With over 4,500 career receiving yards, 45 touchdowns, and a FBS record 329 career receptions, former Oklahoma wide receiver Ryan Broyles would be on paper one of the top wide receivers in this year’s class. Presently however, one of college football’s most consistently reliable receivers would likely be considered by many fortunate to be drafted in the third round.
What’s caused Broyles’ rapid fall on draft boards across the league? It certainly wasn’t a lack of production. Broyles’ stock began it’s free fall in November when he tore his ACL late in the Sooners’ season. A torn ACL is one of the most difficult injuries to recover from in all of sports. Should it be enough to scare teams away from Broyles?
Broyles’ injury occurred on November 5th, in the third quarter Oklahoma’s game with Texas A&M. The timing of the injury – late in the Sooners’ season – couldn’t have come at a worse time for Broyles. Even though he had surgery to repair his ACL in early November, Broyles still hasn’t been able to cut at full speed. ACL injuries just simply take a long time to recover from, and because of that he hasn’t been able to work out at the combine or at Oklahoma’s pro-day. He does expect, however, to be able to work out at a private pro-day sometime prior to the draft.
Although he’s hoping to be able to participate in NFL OTAs in May, prospective teams shouldn’t expect much physically from him that early on. The time line for an ACL surgery recovery will vary from person to person, but there are some general bench marks you can expect. You usually wouldn’t look for someone to start running anywhere near full speed until 4 to 6 months after the surgery.
Broyles appears to be at right at, if not slightly ahead of an average pace there. However, the rehab process for an ACL doesn’t truly end until at least 12 months following the injury – which for Broyles will be well into the 2012 NFL season.
Based on the history of players with torn ACLs, even after that 12 month mark there is still a long way to go before a player returns to his pre-injury explosiveness. We typically see that a player won’t truly return to 100% until he’s two years removed from the injury. Because Broyles appears to be having a setback free recovery thus far, it’s safe to say it may not take him the full two years to return to 100%. Still, it wouldn’t be fair to expect him to play at his full potential in 2012.
Fortunately, teams should not have to worry about Broyles having trouble staying healthy. In his time at Oklahoma, he was known for his toughness in spite of his small stature (5’10, 192). In his two full years as a starter (2009-2010) he didn’t miss a game. Prior to his ACL injury, Broyles had started 35 straight games from 2008-2010. Clearly, his ACL injury was an exception, and not an indicator of larger, more concerning issue.
In the end, when teams look at Broyles they will have to weigh the benefits of having a tough, productive slot receiver with great hands versus the potential of having to wait an extra season to see a return on their investment. There is of course, the added risk that Broyles may never gain back all of his explosiveness in and out of cuts that made him a valuable weapon in the slot. If he’s able to show he’s on the right track at his workouts in April, it’s likely a tea
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