5 of the most dramatic Draft-day slides in NFL history ft. Aaron Rodgers 

The NFL Draft is just days away, with teams making their final assessments on players and their respective values.

Franchises know how vitally critical first-round selections are and look to guard themselves against making mistakes.

However, with such caution comes uncertainty which spreads throughout the NFL. Teams can begin to panic about players dropping a couple of spots and wonder what’s wrong with the prospect?

As a direct consequence of this, there have been some rather dramatic draft-day slides, which have later shaped the NFL.

What are 5 of the most chaotic Draft-day slides in NFL history?

#1 - La’el Collins, OT, 2015

La'el Collins was placed in an impossible situation due to circumstance

La’el Collins was a projected first-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, with his talents being those of a potentially elite offensive tackle.

Teams did their homework on the prospect, analyzed his ability, and determined his value on their boards. Then a bombshell hit...

Just two days before the event was due to begin, La’el Collins was named as a person of interest to police concerning a murder investigation.

Collins wasn’t a suspect, yet it was announced that Baton Rouge police wanted to speak to him in connection with the murder of Brittney Mills.

Collins knew the woman in question and was considered romantically involved with her, hence why they needed to speak to him.

Alas, these details weren’t made especially clear, and given the recent history involving Aaron Hernandez, NFL teams were petrified of what might be uncovered with regards to Collins.

At no point did Collins not cooperate with the investigation, even leaving Chicago the day before the draft to return to Baton Rouge and talk to the authorities.

Unfortunately, the damage was done. His reputation was knocked, and teams didn’t hesitate to take him off their boards.

Baton Rouge police refused to speak with Collins until after the NFL draft, which was a bizarre choice that cost the offensive tackle a lot of money.

NFL fans watched as Collins went unselected in the first round, then the second round, and every round that followed.

Despite desperate attempts by his agent to delay the process, Collins had no choice but to sign with an NFL team as an undrafted free agent, by which time the Baton Rouge police had cleared him and confirmed he was never even a suspect in the murder case.

Multiple teams then clamored to sign him, realizing his innocence, and he would agree to a three-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys.

#2 - Laremy Tunsil, OT, 2016

Tunsil's draft nightmare has become the stuff of legend

Laremy Tunsil was the best offensive lineman in the 2016 NFL Draft and, perhaps, the best player on the board outright.

He was the lock #1 pick in 2016, with the Tennessee Titans expected to select him there once the evening began until they traded the pick to the Rams.

Yet, social media would then have a sizable impact on Tunsil's future as an NFL player.

Just hours before the draft began, an image was uploaded to Tunsil’s Twitter account, showing him smoking a bong while wearing a gas mask.

The intricacies of the upload weren’t apparent immediately, and teams panicked, especially given the NFL’s well-documented policy on marijuana use.

His agent’s pleas of a social media hack weren’t enough to convince teams of the offensive tackle’s professionalism. Several clubs refused to take a risk on a player who may well have been subject to disciplinary action as soon as he arrived in the NFL.

While the NFL draft had been on television for years by this point, this was the first occasion where real-time social media posts were influencing proceedings.

Fans felt as though they were part of the show while they watched media personnel scramble to try and find out more information as it happened right then and there.

Having been a sure thing at the No. 1 pick, Tunsil’s slide ended at pick No. 13 when the Miami Dolphins brought an end to the madness.

#3 - Dan Marino, QB, 1983

Were rumors of drug use to blame for Marino's slide?

Dan Marino was one of the standout players in a stacked quarterback class headed to the 1983 NFL Draft, yet his night would be a disaster as he slid to pick 27.

While it wasn’t made public at the time, teams discovered possible drug use by Marino during his college years, which caused his stock to fall.

With this happening years before the social media storm, which caused Tunsil’s fall to become worldwide news existed, few outside the league could quite understand why nobody was taking a chance on the supremely gifted signal-caller.

Jim Kelly, John Elway, Todd Blackledge, Tony Eason, and Ken O’Brien were all selected before Marino.

Marino should have been the second quarterback selected behind Elway, that’s how close he was to his counterpart in terms of ability, yet he watched as team after team turned him down.

Marino would have the last laugh, winning the 1984 MVP award and having a Hall of Fame career with the Miami Dolphins.

#4 - Randy Moss, WR, 1998

Nobody wanted to touch Moss in 1998

The bizarre reality from 1998 was that nobody wanted to draft Randy Moss, despite his sensational stats with Marshall in college.

He scored 54 touchdowns in two seasons and racked up 3,529 yards, making him one of the elite offensive playmakers in the class.

His talent should have been enough to be selected inside the top-5, definitely the top-10, yet many executives had negative words about Moss before the draft began.

Criticism of Moss centered around his behavior in college and the fact that he missed a meeting with the Chicago Bears.

A misdemeanor battery charge from a high-school fight didn’t help Moss’ case, while failed drug tests saw his scholarship revoked.

People were so eager to write Randy Moss off, despite him having no more complex a past than other troubled NFL prospects.

Perhaps it was a sign of the times, teams getting more streetwise and wary of troubled young prospects, whereas such problems were ignored before.

Many thought Moss would go undrafted, but the Minnesota Vikings took him with the 21st overall selection, making him one of the biggest ever steals, despite his incredible slide.

#5 - Aaron Rodgers, QB, 2005

Aaron Rodgers was as surprised as anyone at his draft fall

If you need to see the human definition of discomfort, look no further than the green room pictures and video of Aaron Rodgers from the 2005 NFL Draft.

Yes, Rodgers wasn’t always the bright, amusing, incredibly likable presence he is today after a Super Bowl and multiple MVP awards.

No, on draft night in 2005, he looked like someone awaiting trial rather than their name to be called for the NFL Draft.

There was something rather poetic about the 2005 draft in the sense that the best prospect in it, Rodgers, was from Chico, California, and the San Francisco 49ers had the first-overall pick and a need for a QB.

Nobody could envisage a scenario where Rodgers wasn’t selected by the Niners to carry on the legacy of his idol, Joe Montana. Yet, by the middle of opening night, his world had come crashing down on him.

Unlike previous cases, Rodgers’ slide wasn’t down to doubts about his character or criminal proceedings; it was merely a matter of circumstance.

Once Alex Smith had been taken by the 49ers at #1, there were very few open QB slots in the first round, yet it just so happened that with every single pick that wasn’t Rodgers, television viewers got to see that familiar sullen face.

Rodgers dropping so much was shocking, and it was even more astonishing that the team which finally selected him at #24 already had a Hall of Fame QB in Brett Favre, who wasn’t yet ready to retire.

It was the worst possible end to the worst possible day for Rodgers, and television viewers got to see it play out as if it was part of a soap opera.

However, Rodgers went on to have a far happier NFL career than draft night, winning a Super Bowl with the Packers and taking over from Favre seamlessly.