This is the reason I said I wasn't really expecting much from him this year, and
@JustAFanHTX seemed more optimistic. Obviously we're all hoping he's right, because Arroyo is clearly the best option at TE at this point and an NFL player when healthy. I was just so disappointed when he got hurt last year because an ACL that late in the year usually kills essentially two seasons. And when you're in college/trying to impress scouts, you don't have much of a window.
You just so infrequently see a college player tear an ACL and be 100.0% himself in a year or less. It's incredibly uncommon. In the NFL, when it's your job to rehab with some of the best medical professionals in their field, it's doable. But it's just not in college, unless you're an incredible outlier. So it's been said on here that he'll play this year, and I believe that he will. But I just don't think we see the real Arroyo until next season, or MAYBE at the very tail end of this one. If his knee is at the point where he can't even dress in early September, I just see zero path to it being completely perfect by October. But I am really hoping he proves me wrong, because it's money time for him, and we need him badly. Especially with this Skinner stuff. I know they're definitely not the same player, but you can at least put Skinner on the field and the defense recognizes him as a TE. It's evident that the staff literally only trusts McCormick to play in that traditional role right now with Arroyo out and the 2 true freshmen just not ready yet. And we don't have much of acclimation period here, we have a team flying in on Friday night that has some absolute dudes up front.
Just really, really sucks. For Elijah and for the squad. Him at 100% health completely changes the dynamic of this offense, IMO.