By GREG BISHOP Published: October 4, 2010 In nearly three decades of coaching, Mike Westhoff has taught thousands of players with hundreds of different skill sets. He thought he had seen them all. At least until he met Brad Smith. The Jets list Smith as a wide receiver, which is a laughably incomplete description, as misleading as the Swiss Army knife, which has a dozen or so functions but is named after only one. Technically, Smith is a receiver. But he also returns kickoffs, blocks on punts, plays quarterback, runs the option, covers kickoffs, covers punts and forces opponents to spend extra time preparing for his varied deployments each Sunday. “Brad leaves,” Westhoff said last week, “I’m leaving.” Westhoff, one of the N.F.L.’s foremost special-teams coaches, remains a tough, no-nonsense coach, both brutal in his criticism and sparing in his praise. That is why players hold so much respect for him. So his compliments of Smith last week spoke volumes. He called Smith “a good football player” — which ranks among Westhoff’s highest compliments — who “enables us to do a lot of things.” He said that Smith performed so well in so many roles, all of which require film study and meetings, that he often felt fatigued. Westhoff termed Smith tough and versatile and credited him with setting up Eric Smith for a blocked punt this season. “If you saw what Brad Smith did, wow,” Westhoff said, adding: “Brad Smith gives us a lot of weapons. We haven’t used them all yet. But we’ve got ’em.” Those words rang true Sunday, when LaDainian Tomlinson, Mark Sanchez and the Jets’ defense — the usual suspects — stole the headlines, and Smith turned in a typically understated performance that was equally important in a 38-14 victory over the Buffalo Bills. Smith’s most obvious contribution came midway through the third quarter, with the Jets leading, 17-7. He took a direct snap near the goal line and rolled right, with five confused defenders in pursuit. There was mostly open space between Smith and the end zone. He took both his time and then two steps forward, indicating he might run before firing a tight spiral to tight end Dustin Keller, who caught the ball for a 3-yard score that put the game out of reach. It was Smith’s first N.F.L. touchdown pass in five seasons, but certainly not his first score. Previously, he caught two touchdown passes, ran for another touchdown and returned a kickoff for a touchdown in the A.F.C. championship game last season. After the Jets dismantled the Bills, Coach Rex Ryan joked that he had a quarterback controversy on his hands. Against the Bills, Smith returned the opening kickoff 38 yards and had 84 return yards over all. He carried the ball three times — an option in the first quarter, a reverse option in the second quarter and an end around in the fourth quarter — for 11 yards. His presence forced the Bills’ defense to take a timeout in the first half. He also made a tackle on a kickoff return. Smith took the field for every Jets special-teams play, his presence as indispensable as Tomlinson, or Sanchez, but with less fanfare. The Jets expected his versatility when they drafted Smith in the fourth round in 2006 out of Missouri, where he became the first quarterback in N.C.A.A. history to pass for more than 8,000 yards and rush for more than 4,000 yards. On Sunday, Smith talked about the friends and family from his hometown, Youngstown, Ohio, who traveled to the game. He detailed his touchdown pass to Keller (his first instinct was to run, but the play called for a pass). But when the subject turned to his job, or jobs, as the case may be, he shrugged. “My job is, when I step on the field, to do what I’m asked to do,” Smith said. “That’s my focus, and that’s my goal, just to do my job well.” If that continues, Smith will keep two people employed. Him and Westhoff. EXTRA POINTS Cornerback Darrelle Revis and linebacker Calvin Pace worked out Monday, and Rex Ryan is expecting both to play against Minnesota next Monday night ... Mark Sanchez has thrown eight touchdown passes with zero turnovers in the past three games. ... The Jets released wide receivers David Clowney and Patrick Turner. They re-signed defensive tackle Howard Green and will use the other spot for wide receiver Santonio Holmes, who returns this week from suspension.
Nice article. BSmith definitely does not get enough props. If he being on the field is enough for an opposing team to waste a time out, he's already worth his roster spot. haha
Just having to soak up the information he has to for all the positions he plays is amazing. We have some guys who cannot even take in all the information for one phaze of the game yet Smith takes in about 3. Got to like the man, whenever he gets the ball with some space you know he can make people miss. Would love us to give him some garbage time at QB and see if he could be a backup, maybe that makes it even more for him to learn. But he seems to have an accurate pass and is lethal on the ground. He has to better than Clemens.
Good article....... ALOT of people here and JETS fans in general have been screaming to "axe the failed WR experiment" over the years, but the guy simply is a baller. Too much emphasis on stats and not enough on the fact that he is a versatile athlete / football player capable of changing the game with his solid contribution. :beer:
Brad Smith is the unsung hero of this season so far. Has our offense EVER started inside the 30 on a kickoff return? He might be the most TALENTED player on this team. I love the "if Brad goes, I go" quote from Westhoff. Anyone know offhand what Smith's contract sitch is like?
Smith returned a kickoff for a touchdown back in the regular season game against Indy, not the ACF Championship Game. Other than that, it is a pretty good read. B. Smith does a lot for this team.
Brad Smith has been, and remains, one of my favorite players on the team, for just the reason talked about in the article: versatility. He's not just a simple gadget guy either. He's a good ballplayer with the talent (and intellect) to take on multiple roles. I really hope they let him throw a bit more going forward. It's something I've been saying at least since we introduced the Seminole formation. Letting him pass out of that setup only makes him more dangerous and really spreads the defense thin.
I love what Brad Smith has done. It's funny though because when he is running it doesn't seem like he is running all that fast and he is still getting by guys. Watch Golden Tate's run back last night and watch Brad Smith's run backs. It looks like Smith is running with cement shoes.
The thing that I find most interesting about him is that he has managed the mindset change from star QB to star roleplayer. It's really hard to be the man all through high school and college and then be told that you are best suited to be a jack-of-all-trades in the NFL. He didn't even have the Hines Ward choice of moving to another position to start because his skills aren't good enough at WR to play more than sparingly. He had to squeeze every ounce out of his potential at each role that he has been asked to play in order to create the value that he has. What he's done is among the most admirable things you can do: he's reinvented himself under high pressure and become a game-changer in the process in a role that probably nobody else could play well given all of his skills and deficits. He's done all this with people constantly telling him that he's not good enough to do what he really wanted to do even though his history tells him he is. BTW, he will probably be one of the truly fortunate professional football players when all is said and done. Made enough money to live very comfortably for the rest of his life and avoided the heavy pounding that comes with it and the health issues associated with that. He plays on special teams but that's only 15 plays a game not 50.
He has a long stride kind of like guys like Randy Moss. Watch Moss run a go route. He never looks like he is moving that fast but all of a sudden he is behind the entire defense. It's a big reason people think a guy like Leon Washington is a lot faster than Brad Smith. Smaller guys move their legs faster.
Good post - I was thinking the same thing - but would not have put it so well (nominating myself for the OBN here)
The writer of that article retweeted my observation that Smith also has scored on a blocked punt return, against NE last year. He really is a remarkable player.
I've been saying to friends for years, that of all the QB's drafted and turned into WR's we have by far and away the best in Brad Smith. Plus to boot I have a couple of his Auto cards when he came out!
I actually feel bad for bashing Smith's (hands) ALOT a few years back. That was pretty much at the point where he was only being eyed as a receiver, and it wasn't working out in his favor.
Since there's nothing else to really say regarding Smith other than he's the shit, what kind of contract does he command?
Good article. He does so many things for this team. What's the right number of touches a game for him? I'm thinking 5-6, but I'm not a huge fan of the Seminole package.
