Irish LB Smith to undergo surgery today; football future on hold … Notre Dame junior OLB Jaylon Smith is scheduled to undergo surgery later today to repair the torn ACL and MCL he suffered when he landed awkwardly after a play during last week’s Fiesta Bowl loss to Ohio State. Smith had been considered to be one of the top 5-10 prospects for the upcoming draft, but his immediate football future is on hold amid concerns that the injury could be even more serious than first thought and could reportedly involve some nerve damage. Smith has not yet announced whether he intends to enter the 2016 draft and and likely will wait until after the surgery to hear what his doctors have to say about the length of the recovery period before making any final decision. Whatever the decision it appears that Smith is in for a long rehab and likely won’t be ready for full contact until after the start of the 2016 season whether in the NFL or back in college. And if Smith does indeed decide to enter this year’s draft, NFL teams will have a tough decision on where to take him. St. Louis, for example, took a chance and selected former Georgia RB Todd Gurley with the 10th pick in last year’s draft after he too suffered a severe knee injury in October of his final year in college. And Gurley wasn’t able to play until the 4th game of the year this fall, but went on to make the Pro Bowl after rushing for over 1,100 yards once he did return to action. However, other players returning from injury haven’t been as successful. As we say, its a lottery!
