NFL draft prospect PJ Williams arrested for DUI

(Associated Press)

Of all the things a top prospect would want to do heading into the NFL draft, getting popped for DUI is pretty far down the list. But here we are.

From @RapSheet and me: Per the Leon County jail, FSU CB PJ Williams -- a prospective 1st-rounder -- was arrested for DUI at 3:08 AM today.

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) April 3, 2015

DUI is bad enough, but as Pro Football Talk’s Darin Gantt notes, it also triggers a two-game suspension under the NFL’s new conduct policy. And if that wasn’t enough to give teams pause before selecting him, Williams already had been involved in an automobile mishap last year, one that seems to have been swept under the run by the Tallahassee police.

As the New York Times reported last year (and the Big Lead noted Friday):

The examination found that Mr. Williams, driving with a suspended license, had been given a break by the Tallahassee police, who initially labeled the accident a hit and run, a criminal act, but later decided to issue Mr. Williams only two traffic tickets. Afterward, the case did not show up in the city’s public online database of police calls — a technical error, the police said.

Mr. Williams eventually returned to the scene. But Tallahassee officers did not test him for alcohol. Nor did their report indicate whether they asked if he had been drinking or why he had fled — logical questions, since the accident occurred at 2:37 a.m.

“With consistency of effort, Williams could become the best cornerback to come out of this draft,” the NFL notes in its draft profile of Williams. That could still be true, but he’s not doing himself any favors.