After a Bad Injury, Andrew Vorhees Shows his Strength at NFL Combine
USC offensive guard Andrew Vorhees reportedly suffered a torn ACL while competing in position drills at the NFL Combine on Sunday.
Vorhees went down awkwardly and was eventually helped to the locker room by the training staff. No official diagnosis was reported yesterday, but this morning, Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reported that it’s feared to be a torn ACL.
But in typical Vorhees fashion, the 6-foot-6, 310-pound lineman wouldn’t be stopped that easily.
Vorhees settled into the bench press this morning with one leg on the ground and fired off 38 reps of 225 pounds. No player at the Combine this year had done more than 34 reps. And the 38 posted by Vorhees is tied for No. 17 at the Combine since at least 2006. It’s also tied for No. 9 by an offensive lineman since that same year.
USC head coach Lincoln Riley wasn’t surprised.
“Complete warrior,” Riley tweeted in response to Pelissero’s report. “Played hurt the entire 2nd half of the season when most would have shut it down…whatever team drafts him will be getting an absolute dude in the trenches.”
Vorhees sat out three games over the second half of the season, including the Pac-12 Championship Game and the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. He gutted his way through the entire game against UCLA and a big chunk of the rivalry game against Notre Dame.
Vorhees finished the season as a First-Team All-American and First-Team All-Pac-12 selection.
Injury Impact on NFL Draft
Vorhees went into the NFL Combine as a likely top-100 selection in the upcoming NFL Draft. With this injury, it’s likely he’ll miss at least a bulk of his rookie season. That’s something teams will take into account when making the selection.
But if he does slide, some team is going to end up with a steal.
Vorhees has prepped and played like a pro for several seasons at USC and the transition to the next level is one he’s ready to make.
He went into the Combine as a top-five interior offensive lineman for three of the four NFL Draft analysts at ESPN. Todd McShay and Jordan Reid both had him at No. 4. Matt Miller has him at No. 5.
