In shocking news, standout left tackle Jaxson Kirkland announced on Monday that he’ll be withdrawing his name from the 2022 NFL Draft. Per a report from Pro Football Network, Kirkland will undergo ankle surgery this week for an injury he suffered in mid-October, which caused him to miss Washington’s matchups with Arizona and Stanford. The 2021 All Pac-12 first-teamer is currently petitioning the NCAA for another year of eligibility. It’s unclear whether he’ll be granted the extra year of eligibility or not, but if he is, that would be huge for Kalen DeBoer and his offense.

Washington has a lot of talent along the offensive line, and adding Kirkland would be a huge benefit to whoever DeBoer names as the starting quarterback. With a veteran offensive line that would be returning four starters, plus probably the most talented second unit in the conference, Scott Huff’s trench Dawgs might live up to the expectations that were placed on them before the 2021 season.

Kirkland was widely regarded as a first-round pick before the 2021 season kicked off, and this surgery will almost surely knock him down all the way until day three on most teams’ draft boards. If he’s able to return to Washington and prove that he’s healthy, he could almost surely sneak his way back into the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

If Kirkland’s waiver doesn’t get approved, he’ll have two options. He could either enter the NFL’s supplemental draft, or he could choose to sign with a team as an undrafted free agent, much like Dallas Cowboys’ tackle La’el Collins (granted, those were very different circumstances). There’s hope for Kirkland’s petition though, after Arizona State punter Michael Turk was able to enter the 2020 NFL Draft and sign with an agent before returning to the Sun Devils after going undrafted.

For the Huskies, that would mean that they’d still be good hands at left tackle. Former four-star recruit Troy Fautanu would probably slide into Kirkland’s spot. Now the question is… what will the NCAA say to Kirkland?