Georgia Tech wide receiver DeAndre Smelter has a torn ACL that has ended his season and potentially impacts his draft stock.
Smelter, a senior who is Tech's leading receiver, suffered the injury in this past Saturday's upset of Georgia. He will miss this weekend's ACC championship game and the Yellow Jackets' bowl game.
"DeAndre's a great, great player, and I feel bad for him because I know how bad he wanted to finish the season and how bad he wants to play," Tech coach Paul Johnson told reporters when announcing the severity of Smelter's injury Monday night.
Before the injury, Smelter (6-foot-3, 222 pounds) was considered a likely third-day selection in the 2015 draft. He has good size, is physical and has been extremely productive -- 35 receptions, 715 yards, seven TDs -- in the Yellow Jackets' triple-option attack. He also is a good blocker.
While he is a senior, Smelter is in just his second season of college football. He spent his first three seasons on campus playing baseball, where he was an outfielder and a pitcher. But a shoulder injury curtailed his baseball career and he decided to try his hand at football again. He last had played as a high school senior in 2010.
His absence Saturday will tax Tech's receiving corps. Senior Darren Waller (6-5, 241), an intriguing prospect himself, is Tech's No. 2 receiver and has 16 catches, but no other wide receiver on the roster has more than five receptions this season. Sophomore Michael Summers (6-1, 198), who is known more for his blocking than for his hands, has five catches.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.