Christian Hackenberg apparently blundered during interviews with NFL teams in advance of next month's draft.

By telling the truth.

As a freshman at Penn State, the quarterback completed 58.9 percent of his passes, throwing for 20 touchdowns against just 10 interceptions. Some pegged him as an eventual No. 1 overall selection.

After that season however, Bill O'Brien left to go coach the NFL's Houston Texans. James Franklin took over with an offense that has traditionally skewed more to the spread than O'Brien's pro-style.

Hackenberg's numbers dropped to 12 TDs and 15 picks as a sophomore, only to rebound to 16 TDs, six interceptions as a junior. He isn't viewed as a great prospect anymore and is unlikely to be taken in the first round, let alone at the top of it.

View photos Christian Hackenberg was considered a candidate to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. (Getty Images) More

Now he's dealing with interview issues. According to Robert Klemko of MMQB, at least two front-office executives said "when asked to explain his declining sophomore and junior numbers … Hackenberg has shifted blame to Coach James Franklin."

That has, according to the personnel sources, been a turnoff.

"Despite the fact that it's probably true," one source told MMQB, "you don't want to hear a kid say that."

Let's get a bunch of NFL draft caveats out of the way here.

This is two unnamed sources in a league with hundreds, maybe thousands of them. Even if these two didn't like Hackenberg's answer, their bosses (if they have bosses) might have loved it.

It also may have come across wrong. Or maybe Hackenberg has changed his answer for others. Or maybe it never even happened. Who knows? This is one side of the story and there is no context. A team might also be bad mouthing Hackenberg under the hope he drops in the draft to it. Far worse rumors have and will be floated.

For NFL teams in the weeks before the draft, the truth has no value. Nor, apparently, does it for potential draft picks.

For the sake of argument, let's assume the story is accurate and reported in context, because it sure sounds like something that would chap an NFL front office. It shouldn't, though.

As the quote itself suggests, teams want a player who will lie or downplay his true feelings – or ignore what actually happened – rather than just be a straight shooter. You know who was good at this? Johnny Manziel.

You can argue that Hackenberg should take all responsibility for everything himself and never speak ill of a coach, but what if it's, you know, true?

Hackenberg possesses a unique backstory. He was a five-star recruit out of Virginia who chose to play for Penn State mostly because of O'Brien, who'd just arrived from a stint as offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots. Hackenberg wanted to be an NFL quarterback, and here was a coach who'd just spent five seasons under Bill Belichick and three working directly with Tom Brady.

Hackenberg was loyal enough to and excited enough about O'Brien that he maintained his verbal commitment to Penn State, even after the school was hammered by NCAA sanctions following the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal.

Crippling scholarship reductions meant he'd play in State College with few fellow playmakers and a thin offensive line. In purely football terms, the smart move was to run the other way. Hackenberg didn't care. He signed anyway. He was hailed for keeping his promise to Penn State.

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