Smith IS Marvin Harrison/Smaller Hopkins. The kid just makes plays and wins. People forget he was the reciever on 2nd and 26 his freshman year. You want to talk about the “it” factor, he’s got it and more. I might actually take him over Fields now that we have Goff, although Fields is still my favorite player in the draft. While I think we very much need a talent boost all around, I wouldn’t mind at all trading up to take someone they believe is a generational talent like Smith.
Also, you want to build a winning culture AND take a great player, you TARGET Smith no matter what.
I’m not seeing the Hopkins comp for Smith but I definitely see a Hopkins comp for Chase. I’ve also seen a Jerry Rice comp for Smith and I see that one too. He’s very “linear” in the way he does things and alot of his movements happen without telegraphing them. And the final comp I can see for Smith is Randy Moss. Very slight but when he goes flying down the sidelines and destroys the angles of the defenders, it reminds me of Randy with the ball in his hands.
Waddle would have given Smith a competition for best receiver on that team had there been no injury. I like all 3, at 7 though it would be Chase, in a trade down Waddle then Nico Collins (incredible hands, dude catches everything) with the extra pick from the trade down.
Fair enough, but in my opinion one of the Chase’s most beneficial traits is that much like CeeDee Lamb he runs with preternatural determination after the catch.
I think I read your post wrong. I think you are trying to say “yeah, but he also has this added trait.” The way I read it the first time was “hell naw, cause he can’t do this one extra thing the same way.”
If it were me, I’d take smith or chase at 7 if one of them fall, tag golladay, then trade into the back of the 1st round to either take zaven collins or kadarious toney. Shores up the weapons issue pretty quickly.
Smith is my fav of the 3, but I am very leery of his frame too. He looks soooo skinny.
But there’s plenty of guys who “looked” small and still had good NFL careers. I think he’s still my pick, but no prospect checks EVERY box.
Last year at this time, most draft analysts believed Chase would go above the Ruggs/Jeudy/CeeDee trio if he could come out, while Smith, who was eligible to declare for the draft, was widely ranked as a late-1st, early-2nd round prospect. Not saying that’s correct, just using it to show that the evaluations can swing drastically depending on the sample size you’re looking at. But the fact remains that not a single analyst would have had Smith over Chase.
1st - TD for Waddle (Explosive speed, exceptional make u miss)
2nd - Smith (Polished route runner, high effort player, character plus)
3rd - Chase (Physical traits)
…THEN Smith caught 117 for 1,856 and 23 TD’s, won a Heisman, and carried his team to a National Championship. While Chase sat out because: “The competitor in me badly wants to play the season and go to war with my brothers, but during this time with so much going on, this is what’s best for my family,”
I understand that. But a year from now Chase could be the OROY while Smith missed the season cause his smaller frame didn’t hold up. We’re in a snapshot of time where you’re facts are the truth, while last year we were in a snapshot of time where mine were true. It’s the job of an NFL talent evaluator to figure out which one is the truth (and which will hold up better over time).
No question and I’ll admit most of the pundits have Chase over Smith. Smith further hurt himself in the size department by declining the Senior Bowl weigh in. Perhaps the already bad 175, isn’t even that and he’s going to be downing Big Macs for the next 3 months. I do worry about a skill position player who takes a full year off of football. For me its just the on field eye test. To me Smith just creates more separation watching them both back to back. Neither is a CJ/Johnson level prospect IMO.
Speed kills, so that is why I prefer a TD for Waddle who could dominate from all over the field game 1. Then give me those 2 seconds and 2 thirds to acquire 4 core players on day 2.
Give me BPA, high ceiling. This is not a great defensive draft at the top tier. We have a prime spot use it on star power. If Smith is there never ever trade back. Golladay + Chase present their own unique set of tough matchups for a D. Waddel fits our need too although size matters. Not every 5’10 speedster will be Odell or tyreek as history’s shown.
Taking a WR at top spots is not bad value by default. All depends on the players + draft they’re in.
But making SEC secondaries look like they have cement in their shoes, and having the type of character where you limp in and out of the lineup for your team in the National Championship while being discussed as a top 10 draft pick…well… let’s say I’m betting on the kid.