Dropping or removing players from the draft board due to injury
No prospect wants to enter their respective draft with an injury. It’s always tough to see a top-end prospect get hurt late in his senior year, or worse yet, get injured at the Senior Bowl, Combine, or their Pro Day. As disheartening as the injuries are, the Vikings need to not overreact and not devalue a player too much because of it.
An ACL tear isn’t the same type of injury it used to be. We see players come back in six months or less and then never get hurt again. The treatment of these former career-threatening injuries has taken huge leaps and bounds in recent years, and a player like David Ojabo will still likely see the field during his rookie season, despite suffering the injury just a few weeks ago.
Where injuries do need to be taken into consideration and should have a major negative impact on a player’s draft stock is if there is a long history. Some players are just more frail than others and are genetically susceptible to sustain injuries where others aren’t. Concussions are another major red flag, and if a player has sustained numerous ones in high school and college, that could definitely shorten his professional career.
Just a few years ago, a Lisfranc or ACL injury was basically a death knell on draft day, and players would free fall down the board. The Vikings need to put faith in their medical team and not take a player off their board due to an injury that can heal in a few months.