Though there have been some recent rumblings about a potential injury issue with Alabama safety Mark Barron, it's been kept relatively quiet. It was briefly talked about during Senior Bowl week that Barron had a sports hernia that he required surgery to repair it. The recovery time on this type of injury and subsequent surgery is 4-6 weeks.
It appears that the injury is a bit more severe than initially thought. According to www.draftinsider.net, Barron actually had a double hernia and had double surgery to repair the issues. The recovery period on this type of procedure is usually 6-8 weeks.
- A report surfaced on Twitter last week that Alabama safety Mark Barron underwent surgery to repair a double hernia and will be out until July. Sources I spoke with confirmed the report and it was double hernia surgery- at the Senior Bowl word was it was just single hernia. At the same time I was told the recovery should be no more than 4-to-6 weeks, 8 at the most, from the time the surgery was completed.
It's uncertain how much this will affect Barron's draft stock. As the top safety prospect in the 2012 NFL draft, Barron has been mocked anywhere from the middle of the first round to somewhere in the second. While this isn't a devastating injury, teams have shown that they are unwilling to use a high draft pick on a player battling an injury at the time of the draft.
Barron is most likely on the Bengals' radar, so it'll be interesting to see how and if they react to this injury. He looks as if he'll forgo his invite to the Scouting Combine, so a lot of his measurables won't be seen. Barron may have to rely on his Pro Day to impress scouts--if he's recovered in time to work out before the draft.
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