Every team has its own tolerance level for taking on character risks.
We still haven't seen the Dallas Cowboys reach their tolerance level.
Perhaps emboldened by how well things have worked out with Dez Bryant, the Cowboys collected two players this offseason who have a lot of red flags, for different reasons. Defensive end Greg Hardy, coming off a domestic violence case that cost him 15 games last season as it went through the courts, was signed as a free agent. He was then given a 10-game suspension by the NFL.
The Cowboys came back with another pass rusher the rest of the league shied away from, taking Nebraska outside linebacker/defensive end Randy Gregory with the 60th overall pick in the draft. Gregory once looked like a top-10 pick. But issues that included a failed drug test at the NFL scouting combine and some erratic behavior sent him tumbling, almost out of the second round. Talent is talent, and the Cowboys were the team that took Gregory. That shouldn't have been a surprise.
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Don't forget that Cowboys running back Joseph Randle just dodged charges stemming from a domestic dispute. Prosecutors said that there was not sufficient evidence for any charges, according to the CBS affiliate in Dallas. They also just re-signed linebacker Rolando McClain, who has had many off-field issues and was just fined four game checks for a third failed test under the NFL's substance-abuse policy. They also have defensive tackle Josh Brent, who was convicted of intoxication manslaughter and served six months in jail from a 2012 car accident that killed his teammate Jerry Brown.*
It must be quite an interesting locker room. At least the Cowboys aren't one of the most-watched NFL teams with an enormous media corps covering their every move.
Of course, the Cowboys can always point back to Bryant. Bryant's background heading into the 2010 draft was reportedly the "worst" at least one ex-scout had seen. He turned into one of the NFL's finest receivers, and the Cowboys would clearly make that same pick again.
All NFL teams have taken chances on players whose character has been questioned. It gets risky when a lot of those players end up on the same roster. Plenty is said about NFL teams valuing character and so forth. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones apparently doesn't have too many concerns about that. It has worked out for him before. The mid-1990s Cowboys teams that won Super Bowls had plenty of players who weren't choir boys either. Jones is betting that another character risk can become a productive player in Dallas. He's likely not going to make any apologies for it either.
Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Day 2 of the NFL draft:
WINNERS
Tennessee Titans
Again, no NFL team is full of impeccable character. There were plenty of reasons receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, a top-10 talent, fell to the second round. Whoever drafted him would be assuming a big risk.
But the Titans might as well swing big.
The Titans might have the most talent-deficient roster in the NFL. They need players. Green-Beckham is definitely a player. He also got booted from Missouri for multiple off-field incidents. All teams have to decide risk vs. reward. The aforementioned Cowboys have taken a ton of chances, and to be fair, they were 12-4 last year. The Green-Beckham pick was worth the risk for the Titans. If he hits, he and Marcus Mariota will be a great combination for years. The Titans need to catch a break like that.

Darren McFadden? Joseph Randle or Lance Dunbar?
I can't tell you that I think it's a good idea to count on McFadden as a starting running back. The same goes for Randle, Dunbar or Ryan Williams. But with three rounds of the NFL draft done, I don't know who will be the Cowboys' replacement for NFL offensive player of the year DeMarco Murray, who left for the Philadelphia Eagles. Unless there's some late-round gem lingering for Dallas, one of those guys will fall into an incredible situation for any tailback. It was a big surprise that Dallas didn't take a running back in the first three rounds of the draft.
Jones said running back wasn't a pressing need for the Cowboys going into the draft. Apparently he was being honest. The Cowboys took offensive tackle Chaz Green in the third round instead of going with a running back, even though Dallas already had one of the strongest offensive lines in the NFL.
That might be the thought process. Maybe Dallas feels one of the backs on the roster can be productive behind that fantastic line and don't need to invest in the position. Randle seems like the best bet at the moment to get that shot. Or perhaps the Cowboys have a back in mind for the fourth, fifth or seventh round (Dallas doesn't have a sixth-round pick) that could be a potential starter, though that seems like a major reach.
Someone is going to cash in as the Cowboys' starting back this season. I just have no idea who that is.
Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens
The Pittsburgh Steelers got some praise for their first-round pick of Bud Dupree in this spot yesterday, and their two biggest AFC North rivals each did very well for themselves on Day 2.
The Ravens might have my favorite draft so far, from a value standpoint. Receiver Breshad Perriman was a nice pick at No. 26 and a great fit for the offense. I know tight end wasn't top heavy or deep this year, but Minnesota's Maxx Williams was the consensus top tight end and Baltimore traded up and got him at No. 55. He's a value pick and he fills another need. The same can be said for Iowa defensive tackle Carl Davis in the third round. That's three nice value picks for a team that always seems to draft well.
The Bengals typically do pretty well in the draft too, and I liked all three of their Day 2 picks. They paired their first-round pick, offensive tackle Cedric Ogbuehi, with second-round offensive tackle Jake Fisher. They're set at tackle for a while. Tyler Kroft of Rutgers is a solid tight end who can block and catch and went late in the third round. Then to finish the third round, the Bengals drafted TCU linebacker Paul Dawson, who didn't work out well at the combine but is a good football player.

LOSERS
Bryce Petty and Brett Hundley
For a while on Thursday, a couple hours were spent with NFL insiders discussing on Twitter that Baylor quarterback Petty would a late first-round pick. That was fun.
Petty didn't get drafted in the first round, or the second or third rounds either, and neither did UCLA quarterback Hundley. Oregon State quarterback Sean Mannion did go to the Rams, the fourth quarterback selected after first-rounders Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston, and fellow third-rounder Garrett Grayson.

This wasn't a very good quarterback class. That's why folks spent time talking up Petty and even Hundley at various times. But now it's clear that both have a lot of work to do to establish themselves in some NFL team's long-term plans. They probably didn't expect to be undrafted going into the draft's third day.
Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West
Crowell and West were the opposite of those Dallas backs we discussed before who didn't welcome any new competition to their position group. Both Browns players showed some NFL ability as rookies. But now they're fighting for playing time with a 2015 rookie.
The Browns drafted Miami (Fla.) running back Duke Johnson in the third round. I don't want to come off as hating the Browns, after I wasn't thrilled with their first round, so I'll avoid saying that I have no idea why a team with some legitimate needs would draft a third running back when both 2014 rookies looked pretty promising.
You have to assume the Browns have big plans for Johnson, a versatile and exciting back. It's doubtful that there's enough to go around for three backs to be happy in that offense. At least one of last year's Browns rookie backs just had a lot of playing time taken away, it seems.

Patriots, but really, we should know better
Every year there's a draft pick that surprises everyone, because nobody expected to hear the name announced for a few more rounds. The Patriots made that pick this year.
New*England picked Stanford safety Jordan Richards at the end of the second round. Nobody seemed to know what to say because it didn't seem that anyone figured Richards would be picked before Day 3 of the draft. It seemed like a major reach, maybe by a few rounds, for the Patriots to take him in the second. "We have yet to find an expert projecting him as a second-round pick," CSNNE's Tom Curran wrote.
All that said, it's best to just assume New England knows something nobody else does. The Patriots often make surprising picks, and many have worked out fine. Richards does seem to fit what they do well, a productive strong safety who is lauded for his football smarts. Sounds like a good fit for the Patriots. It was an odd pick at that time, but it's probably best to bet that it'll work out for New England.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab