USC offensive lineman Andrew Vorhees surely would have been drafted much higher if not for the unfortunate and untimely torn ACL he sustained during the NFL Scouting Combine in early March.

Or if he had come out a year ago rather than returning for his final season with the Trojans.

But Vorhees expressed that he'd made peace for any what-ifs and he now has some clarity on his football future as the Baltimore Ravens selected him in the seventh round (pick No. 229) of the NFL draft on Saturday.

Vorhees had already showed his mental resilience when he proceeded to do his bench press testing at the combine a day after the injury and just two hours after receiving the diagnosis, pumping out the most reps (38) of any draft prospect at the event this year.

"I didn't know the severity of the injury. I thought hopefully a hyperextension or something. I didn't meet with the doctors until the next day, so they actually broke the news to me about two hours before I went and did the bench press. Which is a crazy story, just because you get that devastating news at 7:45 in the Colts locker room -- I got the word from the doctor, yeah, torn ACL -- so definitely devastating, but life's all about how you respond to your events," Vorhees said a couple weeks later.

Ironically, that inspiring performance put more of a spotlight on him at the combine than he probably would have received otherwise.

"I was not expecting the response I got," he said. "... I think one of the coolest things about the whole response was just so many kids reaching out to me saying how inspiring I am to them. They're going through the same injury and just trying to recover. That was probably the coolest thing about the situation."

Leading up to the draft, Vorhees said he didn't know how it would impact where he was selected. It clearly had a significant one as the prototypical NFL guard who put ranked among the best at his position in the country the last two years, per the PFF metrics, had to wait until Day 3 to hear his name called.

But as he's shown already, he's not going to be mired in dwelling on any of that.

As he said back in March, "One day at a time, [put] this behind me and just have this be part of the story."

Vorhees was the fourth Trojan drafted following wide receiver Jordan Addison (first round to the Minnesota Vikings), edge rusher Tuli Tuipulotu (second round to the Los Angeles Chargers) and cornerback Mekhi Blackmon (third round to the Vikings).