Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports  Former Missouri standout Michael Sam announced he is gay, and already, there are projections about how it will affect his draft stock.  According to Bovada, an online gambling website, the over/under on Sam’s draft position has been set at 125.5, or in the middle of the fourth round.  This discussion will rage for months. It’s difficult to predict where any player will get drafted, but especially a middle-round talent who might not have the size needed to stick with his college position.  Add in the fact he’d be the first openly gay player ever in an NFL locker room, and it becomes more difficult to read the situation.  USA TODAY Sports’ Tom Pelissero:  “The teams I’ve spoken with say Sam has a Day 3 grade, meaning Rounds 4 through 7. He’s on the small side for a 4-3 defensive end (6-2, 255). He had a productive senior season in the best conference in America, though, and that usually is enough to get somebody a look in the mid to late rounds.”  USA TODAY Sports’ Brent Sobleski  “At 6-1 and 260 pounds, Missouri DE Michael Sam is not big enough to play end at the next level, and he’s relatively inexperienced as a potential linebacker. Sam can get to the quarterback, which holds value. Teams that employ a 3-4 base defense may consider Sam as early as the third or fourth round. Depending on how he performs in linebacker drills, his draft stock could tumble.“  “We talked about it this week,” a GM said. “First of all, we don’t think he’s a very good player. The reality is he’s an overrated football player in our estimation. Second: He’s going to have expectations about where he should be drafted, and I think he’ll be disappointed. He’s not going to get drafted where he thinks he should. The question you will ask yourself, knowing your team, is, ‘How will drafting him affect your locker room?’ And I am sorry to say where we are at this point in time, I think it’s going to affect most locker rooms. A lot of guys will be uncomfortable. Ten years from now, fine. But today, I think being openly gay is a factor in the locker room.  “I asked this general manager: ‘Do you think he’ll be drafted?’  “It’s not a shocking thing to me, and it won’t be to our organization,” another GM said. “You’ll have old-school guys on your team saying, ‘Are you kidding, putting this guy on our team?’ And you’ll have other guys say, ‘Who cares? I knew two gay guys who came out in college.’ “  “It’ll totally depend on your leadership,” a scout said. “A team with strong leadership at coach and in the locker room, like New England, I would imagine, would be okay. I could see Belichick say, ‘This is the way it is. There’s no story.’ And guys would just accept him. There’d be no choice. But without that strong leadership, I could see it being divisive, and I could see a team saying, ‘We don’t need this.’ “  “Unfortunately,” a scout said, “this is a lot more okay in society than it is in lots of locker rooms. Some locker rooms are still stuck in the ’50s.”  From SI.com’s Pete Thamel and Thayer Evans:  “I don’t think football is ready for [an openly gay player] just yet,” said an NFL player personnel assistant. “In the coming decade or two, it’s going to be acceptable, but at this point in time it’s still a man’s-man game. To call somebody a [gay slur] is still so commonplace. It’d chemically imbalance an NFL locker room and meeting room.”  “I just know with this going on this is going to drop him down,” said a veteran NFL scout. “There’s no question about it. It’s human nature. Do you want to be the team to quote-unquote ‘break that barrier?’ “  “Of his 11.5 sacks, nine came in three games against what one scout called ‘garbage competition’ — Vanderbilt, Arkansas State and Florida. ‘His numbers are inflated,’ a scout said. ‘You’ve got to see through that.’ “  “That will break a tie against that player,” a former general manager said. “Every time. Unless he’s Superman. Why? Not that they’re against gay people. It’s more that some players are going to look at you upside down. Every Tom, Dick and Harry in the media is going to show up, from Good Housekeeping to the Today show. A general manager is going to ask, ‘Why are we going to do that to ourselves?’ ”  “You’re going to have to have one confident general manager or head coach that is certainly entrenched in his position and established to draft a player like that,” an assistant personnel director said. “It’s one thing to have Chris Kluwe or Brendon Ayanbadejo, advocates for gay rights, on your team. It’s another to have a current confirmed player.”  “An NFL assistant coach called Sam’s decision ‘not a smart move,’ as he said it ‘legitimately affects [his] potential earnings.’ ”  “There are guys in locker rooms that maturity-wise cannot handle it or deal with the thought of that,” an assistant coach said. “There’s nothing more sensitive than the heartbeat of the locker room. If you knowingly bring someone in there with that sexual orientation, how are the other guys going to deal with it? It’s going to be a big distraction. That’s the reality. It shouldn’t be, but it will be.“  Michael Sam (52) celebrates beating Indiana last season. He’ll be the first openly gay player entered in the draft. (Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports)  From high to low ….  The Sideline View ranks Sam as the 80th-overall player and 11th defensive end in the draft.  NFL Draft Coutndown ranks Sam as the 81st-overall player in the draft.  Fox Sports’ Scout.com ranks Sam as the 93rd-overall player in the draft.  CBS Sports ranks Sam as the 110th-overall player, and 11th defensive end in the draft.  ESPN ranks Sam as the 119th-overall player in the draft.  Bleacher Report ranks Sam as the 10th defensive end in the draft.  TFY Draft Insider ranks Sam as a fifth-round selection in the draft.  Michael Sam, Missouri Tigers, NFL, NFL Draft, NFL gay player
Where will Michael Sam, who became the first prospect to ever publicly say he is gay, get drafted? Opinions vary widely. Click more for a rundown.