Every week there seems to be a new report about defensive end prospect Da’Quan Bowers’ knee and every week it’s negative.

This week, Pro Football Weekly’s Nolan Nawrocki told reporters that teams are concerned that Bowers may need microfracture knee surgery. Rotoworld.com has more details.

Nawrocki says all of the medical red flags could push Bowers into the back half of round one. We’d heard the microfracture rumors before, but there wasn’t anything substantial enough to run with them. Nawrocki insists there are. Bowers will be in Indianapolis Friday for a medical recheck. At that point, doctors will determine whether he needs a surgical procedure that would almost certainly cost him the entire 2011 season.

Once considered a potential candidate to be taken No. 1 overall, Bowers is probably listed behind North Carolina’s Robert Quinn, Missouri’s Aldon Smith and Cal’s Cameron Jordan. Depending on how freaked out teams are about Bowers’ knee, Iowa’s Adrian Clayborn, Wisconsin’s J.J. Watt and Purdue’s Ryan Kerrigan might be listed ahead of him as well. The bottom line is that this is a deep draft for defensive ends and teams probably won’t think twice about moving him further down their draft board.

That said, the Saints (No. 25) and Falcons (No. 27) are two defensive end-needy teams that select in the bottom of the first round and if Bowers falls, maybe he’ll be too good to pass up at that point. After all, we’re talking about a young man who many pundits thought would go in the top 5, if not No. 1. Then again, if his knee is too big of a concern then there’s no telling how far Bowers could fall.