Mr Jack of all trades master of none. I appreciate his value to the team as he can step in , but for me hes just Mr Average at everything. I would like him to be able to concentrate on at least one position and develope his skills , but fear he will be used purely as a decoy or for mickey mouse plays. Former QB Brad Smith making plays all over the field for the Jets By DENNIS WASZAK Jr., AP Sports Writer September 27, 2007 HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) -- With all the notes he takes each week, Brad Smith must feel as though he's back in school sometimes. He's the New York Jets' version of Mr. Everything: a guy who has lined up at quarterback, running back, wide receiver and played on special teams since being drafted last year. That adds up to a lot of extra study time. "I've been to quite a few meetings, but they really simplify it," Smith said. "Whatever plays I need to learn, they help me with that." The former Missouri quarterback played mainly at wide receiver last season as a rookie. He was listed as a quarterback in training camp this summer, but the Jets kept Chad Pennington, Kellen Clemens and Marques Tuiasosopo on the roster. So Smith's concentration has turned more to playing other positions. "As a competitor, you love being out in the game in all situations," Smith said. "We have a lot of great players on offense and whenever I get a chance, I just try to make a play." The Jets are hoping to get Smith more opportunities. After having one touch on offense in the first two games, he had three catches for 24 yards, two rushes for 14 yards and returned two kickoffs for 54 yards against Miami last Sunday. Oh, he also had a tackle on special teams. "Last week was definitely the most I've been involved since I've been here in the offense," Smith said. "I'm just trying to grow and progress from week to week." And he's impressing his coaches while he's at it. "I think he's doing really well," coach Eric Mangini said. "His production last week overall was exactly what we are looking for." Not bad for a former quarterback who set 69 school, Big 12 and NCAA single-game, single-season and career records at Missouri. "I call him `The Legend,' " said fullback Stacy Tutt, also a former college quarterback at Richmond. "He has all those records in college and stuff like that, so he's a living legend. He's The Legend: B. Smith." As a rookie, Smith attracted as much attention as anyone on the field because of his ability to do so many things. He had nine catches for 61 yards and 18 carries for 103 yards, including a team-high 32-yard run on an end-around at Green Bay. Smith also had a kickoff return and 10 special-teams tackles. "It all feels good," Smith said with a big smile. "It's unbelievable," quarterback Chad Pennington said. "This guy played quarterback and he's down here making tackles and being a big part of our special teams." Before the draft, the scouting report on Smith was that he was a great athlete, but didn't have the stuff to be an NFL quarterback. He told just about anyone who'd listen he would be willing to play any position in the pros, but Smith never imagined it would be like this. "You focus so much on leading and organizing everybody and getting guys in the right spots as a quarterback, so this kind of thing never really crossed my mind," he said. The Jets took a chance on Smith when they drafted him in the fourth round, 14 picks before they selected running back Leon Washington. The two have developed into New York's most versatile and exciting playmakers. "The thing I'm most impressed about with Brad is the selflessness that he displays for a guy who could've said, `Hey, I want to stick with quarterback. I want to learn for a while,"' Washington said. "He came in with an unselfish attitude. And, he likes to have fun." While he was used only in certain situations last season, Smith might see a lot more action this year as one of the Jets' main receivers behind Laveranues Coles and Jerricho Cotchery. "It was different seeing him at wide receiver, but he caught on pretty quickly," Cotchery said. "The best thing about him is he has great hands. That's kind of crazy to see, coming from a quarterback, a guy with hands like he has. He's also very natural and he's progressed very fast." The player Smith is probably most often compared to is Antwaan Randle El, a former quarterback at Indiana who has carved out a nice NFL career as a wide receiver. Now with the Washington Redskins, Randle El has caught and run the ball, returned punts and kickoffs -- and even threw a touchdown pass in the Super Bowl for the Pittsburgh Steelers two years ago. "I was able to talk to him a little bit before last year and hang out with him a little bit," Smith said. "He's a great guy to learn from. He said, `Go make plays and let everything take care of itself. Just go out and try to help out your team however you can."'
i dont like the way theyre developing him. he'll be a poor mans Randle El at this point. he needs more time at WR and fuck the RB plays.
He'll get more time at WR. That Baltimore game was huge for Brad Smith as it effectively limited McCareins' time as the #3. Randle El came in to a Steelers teem where he needed to be the 3rd receiver immediately. When Brad came in, this CS still had some faith in McCareins and Dwight, so Smith didn't see as much playing time. He had more touches last week, and you'll continue to see that number improve. Mangini says that they started mixing in more Smith packages last week, and it paid off.
One thing I like about him is that even though he isn't incredibly fast, he doesn't have flashy moves, and he's not going to run anyone over, he seems to get yards when he touches the ball. maybe, being a qb he has great vision and can find the holes or maybe he "makes himself small" the way martin did or maybe plays designed for him open the field up and let him work in space. whatever it is, he is somehow elusive and always seems to get to the second level.
In todays Daily News there was an article about Brad. Cotchery had said that Brad makes unbelievable catches in practice. Brad Smith is a playmaker. Get him the ball, and he'll do the rest. He even gets the job done on Special Teams. You gotta' love it.
His 'special move' is that hes able to stop and change direction very quickly which does make any runner hard to bring down
Brad Smith vs Ted Gin was awesome to see... I loved how he tracked him no matter where he went or what move he did and eventually made the tackle himself. KICK ASS. BRAD SMITH > Everyone Except Cotchery...and Coles....and prolly randy moss : /
Brad Smith's versatility is huge for this team. There are VERY few times that you'll see a punt returner make a move without having to get by Brad Smith. Against Miami was the greatest example. Ginn Jr. fielded the punt and B. Smith came out of nowhere to mirror every one of his moves. Eventually Ginn Jr. ended up getting crushed (as did one of our guys on a crack back block) before going out of bounds. People here are right; we don't have a need for him to come out of the backfield with the ball with TJ and Leon back there. He's best suited to be split out and be a solid 3rd WR for the JETS. I hope McCareins is eventually watching from the sideline as B Smith uses his hands to catch the ball and get 6.
ha ha good call PMCRW...we must have thought of the same play as soon as this thread progressed. B. Smith is clutch for us.
