Maurice Clarett’s allegations about preferential treatment during his time at Ohio State might drop him a bit lower in next April’s NFL draft.

But it really won’t affect his draft status drastically because he doesn’t appear to have much.

“I think he’s marginal anyway,” Indianapolis general manager Bill Polian said this week. “This is a character issue, and that will be looked into with great depth. In the long run, he’s got to prove he can play.”

Polian is one of the few GMs and scouts willing to talk on the record about Clarett.

One general manager said he was wary of saying anything — even off the record — after a round of court battles involving the former OSU running back.

Other team executives did not want to say anything for attribution.

But the reality is this:

If scouts judge that Clarett has the ability to play in the NFL, someone will take him, though probably not as high as he expects. He certainly will get less money than he would have last year if he won his court fight to enter the draft and been taken in the second or third round.

Clarett played as a freshman on the 2002 Ohio State team that won the national championship, then was suspended by both the school and the NCAA for the 2003 season.

Last spring, he asked a federal court to give him permission to enter the NFL draft even though league rules don’t allow a player in until he is three years out of high school. A judge in New York granted his request and an appeals court later overturned it.

During the period Clarett was eligible for the draft, he was considered by most teams as the fifth-best running back available, and probably would have been picked in the second or early third round.