Ifo Ekpre-Olomu Injury: Updates on Oregon Star's Knee and Return

Oregon cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu suffered a serious knee injury at practice on Tuesday, according to Rand Getlin of Yahoo Sports:

Aaron Fentress of CSNNW reports that the injury will force him to miss the rest of the season. 

Viewed by most evaluators as a first-round pick, Ekpre-Olomu is in the midst of a strong senior campaign. He's continued to establish his reputation as one of the nation's best cornerbacks and currently sits No. 23 on Todd McShay's big board (ESPN Insider required).

The only major setbacks have come in the form of injuries, mostly to his left foot. Ekpre-Olomu missed nearly all of Oregon's 51-27 victory over Utah after going down with an injury to his big toe. 

"I'm not really too concerned, especially having an extra week off, but I think I'll be all right," Ekpre-Olomu told reporters then. "I've been dealing with a lot of different foot injuries on this same foot but I'm all right. I just tweaked my toe, my big toe."

Losing Ekpre-Olomu for an extended period would be a sizeable blow to Oregon's hopes within the College Football Playoff. The Ducks' biggest weakness all season has been their shaky defense. Ekpre-Olomu's absence strips Oregon of its best defensive player and makes Mark Helfrich's team far more vulnerable over the top.

With the injuries piling up, it'll also be interesting to see if NFL teams start scrutinizing him more heavily.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter