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Report: Iowa senior DE Drew Ott puts deadline on his draft decision

Graham Watson

Iowa senior defensive end Drew Ott has been waiting for a decision from the NCAA regarding a fifth year of eligibility and his patience is running thin.

Ott requested a medical hardship waiver after undergoing knee and elbow surgery last fall, which caused him to either be limited or miss the majority of the 2015 season.

Iowa filed hardship paperwork with the Big Ten last fall and the NCAA has had Ott’s case for several weeks. Still, Ott is caught between a rock and a hard place. He’d prefer to return to Iowa for the 2016 season and better his draft stock. However, members of Ott’s camp told Tony Pauline of draftinsider.net that Ott is prepared to enter the NFL Draft if he doesn’t hear from the NCAA in the next two weeks.

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Ott had 57 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and eight sacks in 2014 and was poised for a big 2015 until suffering a dislocated shoulder that limited him in three of the first five games. He suffered a torn ACL in the sixth game of the season. Still, he managed five sacks in those first six games.

According to NCAA guidelines, Ott, who has not redshirted, can receive a fifth season if he played in 30 percent or less of his team’s games during the season and did not compete after the midpoint of the season. Ott meets the second criteria but not the first. Iowa claimed that Ott’s shoulder injury limited him through much of the first half of the season and use Ott’s subsequent surgery as proof of the severity of the injury.

Ott did attend the NFL Combine to answer questions from NFL scouts. He has not been able to workout because of his knee rehab. He has not hired representation in order to maintain his NCAA eligibility.

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But as the calendar tracks closer to the draft on April 28-30, Ott is losing money by not having an agent connecting with teams on his behalf. So he waits, hoping his lack of NFL face time will be a moot point and that he can try to better his draft status with another year in school.

For more Iowa news, visit HawkeyeReport.com.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!

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