4 biggest injury-risk targets for Commanders in 2022 NFL Draft

3. David Ojabo

If you were tuned in to Michigan’s pro day, chances are you watched coveted pass rusher David Ojabo tears his Achilles during a non-contact drill. The former Wolverine was a lock to be taken in the top half of the first round before the injury. Now, though, there’s growing speculation he could fall out of Round 1 entirely.

After all, Ojabo didn’t start playing football until his junior year of high school. While he’s a freak athlete and was productive as a junior in 2021 with 11 sacks and five forced fumbles, he’s widely viewed as a development project in the NFL.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter shared that doctors expect Ojabo to have a similar recovery timetable to that of Rams running Cam Akers, who suffered the same injury last offseason and miraculously returned in sixth months in time for the playoffs.

That certainly puts a positive spin on Ojabo’s draft stock, but Akers’ recovery shouldn’t be viewed as the standard timeline for Achilles tears. It’s more of an anomaly than the norm, as moth athletes take between 10-12 months, if not longer, to get back to full-strength.

When you couple that with the fact that Ojabo is a raw prospect whose game at Michigan was far too dependent on his athleticism as opposed to a refined technique and hand placement, he’s now a massive injury risk — though he could return solid value if he fell to the second round.