Suffering a torn ACL in a late-December bowl game didn't keep Texas A&M offensive tackle Cedric Ogbuehi out of the first round of the NFL draft. Ogbuehi surprisingly went 21st overall, to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Ogbuehi was the second first-round pick who currently is rehabbing an ACL injury. Georgia running back Todd Gurley, who went 10th to the St. Louis Rams, suffered his injury about six weeks before Ogbuehi, in a mid-November win over Auburn.
Gurley, though, always was considered a first-round pick. That wasn't the case for Ogbuehi, who was injured in the Aggies' Dec. 29 Liberty Bowl win over West Virginia.
"I am really happy for the kid," NFL Media analyst Mike Mayock said of Ogbuehi Thursday night during NFL Network's draft coverage, noting that "a lot of people thought (the injury) would push him into the second or third round."
Mayock called him "a gifted left tackle prospect" with "a lot of upside."
Ogbuehi also is heading to a team with solid bookend tackles in Andrew Whitworth (left side) and Andre Smith.
"Because they have Whitworth and Andre Smith, he can get healthy before he has to play," Mayock said.
Fellow analyst Daniel Jeremiah said Ogbuehi "would've put on a show in Indianapolis (at the NFL Scouting Combine), probably running in the 4.8s if he was healthy. ... He'll have some time to both get healthy and be the eventual replacement for Andrew Whitworth at left tackle."
Ogbuehi also started at guard and right tackle during his A&M career, and potentially could begin his NFL career at guard.
"A lot of people thought he might slide into the second round because of that injury," Jeremiah said. "The Cincinnati Bengals thought they got a value."
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.