Carolina Panthers

Panthers: Malik Hooker Not Lost Due to Injury

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 7:11 p.m. ET

Fansided, Parker Hurley/FanSided via Cat Crave

The Carolina Panthers could risk taking an injured player with pick number eight…

Possible Carolina Panthers selection and safety prospect, Malik Hooker, will miss four to six months due to surgery on a torn labrum and hernia. Hooker has already pulled out of all combine workouts and will likely not do anything for his pro-day either.

The injury suggests he will not be fully healthy by the time that the NFL draft rolls around but he may be cleared just in time for the first days of training camp.

When selecting a player in the top eight picks a franchise will invest a lot of faith and capital into the fact that he can perform right away and be a key piece of the team for years to come. Missing so much time and the many workouts in the offseason before his first NFL season will certainly scare some teams. However, if this means that Hooker, a widely regarded top ten pick before his surgery announcement is available at number eight, the Panthers should grab him.

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This injury will effect the Hooker’s draft status but it should not. Most of the work that will be done in mini-camps and rookie camps will be walk through type of workouts. He is already physically far ahead of other safeties in this draft class. If Hooker is back to full strength before the start of the season, he will remain in the top tier of rookies in terms of speed and athleticism.

Coming into the draft with an injury will have some questioning if Hooker could re-injure the same body part down the road. However, that is to suggest that every other player, in a violent sport such as the NFL will not suffer some sort of injury during their career. The fear and uncertainty surrounding Hooker make him a gamble now.

However, with a not too major procedure and a recovery time that has him missing zero NFL games, the juice appears to be worth the squeeze, and he should not be removed from the Panthers draft board.