I just love the fit. He's going to benefit so much as a young WR playing next to Marshall and Decker. He's rarely going to see double coverage, if ever, and we know he can get by his man. That also helps Marshall and Decker themselves. There's going to be no way to put a safety in the box against us.
He'll have two pretty good mentors in Decker and Kerley too. Young players need that to adjust. Especially in NY where the bright lights can be awfully tempting. Not that Columbus, OH was a backwater town either.
I agree and disagree wkth your statement. I think Lockett is going to be a stud - so we agree. Guy catches everything , 4.4 speed and actually reminded me of someways as Dorsett and is a more complete player, today. Look I wanted Strong in the 2nd personally. But Devin Smith is better than Kenny Stills. This guy usually caught the ball and he definitely would have had better numbers in a different offense. If he can develop a full route tree learning from Decker and Marshall, think his upside is actually tremendous. The key to this pick is whether our offensive coaches can help him run a full route set.
You don't always play as fast as your 40. This is how teams get in trouble... looking at combine numbers and trying to apply them directly to the field. This isn't a new concept.
Watching his highlights combined with his scouting report and draft profile, I found a couple things concerning. Everybody talks about the limited route tree but there's also: At times it seems his tendency is to let the ball get into his body and be more of a forearm / body catcher than a natural hands catcher. The one hand grab highlight for a TD was a thing of beauty but on other more routine plays you see arm / body catches and less than crisp sort of double catches. Perhaps the fact he doesn't try to catch everything with his hands has to do with his hand size. His hands are tiny at 9". Compare that to Cooper's big 10" mitts. You see Cooper and White catching pretty much everything with their hands. The ball hits their hands and doesn't move. Looks nice and clean for the most part.
That's exactly what I noticed. Not pretending to know a lot about the guy, but I was disappointed seeing him bringing so many passes into his body instead of snatching them out of the air. I agree he fills a void more than other potential WR picks. I just don't see how someone has good hands who doesn't seem to use them that much. Admittedly, I haven't seen a lot, just my first impression. And I'm aware he only had two drops last season.
One issue with Hill is he had a long stride and wasn't good at changing direction thus his route running wasn't very good. He also had terrible body control. Smith looks to have quicker feet and great body control while locating the ball in the air. Really a completely different player.
I get why Smith was the pick. But a red zone package of Decker, Marshall and DGB would have been unbelievable. I understand in theory the desire for a "stretch the field" "lid lifter." But realistically, how many times a year in the NFL do you see guys getting completely behind the Defense and running away untouched into the end zone? It rarely happens, even for guys like Goodwin in Buffalo who are like world class sprinter types. A freak like DGB can catch a simple slant and take it to the house. The guy ran a 4.45 or something at the combine so he's no slouch in the speed dept either. He's a mismatch nightmare all over the field compared to Smith who is more one-dimensional. I get all the off the field concerns but I think the risk / reward may have favored taking a shot on DGB there. I am fine with Smith and cautiously optimistic. You can't have everybody.
Smith certainly looks like a more legit (real) football player than Hill, but I was just talking specifically about the hands / body catching and hand size.
Honestly if DGB wasn't such a huge risk with his off the field stuff, he would've went in the top 10 of the 1st round. There's definitely a reason teams aren't willing to risk it with him. The Titans should be well aware of that risk having gone through the ordeal with Kenny Britt. DGB is way more talented than the kid that the Jets got, but Smith has a different skill set from what's on the roster already, and they'll be able to use him in ways that the Jets can't use other players on the roster. The Jets already have a 3rd red zone threat with Amaro, and if you really want to dig deep a 4th with Cumberland. They aren't needing at that spot, so any extra players to fill that role would be gluttonous. The reason you'd take DGB is because you think he's can't miss and will become a foundation player. Clearly the Jets didn't think that was the case, so they went with someone who will be a clear difference maker on this roster. If DGB wasn't so questionable, he never would've been available to the Jets there to begin with.
Look, Hill was faster than this kid. It was measured. You cannot deny the measured speed. I'm not saying this kid isn't a much better football player but Hill was the faster of the two. If you want to say Smith is much quicker, more fluid and plays faster, fine. Saying Hill wasn't nearly as fast is just your typical homerific response.
In round 2, I am comfortable with the risk. Buy low, sell high. The entire draft is a crapshoot anyway. Having a clean record off the field is great. But there are guys every year who bust in rounds 1 and 2 because they lack the talent and athleticism. That's a risk also, taking a guy who isn't talented or athletic or skilled enough to cut it in the NFL. It makes no difference why a guy busts. If a guy busts, he busts, whether it's because of off the field or on the field reasons. I'm not talking specifically about Devin Smith here but just in general.
I thought it was just implied that when we say "faster" nowadays it means in-game. Comparing 40 numbers is useless as tits on a bull. And while we're at it, we are talking about one hundredths of a second...
I really wanted DGB, thought he would have been the perfect guy to learn behind Marshall. Smith looks like a good receiver but he's also not a complete receiver and the body catches are concerning, I do really like the way he tracks the ball in the air and contests for it, also like the combination of quickness and speed, he's not just a track star, I'm not going to hate on the pick but it definitely wasn't what I was expecting
Smith has talent and athleticism. He's not DGB, but he doesn't need to be. The Jets decided DGB was not someone they could depend on to become the player they want him to be, so they found someone who'll provide a talent that will make the Jets a better football team. That's the goal, isn't it?
Yeah I'm sure Hill would win a foot race wearing shorts on a track but he played football like his feet were in quicksand
They definitely were a problem because he could never get separation for all the blazing speed we heard about when he was drafted
