Could Malik Hooker Fall to the Buccaneers Following Surgery?

The Buccaneers have been tied to many names this off-season as mock drafts and speculation are beginning to gain steam. With news Malik Hooker of Ohio State will miss the NFL Combine, is it possible he’ll fall enough to realistically enter this conversation?

Picking at 19 means two things for the Buccaneers: they’re going to have some good names to pick from and they won’t be able to get some of the top talents in this year’s rookie crop.

This may have changed Wednesday though with news Malik Hooker – the draft’s second rated safety behind LSU’s Jamaal Adams – has had surgery to repair his labrum and a hernia.

Initial reactions don’t seem to project his stock to suffer too much from this news, and the upside is he should be ready for camp as reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Hooker is being looked at as one of the best cover safeties coming out in the draft in quite some time, and a team like the Bucs just so happens to have a need in the area.

While positions along the defensive line and offensive lines certainly seem to be more heavily weighted in terms of need, a talent like his would be too much to pass up should he near the 20 range in the 2017 selection meeting.

It’s important to remember the Junior played his final two games of his collegiate career with the injuries unrepaired and looked no worse for the wear.

Now that these afflictions are taken care of, he should be all systems go when it comes time to step onto the NFL stage.

We’ve seen injury concerns hurt the stock of players in the past, and while it may not dim the light on his talent, there is possibility now some teams who have him graded highly could look to free-agency a bit more than they had planned to find a center-fielder.

If this happens, we could see a tumble.

With the film this dynamic player put down this year it’s doubtful he’ll drop as far as Tampa’s pick at the tail-end of non-playoff teams.

Still, for Buccaneers fans and other fans in the middle first round range, it’s worth noting and will add a bit more discussion to the medical screenings and interviews conducting in Indianapolis in just about a month.

What do the fans think? If the Buckeyes safety is there at 19^th due to these injury concerns, do you want to see Jason Licht pull the trigger on him? Hooker himself had some thoughts:

Next: Buccaneers' Free Agent Outlook Part I

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