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With the 2015 NFL Draft is just a week away, the Cincinnati Bengals are doing all of their due diligence before the big weekend, shoring up all of their prospect visits. Even though the team seems relatively set at the cornerback position, the team still brought in USC defensive back Josh Shaw for a visit.
.@USC_Athletics CB Josh Shaw took pre-draft visits w/ #Panthers, #Bears, #Raiders, #Cowboys, #Cardinals, #Texans & #Bengals @SiriusXMNFL
— Alex Marvez (@alexmarvez) April 23, 2015
Shaw has good size for an NFL corner at 6'0" and 200 pounds, and had a productive 2013 campaign, prompting him to be one of the better preseason prospects at the position going into 2014. In that 2013 season, Shaw had four interceptions and was poised for a breakout senior year.
Then, the drama happened. In the offseason going into 2014, Shaw injured both of his ankles in what he claimed was from jumping out of an upper level of a house to save his young nephew who was drowning in a pool. In the days following, Shaw was touted as a hero, but other tidbits of information trickled out that conflicted his story. What actually happened was that Shaw was involved in what was believed to be an argument with his girlfriend, prompting him to jump out of the house and thus injuring his ankles in an effort to avoid authorities that were called to the scene.
Steve Sarkesian and the USC football team suspended Shaw 10 ten games for the lie that left a black eye on himself and the program, basically making 2014 a wasted season for the defensive back. It was a harsh, but deserving punishment for a young man who attempted to create a hoax of a story in what was actually a much less admirable situation.
Shaw is a coveted player by NFL teams from an on-field standpoint, given his productivity and ability to also play safety in a pinch (he did so at USC), but the suspension that wiped out his 2014 season which followed the lie that became a media sensation has teams wary. Shaw appears contrite and is eager to prove himself to teams, but his stock has taken a one to two round hit after being looked at as a first rounder before the 2014 season.