Apr. 23—INDIANAPOLIS — A few short weeks ago, C.J. Stroud was the odds-on favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in Thursday's NFL Draft.
Now there's a possibility the former Ohio State quarterback will slip as far as No. 4, where he could fall into the Indianapolis Colts' waiting hands.
What's changed?
Primarily the thinking of the Carolina Panthers. When head coach Frank Reich and company made a blockbuster trade up to the top spot with the Chicago Bears, it was believed Stroud was the target.
Since then, it appears the Panthers' have become more comfortable with concerns surrounding Bryce Young's size, and the former Alabama quarterback has become the heavy favorite to be selected first.
Meanwhile, in the last week alone, Stroud has faced questions about a low score on the S2 cognition test, a perceived slight of the Manning family (which has been thoroughly debunked) and assorted unverified whispers about his maturity and leadership ability.
That's on top of existing concerns about the Buckeyes' offensive scheme and its ability to properly prepare quarterbacks for the pro game.
The perception is Stroud is sliding down draft boards in the homestretch. Reality might not be so severe.
"I don't know that it's this narrative that he is dropping like a rock as much as it is that it seems to be out there that they're not in lockstep, unanimous in support of C.J. Stroud inside that one building in Houston," NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said, referencing the growing belief the Texans could pass on the quarterback with the No. 2 pick. "That's basically, I think, what everybody is getting."
The late-stage negative reports are nothing new.
Each year at least one prospect seems to face a wave of unflattering headlines as the draft approaches. The reasons are myriad.
Sometimes it's the result of agents trying to push down players in hopes of elevating their clients. Sometimes it's teams trying to get rationale out ahead of passing on a prospect. And, in rare instances, it can be teams lower in the draft order attempting to cause a prospect to drop.
It's difficult to measure whether any of these methods actually lead to the intended result.
Most modern draft rooms rely on proprietary information. Outside noise — positive or negative — is discarded in lieu of reports from a team's own scouts and its own internal evaluations.
"I don't get what people get out of that," Indianapolis general manager Chris Ballard said of negative leaks. "There's usually an agenda behind it, but I don't know what people get out of leaking that kind of information. I don't agree with it. That's just me, personally."