Scouting Report
Huge body,
wide and thick with the most powerful build of any of the top tackles. Easily
the best tackle in this draft, based on one thing. He is the most crippling run
blocker at tackle I’ve seen in a decade. His ability to finish blocks and pull
and move in space is like no one else. If I were lumping the top tackles taken
in the past 5 drafts, and ranking them, I’d put Smith 1. He’s not going to wow
you with fancy feet, but it doesn’t matter because he’s so big and so strong and
so smart he’s never caught out of position, and because of that, he is always in
a position to beat his man. And oh, does he beat them. If there’s any concern
with Smith it’s his weight which does go up and down, but this is something a
team can monitor, so he doesn’t ever see 360lbs again.
Draft Status
At one point,
Smith was almost a lock to be taken in the top 5, but a horrible offseason has
just driven him further and further down in the round. At this point, he's
probably the 4th tackle off the board, and will really need to prove that the
player we all saw on film is the pro he'll be, and not the player we saw screw
up his offseason in almost every way possible.
Final Analysis
Coming
soon…
Reminds me of: Walter
Jones
People forget in his prime just how Jones could overpower people, pull,
and run stride by stride with backs. He became an elite pass protector, and
Smith is that special kind of talent if he can just keep his head screwed on
right. He’s not quite as consistent as Michael Oher, and while he’s not quite as
technically gifted he plays with much more force.
Red Flags: Character
Scouting Report written by Curtis Popejoy |
