2016 NFL Draft: According to reports, Iowa Hawkeyes defensive end Drew Ott has been denied a medical hardship and will head to the NFL…
Drew Ott is one of the best kept secrets in the 2016 NFL Draft, primarily because he hasn’t been officially part of the class of players. Ott was injured this past season for Iowa, which makes the success Iowa had this year as one of the last remaining undefeated teams in the country even more astounding, because he was arguably their best defensive player along with Desmond King.
King returned to school to finish what the Hawkeyes had started this year, and Ott was trying to follow him in that regard. He applied for an additional medical hardship from the NCAA, and both he and the Iowa athletic department felt like there was enough precedence for him to have gotten it.
The NCAA decided against allowing Ott an extra year of eligibility…
Can confirm. Drew Ott’s appeal for a medical hardship waiver has been denied by the NCAA. An NFL team will get a helluva deal.
— Marc Morehouse (@marcmorehouse) April 13, 2016
Apparently the NCAA didn’t really care about Ott’s prospects after school, because they waited until just over two weeks before the draft to give Ott the official word on his status for the next season. Ott attended the Scouting Combine to answer questions, but didn’t hire any representation so he could remain draft eligible.
He also hasn’t been able and won’t be able to really work out for teams as he continues rehab from his knee injury.
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The injury alone could be enough to push Ott off some draft boards, but this is a really good football player. He does a little bit of everything well, but he really came on the last two seasons as a pass rusher. Through six games this past season, he already had five sacks, 7.5 tackles for loss, and three forced fumbles.
As a junior in 2014, he finished with 7.5 sacks, 12 tackles for loss, an interception, a blocked punt returned for a touchdown, and 57 total tackles.
He plays the run and pass really well, and is incredibly strong. He has great size at 6-4, 272 pounds.
Ott will definitely be a steal on draft weekend, and with his injury, we’ll likely have to wait until day three to find out which team is getting him.