3. The early read on Trey Smith
Trey Smith
One of the most controversial prospects this recruiting year is Tennessee offensive line commitment Trey Smith.
The reason? One recruiting site made him the No. 1 player in the country and the others, except for Rivals, followed suit by making him a high five-star. Ive explained in this column our wait-and-see approach on Smith before but now that I have seen him in action in person I can expand a bit.
Hes a great-looking kid. He has zero bad weight, he is physically intimidating and he plays very aggressively. Everyone who knows me knows I like a mean streak in an offensive lineman and Smith has that. Despite the lack of competition he faces during the football season, he didnt look out of place here on day one and more than held his own in one-on-ones. So all thats great right? Right. But there are still some issues.
Smith appears to be closer to 6-foot-4 than the 6-foot-6 many have listed him at and he doesnt have exceptionally long arms. He started off as a guard in practice and, compared to other offensive tackles in this class, he almost looks small (see Wilson, Isaiah or Leatherwood, Alex). So at 6-foot-4 and 300 pounds or so, hes likely to be an interior lineman at the next level with his highest upside being a right tackle, unless hes the second coming of former Alabama star Andre Smith who was a shade under 6-foot-4 and became an All American and first round NFL draft pick as a tackle.
So the question is are we seeing Andre Smith Part II and should have him ranked in the nation top 2 (Smith was No. 2 in 2006 behind Percy Harvin) or are we looking at a very good guard prospect who should be in the 25-100 range (he is currently No. 97 in the country)? Smith won all three of his one-on-one reps Wednesday with excellent technique and footwork, but it was against two very undersized players in Tyree Johnson and Kwity Paye. We will see what happens when he gets tested a bit more this week in practice and the game. And in team play, he was solid but did miss some assignments.
The bottom line, at least for someone like myself who has been doing this for a long, long time and has seen a ton of offensive lineman, is that I didnt see Andre Smith today but there were many things that impressed me.
Trey Smith
One of the most controversial prospects this recruiting year is Tennessee offensive line commitment Trey Smith.
The reason? One recruiting site made him the No. 1 player in the country and the others, except for Rivals, followed suit by making him a high five-star. Ive explained in this column our wait-and-see approach on Smith before but now that I have seen him in action in person I can expand a bit.
Hes a great-looking kid. He has zero bad weight, he is physically intimidating and he plays very aggressively. Everyone who knows me knows I like a mean streak in an offensive lineman and Smith has that. Despite the lack of competition he faces during the football season, he didnt look out of place here on day one and more than held his own in one-on-ones. So all thats great right? Right. But there are still some issues.
Smith appears to be closer to 6-foot-4 than the 6-foot-6 many have listed him at and he doesnt have exceptionally long arms. He started off as a guard in practice and, compared to other offensive tackles in this class, he almost looks small (see Wilson, Isaiah or Leatherwood, Alex). So at 6-foot-4 and 300 pounds or so, hes likely to be an interior lineman at the next level with his highest upside being a right tackle, unless hes the second coming of former Alabama star Andre Smith who was a shade under 6-foot-4 and became an All American and first round NFL draft pick as a tackle.
So the question is are we seeing Andre Smith Part II and should have him ranked in the nation top 2 (Smith was No. 2 in 2006 behind Percy Harvin) or are we looking at a very good guard prospect who should be in the 25-100 range (he is currently No. 97 in the country)? Smith won all three of his one-on-one reps Wednesday with excellent technique and footwork, but it was against two very undersized players in Tyree Johnson and Kwity Paye. We will see what happens when he gets tested a bit more this week in practice and the game. And in team play, he was solid but did miss some assignments.
The bottom line, at least for someone like myself who has been doing this for a long, long time and has seen a ton of offensive lineman, is that I didnt see Andre Smith today but there were many things that impressed me.
