Randy Gregory’s free fall ends with soft, fascinating landing with Cowboys

The slide ended.

The Dallas Cowboys suddenly have the most fascinating locker room in the NFL with the additions of Greg Hardy and now Randy Gregory, who has top-10 ability but major questions that go beyond his positive drug test at the NFL scouting combine.

Teams began worrying about Gregory before the combine, when word got out that he had major troubles at Nebraska and constantly had to be monitored by the staff there after multiple indiscretions and head-butting with coaches. After the positive drug test, teams dug further, and there were reports he missed and was late for team meetings with NFL clubs seeking to get answers about Gregory’s considerable concerns.

On the field, Gregory can be an electric rusher, but his lack of size is a major concern, with his weight fluctuating between 215 and 240 pounds since the start of his final season with the Huskers. Can he rush the edge in a four-man, Tampa-style defense? That will be interesting to watch.

But more intriguing is how Gregory will handle himself as a pro on a team that will have to find ways to guide him. Some teams — especially those lacking a strong coaching staff and locker room — considered Gregory too much to deal with and they worried about his mental and spiritual health after meeting with him when we spoke to them during the pre-draft process.

Watching the way the Cowboys have monitored Dez Bryant gives us a possible blueprint for how Gregory might be handled, and you can bet they will try to find as many defensive leaders — not Hardy — to mentor him as well.

This is the most Cowboys pick ever. We’ll find out if it was worth the risk.

– – – – – – –

Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm