Landon Dickerson’s injury history may cause him to slide in 2021 NFL Draft

In what many consider to be a historically deep offensive line class, Alabama IOL Landon Dickerson has almost gone under the radar during the pre draft process. That comes with the territory of being injured leading up to the draft.

Dickerson tore his left ACL just four months ago. Considering he was doing cartwheels at Alabama’s pro day, he seems to be recovering just fine from that. But that was not the only injury Dickerson suffered during his collegiate career.

In his five years at both Florida State and Alabama, Dickerson suffered four major injuries, two of which were season-ending injuries. Per NFL insider Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network, Dickerson’s medical history has many teams concerned about his long-term ability to stay healthy and have docked his medical grade accordingly. Some teams have said they wouldn’t take him until Day 3 of the draft.

Several teams I’ve spoken with tell me they would not draft Dickerson in the first five rounds due to medical concerns. The long-term effects of prior injuries are as much of a concern as the short-term possibility of suffering a major injury again. I’ve also learned that several teams gave Dickerson a medical grade of 3-minus off medicals, the equivalent of a C-minus in letter grades.

If Dickerson slides that far, he could end up being one of the best value picks in the entire draft. He’s arguably one of the best o-linemen in this class when he’s on the field, and the Florida State and Alabama pedigrees don’t hurt his case. But like Markus Bailey, whom the Cincinnati Bengals drafted last year, Dickerson is a slightly older prospect with plenty of medical history to his name.

Bailey lasted until the seventh round before the Bengals scooped him. Would the Bengals take Dickerson a round or two earlier than that? We’re about a week away from finding out just how far Dickerson may slide before finding his new team.