2015 NFL Draft: Missouri Castoff Dorial Green-Beckham Selected by Tennessee Titans

With the eighth pick of the second round (40th overall) in the 2015 NFL Draft, the Tennessee Titans selected former University of Missouri wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham.

“DGB” was the most prized recruit in Mizzou history, choosing to attend his hometown school in 2012 even as the top recruit in the country with offers from noted schools such as Alabama, Florida, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Texas, and USC in hand. Green-Beckham never quite lived up to the hype, though.

The 6-foot-6, 230-pounder struggled to get onto the field early in his freshman season, collecting just seven catches over the first five weeks of the season. Green-Beckham had his biggest setback in early October when he was arrested for marijuana possession along with several teammates after they were found smoking in an empty parking lot at the Mizzou athletic facility. After his return, though, he appeared to find his stride, collecting 21 catches for 267 yards and four touchdowns over his last five games.

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Green-Beckham dealt with another setback in the offseason between his freshman and sophomore years, being arrested for marijuana possession once again near his hometown of Springfield, Missouri. After getting back onto the field in the fall, though, he began to break out and finished his sophomore season with 59 catches for 883 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Green-Beckham seemed to be building up momentum for a first-round selection in the 2015 draft, however, his progress was shattered in April, when he was connected with a domestic violence incident in Columbia. Though he was never charged, the circumstances were severe enough to spurn his dismissal from the Missouri football program.

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Green-Beckham chose to transfer to Oklahoma for the 2015 season, but the NCAA refused to waive the one-year waiting period for undergraduate transfers, and so he never played in a game for the Sooners before declaring for this year’s draft.

In Tennessee, Green-Beckham will have the opportunity to be Marcus Mariota’s number one target on a team where there’s not really a true “number one” receiver at present. Though there are a few on-field concerns about Green-Beckham, namely the reliability of his hands and his level of effort and physicality, there’s a belief among many that if he can stay out of trouble, he has the talent to be a Calvin Johnson type of player.

Green-Beckham is the first Missouri wide receiver to be selected in the NFL Draft since Jeremy Maclin went to the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of the 2009 draft.

Next: Mizzou's Shane Ray Selected in First Round by Denver Broncos