Former Alabama Crimson Tide offensive tackle Cyrus Kouandijo took a huge hit at the recent NFL Scouting Combine when the doctors in attendance wouldn’t clear his surgically repaired knee. Considered one of the top offensive tackles in the group, it threw up a huge red flag to the NFL organizations, and could potentially put a damper on his draft stock.
Recently, Alabama doctor Lyle Cain explained to Ian Rapoport what exactly Kouandijo’s injury entailed, and played it off in the end as something common.
"“Cyrus had some injuries his freshman year, a torn ACL and an MCL. We fixed it that year, two years ago. At the time, he had a little minor articular cartilage wear in his knee. A little bit of an injury. That’s just playing football. … But the combination of the ACL, MCL and articular cartilage wear makes teams concerned there may be a longevity issue,” Cain said. “The reality is, he played 27 games after the injury, never missed a practice, and never had the knee treated. These kinds of cartilage injuries are common in sports.”"
Shortly after that, Alabama trainer Jeff Allen threw in his two cents by stating that Kouandijo’s knee isn’t something that should be of an immediate concern.
"“There’s no question, with his knee, that is something that’s going to have to be paid attention and dealt with, with the understanding at times it may limit him,” Allen said. “At times, I’m talking about down the road, 5-6 years down the road, not this year.”"
Still, 5-6 years down the road is something that should concern NFL teams.