t the only ones saying these types of things, as the NFL Network’s draft analyst Mike Mayock is willing to go on the record stating Key has issues that will likely hurt him in the draft.

Key, however, isn’t alone when it comes to former LSU standouts with potential character concerns.

While Guice may possibly be the most explosive playmaker in the upcoming draft, especially at the running back position, there seems to be plenty of issue with some of his behavior, too. According to Pelissero’s article, Guice has made claims that the comments he made about the off-color questions he faced at the NFL Combine didn’t really happen.

If that’s accurate, it makes sense that NFL teams would be wary of trusting his judgment on more serious matters. Guice has also changed agents in his short time since leaving LSU. While that’s not entirely unheard of, it potentially adds yet another question mark regarding his behavior since leaving LSU.

Here are a collection of comments on Guice that Pelissero posted:

As one NFC executive put it: “He’s a high-maintenance kid.” An executive with another team that has done a lot of work on Guice made clear “he’s not a bad kid at heart, at all,” but will need structure and mentorship to help him grow up and learn how to be a pro.

“There’s a lot of personality stuff there that I’ll be interested to see if somebody takes a shot on him in the first round,” an AFC scout said.

“Is he talented? Yep. Do you have to have a handle on how to deal with him? Absolutely,” an offensive coordinator said. “He’s not a bad person — he’s just immature, silly. If he wasn’t all that other stuff, he’d be drafted in the top 20 picks. And he still might be in the top 20 picks.”

Of course, all that being said, this is the time of year for misinformation. Could all these evaluators be burying Key and Guice in the hopes they fall to them? Possibly. We’ll likely have the answer this time next week based on where they each get selected in the 2018 NFL Draft.