NFL Draft News: Iowa DE Drew Ott has torn ACL

The undefeated Iowa Hawkeyes got their first real bad news of the 2015 season when it was announced that defensive end Drew Ott would miss the rest of his senior season with a torn ACL.

Ott, who had been among the Hawkeyes’ defensive leaders this season, was 1st on the team with 7.5 tackles for loss this season and tied with Nate Meier for 1st on the team with 5 sacks. He led the Hawkeyes last year with 12 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks, and looked like he was well on his way to a double-digit sack season in 2015.

There’s plenty of reason to believe that Ott will be an NFL player, but the injury really derails his hopes of getting drafted.

Kirk Ferentz said Drew Ott ACL tear a pothole in pursuit of NFL career but would be surprised if he's not on a roster next year.
— Rob Howe (@RobHoweHN) October 13, 2015

Ott has looked phenomenal at times this season, even to the point that he was almost unstoppable in a couple Iowa games. This is a big blow to Iowa’s defense, no doubt, but for Ott, it’s not the end of the line. Not when he consistently makes plays like this…

Ott had done a fantastic job this season of helping to re-implement that dominant defensive culture at Iowa. The Hawkeyes have looked as good as ever on that side of the ball, recently holding Wisconsin to just six points on their home field.

Freshman Parker Hesse will do his best to fill the big void at the defensive end position left by Ott, who is now headed to preparation for the NFL. Ott will have plenty of time to rehab his knee and get himself right for NFL teams, but it’s likely he won’t be fully healthy until the start of next season. That will undoubtedly affect his draft stock but some team is going to get an absolute steal.

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