Jaylon Smith thinks he’s going to be the best player in this draft, but it’s going to take him longer to start proving that.
Smith went through the medical re-check in Indianapolis this week and teams are reviewing his file, but the news apparently was not good.
According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Notre Dame linebacker is not expected to play in 2016. The expectation is that he’ll be ready for the 2017 season, after he’s recovered from his Fiesta Bowl knee injury.
Smith tore his ACL and LCL in his final game, which will knock him from the high reaches of the first round.
Now the question becomes which team is willing to roll the dice on his recovery, and when. A good team with depth could afford to wait on him, but not many teams are able or willing to take a redshirt player.