Not the thread to start right after our season ends, but I've seen a lot of posts during the season saying that this guy is 1 of the young guys that the team should build on, etc. I just saw another post somewhere talking about the future of the team & mentioning his name. Some people are crazy enough to put him in the Mangold, D-Brick, Harris, Revis, Rhodes level (absolutely nuts). Some people put him in the 2nd tier w/Brad Smith & others. My opinion is that at best, he is a backup........permanently relegated to special teams & never to crack the starting lineup unless we have 3 safeties on our roster who are injured. Whenever E. Smith is playing safety, I see no impact on his part. I've never seen him make a play, period. Plus, I always see K. Rhodes come in after a play is over to talk to him......almost like he is telling E. Smith that he was out of position or didnt read a play correctly. When I saw Rhodes, even as a rookie on day 1, I knew we found a solid player. I still dont like E. Smith. What's more - I dont like that he cost us a 3rd round pick in 2006.
Are you serious? Eric Smith is a beast, maybe he would make a better Linebacker then a safety, but he is still pretty sick.
I'm inclined to agree with you. He certainly looks like he could develop into solid/reliable but never a playmaker. I too don't understand the outpouring of love he gets on this site. He is definitely a Mangini guy, smart, tough, works hard, but not even in the neighborhood of talent that leads to Pro Bowl stats..
It's because he's a white saftey and everyone, deep down, has convinced themselves that ANY white safety can be the next John Lynch. See, John McGraw, Derek Pagel...etc, etc. That being said, I don't think that Smith is terrible, he's raw to some degree but is definitely a hitter, plus he's shown a penchant for quickly closing on the QB when blitzing. Nice ST play too...
A beast? Oh boy this is going to be one long crazy offseason. As for the OP - I agree that Smith is good depth/ST player. You need your share of these players. It's just that you don't want them starting.
See Darrell McGlover who was more of a great special teams player than he was depth, given the fact that he was undersized for a starting LB in his position. Probably one of the best ST players this team has ever seen.
I like Smith and since Rhodes is one of the best safeties in the league I think Smith is a good compliment. You can't have stars everywhere but I think Smith is a solid safety in this league.
If that was the case, then why would Mangini feel the need to pull A. Elam off of the street cut by some other team & inserted into our starting lineup? And I agree w/the previous posters that we need our share of role players as backups/STs. I just feel very strongly that nothing less than full time starters are to be found in the 3rd round. Our 3rd round picks in the last several years have been horrible w/the exception of Sione Pouha. Derrick Strait, BJ Askew, & needless to say Anthony Schlegel fell into the bust category from 2006. But I havent been impressed at all w/Eric Smith, a 3rd round 2006 pick, either. Especially when I see our problems on the O-line running the ball & see Jahri Evans (monster 318lb G on New Orleans) blowing people off the LOS was picked 4th round the same year. I know, I know -- hindsight is wrong, Monday Morning QB, cant go back in time blah blah blah. For years, this organization was terrible at drafting. We couldnt get the 1st round pick right,....much less the 3rd. I just look at the names above & think what could have been if we had drafted unquestioned starters – not stars or All Pros, but just solid starters. I’ll tell you one thing, we’ve done a hell of a job in the last few years drafting in the 4th round (Leon Washington, Brad Smith, Kerry Rhodes, Jerricho Cotchery).
All we have to from now on is trade back from the 3rd to the 4th every year netting extra 4ths in the following year. Problem solved! :grin:
