A torn ACL ends year for Al-Shaair, Owls’ top tackler
Florida Atlantic middle linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair will have his senior season cut short, according to multiple sources.
Al-Shaair, the Conference USA Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, tore an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in one of his knees this week, according to sources, as the Owls (3-3, 1-1 C-USA) get set to play a crucial conference game at Marshall this Saturday.
FAU’s all-time leading tackler was first missing from Wednesday’s practice. Coach Lane Kiffin told reporters of his absence but relayed optimism he would return for Thursday’s practice.
“Azeez was not out there [Wednesday]. Hopefully will be [Thursday],” Kiffin said then. Media does not have access to FAU’s Thursday practices.
Kiffin was also asked on Wednesday to classify if AlShaair’s absence was due to injury or something offthe-field and did not specify.
An FAU spokesperson was reached late Thursday night, but would not comment, saying Kiffin makes all announcements on personnel issues.
Al-Shaair is the 20th-ranked inside linebacker eligible for the 2019 NFL draft, according to Walter Football. The site ranks him No. 32 among outside linebacker prospects and projects him going anywhere from the sixth round to signing with a pro team as an undrafted free agent.
Al-Shaair is second on the team, behind junior linebacker Rashad Smith, with 43 tackles this season.
As a junior, Al-Shaair led Conference USA with 147 tackles. Eleven of those were for loss as he added two and a half sacks, four pass breakups and a forced fumble. He collected 112 tackles as a sophomore and 94 his freshman season. AlShaair was a three-star recruit, according to 247 Sports, coming out of Tampa’s Hillsborough High.
Al-Shaair was limited during spring practices earlier this year, recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.
Al-Shaair has had an inspirational journey to prominence as a collegiate defender, once being left temporarily homeless after saving his younger siblings from a fire in his family’s Tampa home when he was 15.
In February, Al-Shaair posted a video on Twitter that announced his engagement to his fiancée, Yahaira Onofre.
When Al-Shaair was ejected for targeting against Old Dominion on Oct. 6, Hosea Barnwell stepped into his middle linebacker role.
FAU enters Saturday’s game against the Thundering Herd likely needing to win out and have Middle Tennessee State lose another game in the conference to get back to the Conference USA Championship Game.