Florida State running back Dalvin Cook has been associated with having “off-field issues” and “character concerns” during the pre-draft process.

Some of Cook’s past is a legitimate concern for NFL teams vetting the potential first-round selection ahead of the 2017 NFL Draft, but a recent story from Sports Illustrated’s Monday Morning Quarterback indicates that a runner has aimed to sabotage Cook’s draft stock.

(Get FSU news sent directly to your inbox! Click for FREE FSU newsletter!)

Cook had legal issues in middle school and early in his career at FSU. Those have been well-documented. But draft pundits have routinely mentioned those who Cook associates himself with from his hometown of Miami as being possible concerns for NFL teams. Now the origin of that perceived fear, or at least part of it, has been identified.

Tony Villani -- who runs XPE Sports, a facility in Boca Raton that Cook has trained at ahead of the draft -- told Sports Illustrated that he began receiving inquiries from coaches and scouts about Cook’s work habits. They told Villani that an agent informed them at the Senior Bowl that Cook was showing up to workouts late with alcohol on his breath and associated with “unsavory characters” from his neighborhood.

“I told these guys, You know me, you know I’m not going to lie to you… you’ve got it wrong,” Villani told MMQB. “It got to the point where I felt I had to go to Dalvin’s agent and tell him about what people were saying.”

MMQB reported in the story that two NFL scouts cited the unnamed runner as the source of the rumors: “A scout familiar with the runner suggested he might have had an informal business relationship with Cook before the prospect settled on different representation, though when told the runner’s name, Cook said he’d never heard of him.”

It’s an interesting turn to what has been a bumpy pre-draft process for Cook.

The entire MMQB article on Cook is worth the read as it delves into his background as a player and person.

(Unbelievable offer! Get a 7-day free trial with monthly or annual subscriptions)