Notre Dame's star linebacker, and potential top 5 first round pick Jaylon Smith will have reconstructive knee surgery on Thursday.
The surgery is needed to repair his torn ACL and MCL which are injuries many NFL fans after 2015 will know plenty about. This however puts Smith in quite the bind, he could forgo his senior season at Notre Dame to enter the draft however it is uncertain how the league will respond to such a devastating injury.
A once top 5 pick could slide late into the first round especially if Smith has no update on his condition by draft day.
Smith suffered the injury early on during the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State. A torn ACL or MCL is bad enough but if both are torn it just makes the recovery process that much longer.
Smith is lucky to have not torn both his ACL/LCL because that could have knocked him into the end of the first round if he got drafted in the first round at all. Smith will be in Dallas for his surgery as Dr. Daniel Cooper, the team doctor for the Dallas (Cowboys who has seen players like Sean Lee and Orlando Scandrick tear their ACL's before) will do the operation.
