What does positive drug test mean for Randy Gregory's draft stock?

Nebraska DE-OLB Randy Gregory said not long ago that he was worthy of the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NFL draft. It's not clear what will happen to his stock now that the news has come down that Gregory failed a drug test at the NFL scouting combine in February.

Gregory told NFL Network's Kimberly Jones that the positive test was for marijuana, even though he said he hasn't used the drug since December. In a hurtful moment, Gregory received a letter from the NFL he believed to be his invitation to the draft, allowing his father to open it and share in the moment. Instead, the letter delivered a far different shock.

What he also revealed is that he was self-medicating to cope with his disappointment over not qualifying academically at Purdue in 2011 and sitting out the 2012 season with a broken leg. After landing at Nebraska in 2013, following a stay at Arizona Western Community College, Gregory failed two tests for marijuana for the Huskers — once last January, one last April — and was told by the former coaching staff that a third strike would have meant he was off the team.

In two seasons in Lincoln, Gregory amassed 17.5 sacks but didn't play his best ball as a senior and weighed in at the combine at a disappointing 235 pounds for his 6-foot-5 frame, which raised issues in the scouting community over whether he could play defensive end in the NFL at that weight.

Gregory still could be a top-10 pick. A failed drug test for marijuana does not necessarily sink one's draft stock. In 2007, Calvin Johnson, Gaines Adams and Amobi Okoye all tested positive for marijuana at the combine yet all three remained top-10 picks. But last year, Timmy Jernigan and Zach Mettenberger produced diluted urine samples — not even positive drug tests — and were knocked down some teams' boards for it.

NFL teams want to see that it's not a habitual thing for players and that it won't affect their preparation for the league, which can be overwhelming for young players to cope with and manage. Some teams might view Gregory's get-out-in-front-of-the-story approach as mere damage control and wonder whether he really will change.

Still, he's not hiding anything and said that in meeting, formally and informally, with 29 of the league's 32 teams, Gregory spoke openly about his past marijuana use — even bringing it up himself in the interviews in which the teams did not initially broach it.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm