Jaylon Smith’s knee injury could juggle top of NFL draft

Source: http://ift.tt/1OpKxmS --- Friday, January 01, 2016
Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith sustained what coach Brian Kelly is calling a “significant” knee injury in Friday’s Fiesta Bowl – an event that could have a major impact on the top of the NFL draft. The injury looked eerily like the one suffered by Georgia running back Nick Chubb in October. Chubb, who sustained major damage to the knee but did not tear his ACL, hopes to be ready for the start of next season. Smith was widely expected to enter the draft, and was considered by some scouts as the best defensive player available, if not the best player overall. He won the Butkus Award as the nation’s best linebacker, and has shown the ability to play both on the outside and in the middle – a trait that NFL teams covet. The severity of the injury won’t be known for a few days, but it will almost certainly mean the end of Smith’s college career. Even if he had been considering a return to the Fighting Irish for his senior season, he will be better served by getting into the NFL, signing a contract and using the best available resources to rehabilitate the injury. At this point, though, it is too early to say what impact it will have on his draft stock, although it seems likely to drop him out of consideration as a top-10 pick.     The post Jaylon Smith’s knee injury could juggle top of NFL draft appeared first on Today's Pigskin . ...

from NFL http://ift.tt/1OpKxmT