Some might Jaylon Smith's knee, but none can question his confidence.
The former Notre Dame star's rehabilitation from a severe left knee injury could potentially render him unable to play his entire rookie season, but Smith nevertheless believes he'll be the best player available when the 2016 NFL Draft begins April 28 on NFL Network.
"I'm the best player in the draft. I just didn't get the opportunity to show it as far as the combine and draft process," Smith wrote in a first-person account for Bleacher Report. "Watch the film. Any game. It speaks for itself."
Smith acknowledged nerve damage from the injury but said doctors told him upon his Jan. 7 surgery that he would eventually make a full recovery. What's not known it how long that might take, a factor which makes one of the draft's elite talents also one of its most difficult to project on draft day. NFL clubs aren't expecting Smith to be ready in 2016, NFL Media insider Ian Rapoport reported during the NFL Scouting Combine in February.
Smith told NFL Media's Mike Mayock following the Fighting Irish's pro day that his recovery has progressed well enough for him to squat in excess of 400 pounds and leg press more than 600. Smith is among the draft prospects who will be back in Indianapolis over the next two days for a combine medical recheck, where he'll undergo more physical examinations with NFL team doctors. The outcome could have a profound affect on where in the draft Smith could be selected.
Smith won the Butkus Award as college football's top linebacker as a junior last year. The injury occurred as Ohio State left tackle Taylor Decker, himself a top draft prospect, finished a block of Smith during the first half of the Fiesta Bowl.
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