Zeek Biggers pushes through appendectomy to impress NFL scouts, keep draft dream alive

Biggers had an appendectomy. Doctors told him he needed four to six weeks to recover. That timeline would have knocked Biggers out of the East-West Shrine Bowl and possibly the NFL Scouting Combine.

That was a nonstarter for Biggers, who needed to impress scouts and try to land a spot in the NFL draft, which will be held April 24-26 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

“I was like, dang,” Biggers said. “I can’t afford that right now. ... (I) went through the surgery. I was like in the hospital for like three days. I couldn’t even sit up. I couldn’t even move.”

Eventually, Biggers tried to return to the gym.

“Doing lower-body stuff,” Biggers said. “Little stuff that could help me build up because I knew I was still going to go out there and play in the East-West regardless of what they were saying or anything. That was something that I wanted to do.”

So, Biggers went to the East-West Shrine Bowl game in Frisco, Texas, but he didn’t play in the game.

“I think it was two-and-a-half weeks, maybe two weeks, out of surgery,” Biggers said. “I went and had a good first two days, and then it started bleeding a little bit. So, I was like yeah, let me sit down. ... I was able to persevere through that.”

Biggers ignored the doctors’ orders to take four to six weeks to recover.

“I was like, I’m not sitting down that long,” Bigger said. “Kind of just put faith in God. That’s one thing. Listen to him. Listen to my body. I felt I could go out there and perform. ... I feel like I did that and handled the business that I needed to do. It was all good in the end.”

Biggers has been getting interests from several NFL teams. All 32 teams and two Canadian Football League teams were at Tech’s Pro Day.

He’s been setting up interviews and private workouts. Most teams want to know about his recent surgery.

“They like to see a guy who pushed through things,” Biggers said. “For me to just go through that and push through it every single day, still go out and have a good week at the East-West, go to the combine and put up some crazy numbers for a guy my size. It’s kind of just crazy. I’m really blessed to be able to do that.”

Tech coach Brent Key understood why Biggers went against the doctor’s wishes.

“Look, this is a one-opportunity thing,” Key said. “You get one chance at this. Very few guys don’t make it the first year, come back and do it again and have a chance to have any long-term success. They are putting all of their eggs in the basket. I doesn’t surprise me that he had the surgery. I don’t know what it feels like, I’m sure it didn’t feel good.”

Biggers made 104 tackles (including nine for loss and two sacks) in four seasons as a Yellow Jacket. He played in 47 games and made 26 consecutive starts over the past two seasons. Biggers was an all-ACC honorable-mention selection in 2024.

“He’s improved the last three years,” Key said. “How he’s made those improvements. How he really, I thought, started to flourish last year under (defensive line coach) Jess (Simpson). He’s young. You see how he moves. He’s a guy when he gets to an NFL locker room, he’s only going to continue to grow and meet those challenges.”

Biggers turned some heads when he ran the 40-yard dash in 5.14 seconds at the combine.

“Everybody knows that I can play the run pretty well,” Biggers said. “Pass rush, that’s something that I took to work on throughout the whole draft process.”

Biggers has been working on using his hands more.

“When I went to the East-West I had great one-on-ones,” Biggers said. “Great team reps in pass (rush). Just showing that I can get out there and work an edge, be able to move, instead of just playing first and second down.”

Biggers was asked why should a team draft him.

“They are just going to get a dog,” Biggers said. “A guy who really loves playing.”