How Far Will Jaylon Smith Fall After Reported Medical Issues at Combine?

For some young prospects, the NFL Scouting Combine is a dream come true. A chance to bolster their draft stock in front of scouts and coaches from across the NFL.

For others, the trip to Indianapolis can be a nightmare, as poor workouts or red flags send a young player's draft stock off a cliff.

Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith now finds himself living the latter in both regards.

The belief before the combine was that Smith would miss part of the 2016 season as he returned to form after tearing his ACL and LCL, per Sports Illustrated, in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year's Day.

And after a bombshell Friday that will surely cost Smith a lot of money, it's fair to wonder if Smith wishes he'd just stayed home.

Ian Rapoport of NFL.com was the one who broke the news that Smith's medicals at the combine went about as badly as they possibly could have:

It's a devastating turn of events for a young linebacker who tallied 114 tackles for the Irish in 2015 en route to winning the Butkus Award. Josh Norris of Rotoworld ranked him among the top 15 prospects overall in this year's draft.

"Jaylon is very athletic, capable of covering gaps and plenty of ground. Like most linebackers, Smith is at his best against the run and looked more aggressive at the point of attack this season," Norris wrote. "He is above average in coverage and has even shown the ability to rush the passer as a blitzer."

It's also the continuation of a rotten 2016 for Smith, a year that began with a Fiesta Bowl tilt against Ohio State that may have changed Smith's life forever.

Early in the loss to Ohio State, the Buckeyes' Taylor Decker pushed Smith from behind. The 6'3", 229-pound consensus All-American's left knee bent awkwardly, and he went down in a heap. Then there was a blur of being carted from the playing field, a dire diagnosis and surgery.

Still, it wasn't that long ago that things appeared to be looking up for Smith. Just a few days ago, Smith himself tweeted that his rehab was going well:

However, it wasn't long at all after that tweet went out that so did another—this one from former NFL team doctor David Chao, who pointed out that dark clouds were circling:

On Friday, those clouds broke, and Chao's ominous diagnosis came to pass. Even Smith, who tried to remain positive, allowed to reporters (via JJ Stankevitz of CSN Chicago) that he doesn't know when he'll be able to play again:

"

I'm going to be 100 percent again. We just don't know when.

I'm a long-term guy. I'm going to be a very impactful player for a long time. It's just getting healthy. That's really all I can focus on.

"

Chao countered that there's a real possibility Smith might never get back to 100 percent again:

Of course, the question on everyone's mind now is how far Smith will drop on draft day. Even with the injury, the belief was some team in the first round would make the same gamble on Smith's talent that the Los Angeles Rams made with Todd Gurley last year.

In his post-Super Bowl mock draft, Bleacher Report NFL Draft Lead Writer Matt Miller predicted the Chicago Bears would take Smith one pick after the Rams took Gurley in 2015:

"

If not for a devastating knee injury in the Fiesta Bowl, Jaylon Smith would be my No. 1 player in the draft and a legitimate candidate to be the first overall pick in this draft. Smith, who tore his ACL and LCL in early January, may be back before the 2016 season begins, according to sources close to him, and that's good enough reason for the Bears to pounce on him at pick No. 11.

Smith has rare skills, and as a prospect, he is in the tier of players similar to Luke Kuechly or Patrick Willis. He's able to play inside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme and could help the Bears get back to the days of having Dick Butkus, Mike Singletary and Brian Urlacher running down the ball.

"

Just like with Gurley last year, the best-case scenario was he'd be on the field making a difference in October just as Gurley was. Worst case, he'd play a few games during the stretch run. But at some point in 2016, Smith's NFL team would at least get a glimpse at the every-down player they invested a first-round pick in.

That was before reports of nerve damage threw his recovery table into complete disarray.

Now, Miller admits there's just no way of knowing when Smith will hear his name called:

Smith's first-round odds are now iffy at best. And if a team does take Smith on the draft's first day, it will all but certainly be at the back of the round, by a winning team with a deep roster that can afford the notion of Smith sitting at least his entire rookie year.

It's even more likely, however, that the first round will now come and go without Smith being selected—and that one of those winning, forward-thinking teams will start looking at a "what-if" move-up on Day 2 to select Smith.

And unless things go positively swimmingly at his medical rechecks in April, it's a bigger possibility Smith will be drafted on the third day than the first, given this setback.

It's a setback that is going to cost Smith millions of dollars, even if, as Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports tweeted, he has a contingency plan in place:

Maybe it won't be necessary. Maybe the medical recheck in early April will show solid progress, and Smith will make it all the way back.

A few years from now, we'll be talking about Smith as a great value for the team that finally does draft him.

As things stand today, though, it's every bit as likely after this news to see Smith go from top linebacker prospect to the latest sad tale of a promising youngster whose career ended before it began due to an injury. We just don't know.

What we do know is 2016 has continued to be a rough road for Jaylon Smith.

Gary Davenport is an NFL analyst at Bleacher Report, a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPSharks.