Former Indiana Quarterback Kurtis Rourke Talks to Press at NFL Combine

After leading Indiana to a historic College Football Playoff run in 2024, Kurtis Rourke revealed that he had played most of the season on a torn ACL. 

It was public knowledge that the Indiana quarterback had suffered a thumb injury that required surgery between wins over Nebraska and Michigan State, but nobody knew the extent of how beat up he was. Not even Rourke himself. 

"I kind of had some instability issues, but I just wanted to play through it. I just wanted to make sure I could be available for every game. It wasn't until after the season when I realized at some point from July to the end of the season that it fully tore," Rourke said. 

Addressing the media at the NFL Combine, Rourke described how he knew that his ACL had been at least partially torn since July. He still started every game for Indiana until the thumb injury forced him to miss time to recover from surgery. 

"I was healthy enough to play and that's all that mattered to me," he said. 

Now that his ACL has been surgically repaired and his thumb has healed further, Rourke plans on participating in some drills at the combine to show teams what he can do when healthy. 

In one year at Indiana, Rourke completed 69.4% of his passes for 3,042 yards, 29 touchdowns, and just five interceptions. He led the Big Ten with a 176.4 passer rating and graded in the top 20 players nationally, at any position, on PFF last year. 

With Rourke at quarterback, Indiana led the Big Ten in points per game. His head coach, Curt Cignetti, and offensive coordinator, Mike Shanahan, both got new contracts after the year. Tino Sunseri, Rourke's quarterback coach at Indiana, took a promotion to offensive coordinator at UCLA after Indiana's explosive offensive season. 

Rourke is considered a Day 2 prospect by most NFL Draft Experts, but a top-10 quarterback prospect in this class, per Mel Kiper. The Los Angeles Rams are one team that may be interested in his services, based on recent mock drafts. 

While some teams may be scared away by his recent ACL injury, Rourke believes it should be a sign of how much he can still improve as a player. 

"I want to tell teams that, if I did that on a torn ACL and a broken thumb, imagine what I could do when I'm fully healthy."