Walker, Parsons, Mertens

[Esquire]

First and foremost......I hope Walker's knee surgery is done asap (if that is what is required) so that he can be back in time for the the 2006 season. NDSU needs to teach the QB's to slide so this doens't happen again. He will have about 8 months. That could be tough.

It is going to be a battle between Mertens and Parsons in spring football for the #2 spot (potentially the #1 spot if Walker is not ready). That is the only good thing, if anything, that comes from Walker's injury. It will give Mertens and Parsons more reps in spring football.

[sambini]

Nothing like good competion to make you a better player.

[kchats]

I think we all noticed that Parsons isn't at Walkers level yet. He needs to work on letting the passing plays develop instead of using his athleticism to take off an run. That said hopefully the backups are ready to lead the Bison next season if Walker is not fully recovered from his injury.

[JBB]

The Forum alluded to possible torn ligaments. I hope not. Parsons was often under a lot of pressure just like Walker. Walker got hurt on a scramble up the middle. They had a good pass rush.

[coloradobison]

none of us, including me, is giving brecke a chance in any of the QB talks....i guess i dont see why he wouldnt have as good a chance as any...

[GoBison127]

From a reliable source it sounds like Walker did tear some ligaments and will undergo surgery. He should be good to go next season though. Tough break for him, if he could have stayed in that game yesterday things may have turned out differently.

On another note, I had a chance to see Mertens play in a high school all star game at St. Cloud State last year and he was very impressive. Strong arm and also was making people miss with his legs. Obviously Walker will be the guy if he is good to go, but Mertens may contend.

Will Travis White be back next season????

[roadwarrior]

Travis plans on returning next season.

[99Bison]

Torn ligaments are a 1.5 year recovery in reality. Yeah you can potentially play after 9 months, but that is really pushing it. Not to mention you haven't been able to practice very much in that time period. Anyone that has had the experience knows what I am talking about... unforunately myself included.

Perhaps the QB position and your off leg (even though it will make you bail out potentially) may be a better thing to come back from than a RB or WR spot.

Anyway, I personally think this may end up being an opportunity for us though... just as someone mentioned if it were to happen about 2 months ago. If Walker injury red shirts next year, we have him as a senior at playoff time with 1 or 2 experience guys behind him. Then the second playoff year those guys are starting.

[kchats]

Sorry to hear that Walker has the ligament injury in his knee. Hopefully when they open the knee up in surgery it isn't as bad as they believe it is. Since this is college and the health of the player is very important in my mind I think you error on the side of caution before putting the player back on the field. Hopefully the QB's on the roster do a good job during the spring practice and provide the coaches with confidence in their abilities if Walker doesn't make it back for next season.

[MinotBison]

Who are they looking at for QB recruits?

[Gamehunter]

Probably nobody. I highly doubt the coaching staff would use another scholarship on a QB in next years recruiting class unless he is REALLY something special or they plan on moving him to WR, etc. IMO NDSU has alot of good QB's and a couple of potential greats comming up in the ranks.

[tony]

First of all, I hope Steve Walker recovers fully and quickly - hopefully the injury isn't as serious as it sounds. He has been a fantastic addition to the Bison football program. That goes for all the injured Bison: Marques Johnson, Kole Zimmerman, Tony Bizal, Travis White, Barry Quickstad (I think he's banged up), and all the others I don't know about - all good guys who I hope get well soon!

Second, I'd be shocked if NDSU doesn't sign at least one QB every year.

[mikelsch]

If Walker has torn ligaments, welcome to the Nick Mertens era

[Yellow]

I agree, Mertens is one heck of an athlete! I believe he is going to be contending for the starting spot sooner rather than later. We can forget about parsons, i believe he will be down to the #3 spot next year.

[coloradobison]

Second, I'd be shocked if NDSU doesn't sign at least one QB every year.

Agreed.

[kchats]

I think Parsons will be in there battling for the starting job. Coach Bohl will open up the competition even if Walker is healthy from what I have seen in the past. He seems to make the players earn their positions. I agree I think you recruit a running back and a QB every year. If you get a guy that is talented enough to play those two positions and they don't fit your system at that position they are normally talented enough to be moved to another position and become a great player there, ie. Craig Dahl recruited as a QB, Nick Jackson recruited as a QB.

[MinotBison]

Any word yet on when Walker's surgery will be (or has been), how much damage, what's the prognosis, etc.?

[NDSUstudent]

Any word yet on when Walker's surgery will be (or has been), how much damage, what's the prognosis, etc.?



From what I have heard is that he tore two legiments in his knee and will likely be out 8 months.

[MinotBison]

From what I have heard is that he tore two legiments in his knee and will likely be out 8 months. *

Obviously no spring practice for him, but the important part is to get healthy first. Worrying about FB can come later.

[Esquire]

I haven't heard how serious the injury was, but if he did blow two ligaments, I have a hard time believing he will be 100% ready in 8 months. His mobility will be questionable. It is one thing to run and cut after the surgery, but then add 11 guys trying to tackle you. In my opinion, he and NDSU would be better off if he took a medical hardship. Even if Mertens does well in the spring and next year, as we saw it only takes one play to get hurt, so the more the quality QB's in our stable the better.

[TransAmBison]

Hopefully it isn't as serious as what I am hearing through the grapevine. Either way it will be a long off season for him. I feel awful for the poor guy. He played a hard nosed game and did everything he could to help the team win. A real class act, the Bison are lucky to have him.

[Bisonguy]

Looks like it's an ACL/MCL- Walker to undergo surgery (http://www.bisonzone.com/index.cfm?page=article_full&id=109355)

Nine month expected recovery time, so he could be back for fall practice. In the meantime, we'll get a good look at the youngsters at the Spring Game.

[coloradobison]

best of luck on a successful operation and a quick recovery.

[MinotBison]

best of luck on a successful operation and a quick recovery.

I think it would be interesting to hear from an athlete who has suffered this kind of injury what all is involved in the recovery and rehabilitation process.

[99Bison]

I tore my ACL, fairly clean though, no damage to other ligaments or cartiledge which is rare. I am sure walker isn't that lucky. Don't know if I would be considered a college athlete, however I did have the injury about that time of life.

Through rehab and such you definately get to the point where you really want to get back into action. For me I started "playing" again 9 months later and didn't feel right until about 18 months. Nowadays though the surgery and recovery is much easier on the athlete due to which tendons they replace the torn ones with.

I was cleared to do things other than cycling/non impact events when my leg strength got back to 80%. Not that you feel that you are read to go 100% at that rate, it is really noticable.

The mind is a big part of it, however to this day (10 yrs ago now) that knee is still looser and has strange tendencies compared to the other one which is rock solid.

[99Bison]

To answer the question more directly, let me try and remember.
1. Arthroscopic surgery. For me 3 small incisions around the knee and 3 inch one line down from the knee cap. They took the middle 1/3 of the patella tendon to replace the torn one. My surgery was performed by the NDSU team's ortho physican at the time... 95, so right after the hyland, morris, miller?, etc. torn ACL.
2. The old tendon is drilled out (literally, i have a video of the whole scoped part) and new one is screwed in the top and stapled in the bottom. The two staples you can feel on the outside of your leg just below the knee cap... weird.
3. Recovery. For me the first part was making sure to flex my knee to keep the range of motion (Basically flexing 1-3 days or so after surgery, I think perhaps they had me hooked up to a machine the first day that would just move it slowly like that). I was out of the hospital in 1 day.
4. The patella tendon was the painful part. Your ACL basically just steady's so it isn't really stressed when you are just standing around. Needless to say for me I couldn't stress it for a good 4 weeks due to the rest of the knee being sore. During this period stationary biking was the exercise of choice.
5. I believe the newer surgery style takes a tendon from the upper part of your leg. Which eliminates the pain that slowed me down to start with. This is combined with the ACL being protected fairly well until it is needed is why you see athletes over doing it all the time... It feels fine, until oops, slipped there now it hurts!
6. Finally weights, etc were ok to build the strength back up, I think around 2 months or so this started lightly.
7. After about 3 months I was already back to 80% strength which meant I could do most things except contact sports (too early) if I wanted to.
8. Sometime later (Can't remember when, but seems like about 7-9 months) I was cleared to play whatever, but suggested have the knee brace for certain things like football, skiing, basketball, etc.
9. I went downhill skiing 9 months into it. That was weird and definately felt weak in the knee. It took about 3 years to feel almost confortable downhill skiing. Still doesn't feel normal today skiing and the brace is annoying (skiing is the only thing I still wear it for). I have contemplated not wearing it, although the alternative reinjury is not very pleasing thought.
10. Playing basketball 8-9 months into it wasn't to bad though.

FYI a quick search landed this info:
http://www.arthroscopy.com/sp05018.htm

[MinotBison]

Great posts. Thanks for the info.

[Esquire]

From personal experience, the hardest part in coming back from an ACL injury is gaining your confidence back and taking your first hit on your knee. Quite honestly, it is different with each indiviudal. It is easier to come back sooner if they take part of your hamstring rather than patella tendon for the replacement tendon. For me, the patella tendon caused me the most pain afterwards. Essentially, they take the middle 1/3 of your patella tendon and then sew it back together.

[99Bison]

Glad to be of service!

[sambini]

Thanks 99 for the info.