The recent arrest of former Notre Dame High School and Oklahoma State receiver Adarius Bowman has rendered him less of a certainty in next weekend’s National Football League draft, according to longtime ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper.

“He should still get drafted based on ability, but I don’t know how much the off-the-field concerns are going to hurt him,” Kiper said Wednesday. “I have him in the fifth round, now, based on the cumulative effect of everything.”

Last summer, The Sporting News rated the 6-foot-4, 223-pound Bowman as the top pro prospect in the Big 12 Conference regardless of position.

Bowman was arrested April 1 after admitting to a McMinn County Sheriff’s deputy that he tossed a small bag of marijuana from his 2008 Cadillac Escalade along Interstate 75. He entered a guilty plea last Friday and was sentenced Monday in McMinn General Sessions Court by Judge James Watson to 11 months and 29 days in jail, which was suspended upon him paying $250 plus court costs.

Bowman’s draft stock had already dropped. After his senior season was cut short three games by a knee sprain, he had problems consistently catching passes during Senior Bowl workouts in January.

Whether or not he is drafted next weekend, Kiper believes his days at receiver are over.

“I think he’s going to be an H-back, and I’ve thought that all along,” Kiper said. “I think if you can get him up to 230 or 235 — he ran a 4.74 (40-yard time) at the combine — and move him to tight end, you might have something. I know that he’s a big, physical guy and there were some certain things he did very effectively at Oklahoma State within the framework of that offense, but I don’t see him as an NFL wide receiver. I see him as an H-back.”

After being dismissed from North Carolina’s football program midway through the 2004 season for marijuana possession, Bowman transferred to Oklahoma State and sat out in 2005. He flourished during his first season with the Cowboys in 2006, making 60 receptions for 1,181 yards and 12 touchdowns and setting a league record with 300 receiving yards against Kansas.

Despite the injury last fall, Bowman had 61 catches for 932 yards and seven scores.

Messages left Wednesday on his cell phone were not returned.