Cyrus Kouandjio not reading press clippings

Former Alabama left tackle Cyrus Kouandjio has seen his stock move up and down by various draft prognosticators.

He's been pegged to go as high as the mid-first round to falling into the second round. For Kouandjio, he's staying away from the projections and analysis. He had to do so at the high-profile collegiate program at Alabama and he'll do so again.

“I’m wired different, so I see it all as a challenge,” Kouandjio told The Washington Post. “Whatever they’re saying, I made a decision a long time ago that I’m not going to let my knee or what people say have power over my football career. I did it then, and I’m going to do it again.”

Heading into Kouandjio's junior season in 2013, the tackle said he'd regularly see articles praising him for his on-field abilities. Instead of buying into the hype, Kouandjio shut himself off from the media then to keep himself level-headed.

“[The news] had too much control on my life,” Kouandjio said. “If it was a good thing, I think, ‘Oh, I’m the truth,’ and it gives you a sense of pride. If it was bad, it might bring me down. I didn’t feel like all my attention was on football.”

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