NFL Draft: Michigan TE Jake Butt injures knee in Orange Bowl
2017 NFL Draft: Michigan Wolverines tight end Jake Butt injured his knee in the Orange Bowl, and could be out well into his rookie NFL season…
Michigan Wolverines tight end Jake Butt is one of the top seniors at his position in the entire country, and may have suffered a significant injury in the Wolverines’ tough, emotional loss to the Florida State Seminoles in the Orange Bowl…
It’s a devastating update for one of the 2017 NFL Draft’s most exciting positions, and specifically for Butt to be out indefinitely and likely need some type of major surgery.
This is a blow to his draft stock, though players have come back from ACL injuries in nine months. He could be ready for the start of the season in September, but he’s potentially looking at an extended stay on the injured list if the recovery process is slow.
We won’t be quick to jump to any assumptions here, but the injury didn’t look good live. It was bad enough that ESPN’s Darren Rovell felt the need to get involved, and he had an interesting nugget…
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This injury isn’t going to settle the argument of whether or not a draft eligible player should sit out for a bowl game, even a pretty big one like this, but it’s hard to blame guys like Christian McCaffrey who decided not to play in their team’s bowl game for fear of potential injury.
Luckily, Butt stands to make some money off this insurance policy he’s reported to have taken, and some NFL team will likely take him no later than day two of the draft anyway. He’s a very good all-around player who may not have a huge ceiling, but looks like he can contribute in the league for a very long time.
Butt’s injury could prompt more players to sit out bowl games in the future, if situations like that of Jaylon Smith weren’t already reason enough. This may be another article for another day, but perhaps players sitting out bowl games will prompt a quicker expansion of the College Football Playoff, which is already desperately needed.
We wish our best to Jake Butt, and look forward to watching him play on Sundays.
