Maybe I didn't make myself clear....I never said that Devin Smith was playing like a future HOF when he did play. I never said that he didn't make mistakes or miss opportunities to contribute more. What im trying to say is that Devin Smith missed training camp which is usually crucial for rookies in order to grasp the play book, acclimate themselves to NFL speed, routes, etc. Furthermore, Fitz did not have the best arm, and he's proven that in his time here with us. Devin Smith was known for being a speedster in college who needed time to learn and perfect the route tree. When you miss TC you miss that time, you also don't create a chemistry with the qb. I'm not really blaming people for being down, I think what I'm trying to say is we are probably overreacting a bit to his rookie season. He can officially be reinstated within the next 3 weeks from the PUP list. I want to see more from him for the remainder of the season in order to ascertain whether he has or hasn't gotten any better. He's still young, and if he can stay on the field, learn his route tree, and also develop a chemistry with a QB, he may do well, I reserve judgment till I see more.
I'm not going to argue with anything that you say here, because it's all very valid. Could this be a contributing factor? Sure. The problem is that there have been so many wide open drops on Devin Smith's part that I have a hard time putting the blame on anyone else but him. In addition, I don't care how much training camp he missed, that is no excuse for that gaffe against the Bills.
...aaaaaand here comes the torn ACL. On a serious note : yeah I'd like to see the kid play. I think yd properly used he could force defenses to guard there deeper part of the field. I think Decker especially could benefit from the room.... Oh wait, never mind. (returns to crying into my beer) Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
There is a surplus of WR talent right now in the NFL...everyone has good receivers..bye golly even to some extent the Jets! It makes no sense to hold onto a player at the position if he isn't producing, isn't showing signs of producing and/or can't stay healthy. Smith falls into EVERYONE of those categories. Obviously you don't release him at this point as the sample size is far too small & their was a major pick invested in him.But if he's gonna stick beyond 2017 Training camp...he needs to produce & fast. He's easily replaceable & potentially Upgrade able.
If he comes in and turns into an exact clone of OBJ then I'll be hating on him for a whole list of other reasons.
hope the kid balls out and stays healthy and balls out. he's behind the 8 ball missing so much time with injury.
I I agree, and the competition of peake and Anderson should only make him better. It should push him to be better. If he doesn't show anything, they still have the other young guys.
Don't bother. Hackett has an insanely irrational hatred of Devin Smith. There's no reasoning with him on this particular issue, just move on.
There is nothing wrong with Smith that a QB with something other than a noodle arm couldn't fix in a heartbeat. That has been obvious every time he has been on the field. He is here for one reason, get deep, and every time he does it's a comedy seeing where the ball ends up.
