National Football League

2017 NFL Draft: Western Michigan wide receiver Corey Davis had ankle surgery

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 5:29 p.m. ET

Fansided, Brad Berreman/Fansided

An ankle injury was expected to keep wide receiver Corey Davis from doing on-field stuff at the NFL Combine, but recent surgery assures it now.

After a very prolific college career at Western Michigan, Corey Davis is considered one of the top wide receiver prospects in the 2017 draft class. A lot of early mock drafts have him as a first-round pick, as the second wide receiver off the board, and even with the recent news of an injured ankle while working out that seems unlikely to change.

Davis was already very unlikely to workout at the upcoming NFL Combine due to that ankle issue. But a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Wednesday night now assures that will be the case.

The classification of any surgery as “extremely minor” is clearly a carefully worded, subjective description offered to Schefter in order to get it out there, but if it proves to be correct it’s ultimately good news for Davis as he goes through the pre-draft process. There seems to be a chance he’ll be able to do private workouts for teams and participate in Western Michigan’s Pro Day, but medical evaluations in Indianapolis early next month will tell teams a lot about Davis’ initial progress after surgery.

Assuming he checks out well medically and avoids any post-surgery setbacks, Davis should still be a first-round pick come late-April. The Arizona Cardinals (No. 13 overall), Philadelphia Eagles (No. 15), Tennessee Titans (No. 18), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 19), Kansas City Chiefs (No. 27) and Dallas Cowboys (No. 28) could all consider taking Davis if he’s still on the board.

This ankle issue is not a red flag that should be attached to Davis, barring something unforeseen. Plenty of draft prospects will drop out of doing on-field drills at the combine for reasons other than injury, and the track-and-field nature of most of that stuff has little actual value to NFL teams anyway.