For the past 2 months, virtually every mock draft here, has had Wilkerson going to us in the 3rd round. So many saying they were hoping he'd still be there when we picked in the 3rd. I've been trying to say to anyone who would listen for the past two months that he wasn't a first day guy due to his injury concerns, and I guess even that was being generous.
I thought we may take him in the 7th, if we hadn't taken a center by then, but can't be too surprised he went undrafted. To have had back surgery at this young age is not something to be taken lightly when it comes to holding up to the rigors and strain of playing OL in the NFL. I asked my orthopedic surgeon what he thought of having bulged or herniated L4 L5 discs trimmed, as Ben had done. He said it was not a cure, but usually just a temporary fix, and at some point in the future the same area had a very good chance of being a problem again. He was referring to just average people. How much more would the possibilities be for an NFL lineman?
I think the patella tendon will heal up ok, but he hasn't been able to work out b/c of it, so his lower unit strength has had to have dropped a noticable degree.
If we sign him as an undrafted free agent, the best course may be to handle him the same way we did Ogunleye as a rookie. By placing him on the Reserve/Non-Football Injury List, and have him sit out the 2005 season, while he continues to recover and build up his strength.