Amidst reports that his knee injury could potentially be career-threatening, at least one NFL general manager thinks Jaylon Smith will still play at a high level in the near future.
Peter King of MMQB reported in his weekly column that an anonymous G.M., whose team is still very interested in the linebacker, doesn’t think the knee injury will threaten Smith’s career: “No chance he won’t play at some point, and play well,” he said.
All it takes is one team to be high on a risky player for that player to have a shot at making it in the NFL.
And for Smith, this is all the more likely to become reality. Heading into the combine, before the ill-fated medical that caused many teams to believe he will be out for the entire 2016 season, he was considered a lock as a top-10 pick, even though he was still recovering from ACL and MCL tears suffered in the Fiesta Bowl this past January.
His college tape, combined with his freakish athleticism, sideline-to-sideline speed and clean off-field life, was so attractive that teams weren’t concerned about the fact that he might not be ready for the start of training camp.
But then nerve issues to his ankle, and more importantly to his knee, were revealed by the combine medicals. It seemed like a Marcus Lattimore situation all over again. Lattimore was ultimately picked up by the San Francisco 49ers, who took a flier on him in the fourth round but ultimately never saw a return on their investment after he retired two years later without playing a single down in the NFL.
Every situation is different, and there is certainly a chance Smith can recover. Thankfully, he’s remained upbeat throughout what has to be a brutal process for him personally. He told Kimberly Jones of NFL Network Sunday that he still views himself as “the best player in the draft.”
Also working in his favor is that at least one team still has faith in him to pull through and become an outstanding pro. This means he’ll likely be drafted by a team that has the depth to let him take a year off to heal completely (hopefully) so that he can have a fresh start as a redshirt rookie in 2017.