NFL Clarett situation has little effect on teams' draft strategy

His lawyer expects Justice Ginsberg to rule before Saturday's draft.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- While Maurice Clarett and Mike Williams await word from the Supreme Court on whether they will be in this weekend's NFL draft, scouts, coaches and general managers are ready for whatever decision comes down.
"I think everybody has their boards set," said Gil Brandt, an NFL draft consultant and former Dallas Cowboys personnel director. "They put Williams in there, they put Clarett in there. And if the ruling is overturned and their choice comes up, that's when they pick one of them."
Clarett's lawyer expects Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to rule before Saturday's draft on whether the former Ohio State tailback and Williams, a former Southern California wide receiver, can enter the draft.
Clarett appealed a stay issued Monday by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, putting a hold on a lower-court ruling that said the NFL can't force players to wait three years after high school before turning pro.
Clarett argued in Tuesday's filing that the NFL wouldn't be harmed if he's allowed in the draft, but he would be harmed if he is blocked.
Leaving school
Clarett, 20 and out of high school two years, would be eligible for the draft next year under the current rule. He dropped out of classes at Ohio State after the winter quarter.
Williams played two seasons at Southern California. After Clarett received a favorable ruling in a federal court, he hired an agent and said he would also come out for the draft early.
The legal wrangling has not forced teams to make dramatic changes.
"It doesn't complicate matters at all," Buffalo Bills assistant general manager and chief scout Tom Modrak said. "We processed it. We did the information. We hung them on the board. Now if they're not there, they're not there."
Most NFL teams have been developing draft scenarios since the first of March, Brandt said. Some give a higher priority to need, others to the best players available. Players move up and down on teams' lists based on physical and mental evaluations from private workouts and the NFL combine. Teams also must factor in who the teams making selections ahead of them might pick.
Hard to figure
Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis attended Clarett's workout day at Ohio State earlier this month, where scouts timed, measured, tested and weighed the 20-year-old.
Since Clarett played only nine games in the last 29 months, Lewis said it is difficult to estimate what he can do in the pros -- or how high a draft pick to use on him.
"You have to project him down the line, the maturity level," Lewis said. "That's why teams have spent a lot of time with Maurice."
Most draft experts believe Williams is a first-round choice. They cite Clarett's 4.6-second time in the 40-yard dash and predict he could wait until the third round to hear his name called.
Ginsburg is not bound by a deadline, even though the NFL draft begins Saturday. She can make a decision on her own or can refer the issue to the entire Supreme Court. On Wednesday she asked the NFL to file a response to Clarett's appeal by this morning.
Ginsburg or the full court could rule that the players should be in the draft, that they should be excluded or also could direct the NFL to include them in a special supplemental draft.