According to Bedard, the real risk in Barmore seems to be tied to non football issues. I hope he has an agent who puts attention and resources into financial management, lifestyle, the friends he chooses, etc.
What I heard was interesting. And I am just passing on the information I received before he landed on the Patriots — there was no anti-New England bias.
“Yeah, we looked hard at him, could use a player like him … Barmore was not for us,” said one team.
What was the issue? I’m not going to divulge specific information to protect my sources and their relationships, but it boils down to this: there are a lot of questions about Barmore’s intelligence and how it might manifest itself once he’s out of the more controlling collegiate environment and has more freedom.
The team that had the late second-round grade on Barmore said that was the earliest they would have been comfortable with the risk.
“Alabama barely held him together,” said an NFC scout. “As a pro, he’s a real wild-card.”
I asked another scout if he had any specifics, and he said that just general accountability — getting to practice and class — was a struggle for him and Barmore has to be in a very tightly controlled environment, like Alabama has, to succeed. Barmore also was in a very heavy rotation — most players with his talent play upwards of 70 percent of snaps. His playing time just kept dropping to about a 50-50 split. That’s very unusual and sent scouts digging for answers.
“I think he’s going to be a big-time bust,” said one scout, again, before the Patriots picked him.
The Patriots have to know all this. Obviously, Nick Saban didn’t completely wave Belichick off Barmore, so there should be some comfort there with the risk.
