Injury Rumors Swirl Around Billings’ Day Three Slide

Prior to the official opening of the 2016 NFL draft, Baylor nose tackle Andrew Billings was touted as a sure fire first-round prospect. Talents slide through the selection process for unknown reasons every year, but Billings’ situation is particularly bizarre given his absence of character, health or skill concerns entering the draft.

Now, as the big man waits to have his name called somewhere between rounds four to seven, rumblings have emerged that a lingering knee issue has scared some teams off.

While certainly not on the same level of uncertainty as a Jaylon Smith or Myles Jack situation, it’s possible the injury is bad enough to keep Billings off the field for a significant portion of the upcoming season. In a draft deep with defensive tackle talent, franchises may simply be more willing to chance their hand on a less flashy, but ultimately healthier, rookie.

Strangely, sources out of the Billings camp claim there is no such injury to be worried about. It makes sense to skate past the whole truth out of fear of hurting one’s draft stock, but at least the announcement of a health issue would justify such a talented player slipping through the cracks.

Billings displayed a unique combination of brute strength, downfield vision, quick feet and lightning hands at Baylor, with some evaluators calling him the most impactful overall talent in this year’s crop. At 6’1” and 311 pounds, Billings is a touch undersized as a pure NT, but his skill set more than makes up for his tangible deficiencies.

When healthy, he could compete for playing time on any defense – be it under a 3-4 or 4-3 scheme – and it must surely just be a matter of time before an intrigued general manager takes a flier on the man that should already be wearing a snapback and a personalized jersey by now.