Balzer: Dorsey Damaged? Leg Injury Raises Red Flags

[Nick]

Dorsey Damaged? Leg Injury Raises Red Flags
02/24/2008 12:29 PM
By Howard Balzer
Senior Writer
NFLDraftScout.com

INDIANAPOLIS -- An NFL team doctor told NFLDraftScout.com that there are serious concerns over the lingering effects of a 2006 stress fracture in the right tibia of Louisiana State's highly-rated defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey.

Dorsey, generally considered a top five prospect in the NFL Draft, underwent a physical Saturday at the Scouting Combine, and was subsequently sent to the hospital for additional tests.

Dorsey elected not to work out at the Combine, explaining he stopped preparing for the Combine because of the death of his grandmother.

However, there are still issues with the tibia that has raised red flags among NFL teams. The team doctor told NFLDraftScout.com the stress fracture is in an area of the tibia that is difficult to heal.

Dorsey played most of the 2006 season at LSU with the injury, and took painkillers before every game. He wore a bone stimulator for up to 18 hours per day until he was cleared to practice in the spring of 2007.

Before that, Dorsey considered entering the 2007 NFL Draft, but told ESPN college football reporter Joe Schad, "I have a few injuries that I believe would have hindered me in the draft. I have a leg injury that I really want to get healed up, so I'm coming back so we have a chance to win the SEC and maybe even a national championship."

LSU did win the national championship, while Dorsey played the season with several injuries. He was limited in preseason drills because of a sore hamstring, then suffered a sprained right knee against Auburn on Oct. 20, and missed most of the second half of that game.

He played the following game against Alabama wearing a large brace on his knee, and briefly left the game when he re-injured the knee. Dorsey missed most of the Tigers' Nov. 17 game against Mississippi because of a sore lower back. The combination of injuries limited his participation in practice for the final six games of the season.

Dorsey had four of his seven sacks prior to the Auburn game, and one of his final three was against Louisiana Tech.

Let's remember that highly rated Michigan DT Alan Branch fell down the draft board last year in no small part because of lingering stress fractures. The fact that Dorsey was sent to the hospital for additional tests is pretty concerning.

[Rambos]

Yep Branch fell like a rock, maybe we take Jake Long with the first pick and get Dorsey with our second LOL. If he does start to fall, and Chris Long is gone. I would take the saft pick with Jake Long. Pace will come back and play, but how long will he be here?

[Bald_81]

Dorsey not concerned about right tibia injury

LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, who is considered one of the top players in the 2008 draft, said he's not concerned about his injured right tibia.


Dorsey said he had a hairline fracture of the tibia during the summer of 2006. The injury happened when he bumped into a weight in the weight room. Reports at the scouting combine in Indianapolis started to surface Sunday that an NFL doctor had serious concerns about the lingering effects of the fracture. NFLDraftScout.com reported Sunday that a doctor had serious concerns about the injury.


"I have no health concerns," Dorsey said. "I haven't missed a game since I've been at LSU. Everybody gets nicked up. Who doesn't go through a season without bumps and bruises. I don't think there is a problem at all. None of the teams have come to me about injuries at all.''


Dorsey said the area around the hairline fracture has calcified. He underwent tests by doctors from 9 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.


"I had MRIs, CAT scans, everything," he said. "They had stingers from high school they wanted to catch. You've got to stay patient and know it's going to pay off some day."
______________________________________________

Looks like one team doctor with a pick ranging out of the top five is desperately trying to send a smoke screen out so they can land Dorsey. His leg appears to be fine and no one has approached him with concerns. If anything, his workout on his pro day will either dispell all of this or substantiate it. No way Dorsey has a Alan Branch type of fall in this draft.

[Nick]

I'm sure Alan Branch wasn't concerned about his tibia injuries either. :\

We know Dorsey suffered this stress fracture in the summer of 2006, nearly two years ago. He played through the injury in 2006 but had to take painkillers before every game. He wore a bone stimulator for up to 18 hours a day up until spring practice in 2007 to try and help it out, yet after being evaluated for nearly ten hours this weekend, an NFL doctor remains concerned about the injury having lingering effects on his play.

The bottom line is when you're paying nearly $30 million in guaranteed money, you need to be as sure as possible that you're going to get your money's worth. This is an injury that's nearly two years old and remains a concern because of how difficult it is to heal, not to mention the other injuries Dorsey experienced this season (sprained right knee, back spasms).

In the end, these same concerns caused Alan Branch to slip down draft boards, and though I don't think Dorsey has that kind of fall, I can't imagine teams are going to look at Dorsey the same way as they did a few weeks ago. He admits to having the injury, so it's not as if you can really question the validity of the report or the team doctor's diagnosis.

Considering this recent news, I would be pretty hesitant to take Dorsey at the #2 spot and pay him the huge contract that comes along with it. If we were picking later in the round, maybe you can risk it then. For these kind of bucks, that's a huge risk...

[Bald_81]

The thing that gets me irritated is that scouts talk about Ellis like he had a clean sheet at USC compared to Dorsey who continually battled injuries. The reality is Ellis fractured his left ankle causing him to miss his entire freshmen year and then as a junior tore cartilege in his knee causing him to miss time. He has had a fair share of injuries to his legs as well, but scouts conveniently leave this out and say he is much less of a risk than Dorsey, who has NEVER missed a game at LSU.

I am not making a case for the Rams to take him rather I am just saying that these concerns are unfounded and likely a smokescreen for teams who want him after the fifth pick. If you remember, there were alot of reports surfacing around this time last year that Adrian Peterson's collarbone injury was still not fully healed and he would most likely miss time during traning camp to recover. Of course, these 'injury' concerns scared off many teams and he ended up dropping to #7, only to proceed with an astounding rookie season and win OROTY. I understand that we are talking about alot of guarenteed millions to someone who has durability questions, but most of these are just blown out of proportion like they were with AP around this time last year.

[Rambos]

The thing that gets me irritated is that scouts talk about Ellis like he had a clean sheet at USC compared to Dorsey who continually battled injuries.

This is a team doctor, not a scout.

An NFL team doctor told NFLDraftScout.com that there are serious concerns over the lingering effects of a 2006 stress fracture in the right tibia of Louisiana State's highly-rated defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey.

Dorsey, generally considered a top five prospect in the NFL Draft, underwent a physical Saturday at the Scouting Combine, and was subsequently sent to the hospital for additional tests.

[Bald_81]

I wasn't talking about team doctors because obviously Ellis checked out healthy because he had a clean senior season. I was talking about the Mayocks or McShays who say Ellis would be the safer pick because of less injury conerns than Dorsey when he has actually had some substantial injuries to his legs as well and he missed time where as Dorsey did not.

And as I mentioned before, Dorsey has said no teams have approached him about his injuries or concerns with them. This is most likely one team who feels they are out of his range such as the Bengals or Saints and want to nab him hoping he will have a free fall. Can you imagine Dorsey playing in New Orleans? That would be a match made in heaven.

[Rambos]

And as I mentioned before, Dorsey has said no teams have approached him about his injuries or concerns with them

Dorsey and his agent will down play his injury. Not sure how Dorsey can say that no teams are concerned.

QUOTEINDIANAPOLIS (AP) -Glenn Dorsey was at the hospital from about 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, getting poked and prodded as NFL teams checked out players' health at the annual scouting combine

9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, getting poked and prodded, sounds like they are concerened.

[Nick]

I am not making a case for the Rams to take him

...says the guy with the LSU avatar.

rather I am just saying that these concerns are unfounded and likely a smokescreen for teams who want him after the fifth pick.

Dorsey admits to the injury and was medically evaluated for nearly ten hours this weekend. I don't know how you can say the concerns are unfounded given what we know.

If you remember, there were alot of reports surfacing around this time last year that Adrian Peterson's collarbone injury was still not fully healed and he would most likely miss time during traning camp to recover. Of course, these 'injury' concerns scared off many teams and he ended up dropping to #7, only to proceed with an astounding rookie season and win OROTY.

The knock on Peterson wasn't just his collarbone fracture but his entire injury history. He had a chronic right ankle sprain for the entire 2005 season, and had to have surgery on a dislocated left shoulder he suffered prior to the 2004 season. So there were other durability concerns with Peterson as well, concerns that seemed to be rather valid since Peterson also missed time in training camp with a hip pointer and then missed two games with a torn LCL.

Again, the question is whether you can take a player this high and give him the kind of money such a selection demands when there are realistic concerns about the player's durability. Numerous teams passed on Alan Branch in part because of a similar injury, so there's past precedent to suggest this injury matters to NFL teams. I suspect Dorsey's on the field performance will still get him picked in a high slot, but for my money, I'm really concerned about those injuries being too big a risk to be worth it.

And as I mentioned before, Dorsey has said no teams have approached him about his injuries or concerns with them.

You keep bringing this up, but the fact that he went through such an extensive medical evaluation should be evidence enough that teams are concerned about his health regardless of what he says they've actually talked to him about.

[Bald_81]

You keep bringing this up, but the fact that he went through such an extensive medical evaluation should be evidence enough that teams are concerned about his health regardless of what he says they've actually talked to him about.

What I meant was prior to the evaluations and testing teams were obviously concerned but after all of that now they are probably not. Dorsey said he went through all that testing confidently like he proved his doubters wrong and I am sure teams with prior concerns after the tests now have those dropped.

He even mentions the teams nitpicking his high school injuries because he understands that he is under such a big microscope and now after all the testing he hopes it can be put to rest.

And yes, I can see where the assumption arises because of my avatar, but I truly believe we will take Gholston when it comes down to it in April. But will I be mad if we take Dorsey? Absolutely not. After all, I am an obvious fan of his.

I guess I'll leave this alone, I hope he can have a big pro day to further dispell these concerns because I truly believe when you never miss a game in your college career there can not be severe permanent damage that will torment his future in the NFL.

[Nick]

What I meant was prior to the evaluations and testing teams were obviously concerned but after all of that now they are probably not.

And my question is what do you base this conclusion on? Dorsey went through extensive medical evaluations and the result was an NFL team doctor saying that his injury history was a red flag issue. Yet you've drawn the complete opposite conclusion and claim that teams probably aren't concerned.

Dorsey said he went through all that testing confidently like he proved his doubters wrong

What Dorsey says really doesn't matter. He's likely trying to protect his draft stock by downplaying the injury concerns, since slipping even a little bit could cost him millions of dollars in guaranteed money.

I am sure teams with prior concerns after the tests now have those dropped.

Again, based on what? Today's report suggests the exact opposite.

[Goldenfleece]

It's tough to say how much this is going to affect his value. The leaked report could be misinformation. Just because the injury occurred in an area of the bone that is difficult to heal doesn't strictly speaking mean that it isn't already healed. Undoubtedly, all this testing will affect his value, but it just depends on whether the consensus is that this is still a red flag. One team doctor's opinion might not agree with others'.

[AvengerRam]

I would definitely take Dorsey....

... if he falls to the second round!

[Nick]

Published a couple of hours ago by Don Banks on CNNSI...

While some NFL team doctors may find a 2006 stress fracture in the right tibia of LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey worrisome, it is not widely considered to be an injury that is expected to greatly alter his top-five draft projection. Dorsey's history with the injury is said to not be as big a concern as running back Adrian Peterson's shoulder/clavicle problem was within the league last year at this time.

Dorsey opted to not work out at the combine because he ceased preparing for it recently when his grandmother died. While NFL decision-makers take all injuries seriously when it comes to potential first-round picks, with the large financial stake that they require, league personnel men seem satisfied that Dorsey has successfully played despite the tibia issue for the past two seasons.

"When you're one of the top players people are looking for negatives," Dorsey said Sunday. "They're looking for anything. But I played four years. I played every game since I've been with LSU. Who doesn't get hurt during the year?"

One NFL club executive told me: "He's fine as far as we're concerned. He passed our physical. Our doctors have a good comfort level with Dorsey. He put on a dominating performance in the national championship game, and that was his most recent game. I don't think we're worried about him."

So, opinions seem to vary, which is about what you'd expect. I had to chuckle a bit at the executive who said Dorsey was fine because he passed their physical. Those seem to be two different issues - he's been playing on the thing for two years, so I'm sure he can pass a physical. That's not the concern. The concern is whether or not this is going to affect his long-term health, how it impacts the potential he can reach at the next level, and whether or not this is going to be a chronic issue for him as a pro.

If the Rams have Dorsey near the top of their board as a contender for the #2 selection, they'd better put him through the gauntlet of medical evaluations and be pretty confident about what they find on the other side. This isn't exactly a team that's known for having great luck drafting defensive tackles, and as has been reported, this is not an injury that's going to heal easily. You don't want to spend $30 million in guaranteed money on a guy that from Day One is going to have to fight through and deal with pain in his leg from a calcified stress fracture, even if he was able to play through it in college.

This report combined with other minor injury issues is enough to keep Dorsey behind a number of other options I'd rather consider with our first pick. I said it earlier, and it deserves to be repeated - I suspect Dorsey's on the field performance will still get him picked in a high slot, but for my money, I'm really concerned about those injuries being too big a risk to be worth it.

[Rambos]

I agree Nick, If DT was our biggest need you might justify the pick. But we have two very good young guys in AC and Ryan, we would have to make room to play Dorsey. Why take a chance. The NFL is Far more physical then the competition you face in college, I would think being healthy going in is a must to have a chance to stay healthy.