Despite winning the Heisman Trophy in 2020, Alabama receiver DeVonta Smith faced a central question throughout this project: his weight. After several questions from reporters on Monday, Smith revealed that he weighs 170 pounds.
Smith said he plans to officially sing for teams on Tuesday in Alabama’s professional day, but will not participate in on-site exercises or take any other tests. He prefers to let the game box speak for itself.
One of the top prospects in the 2021 draft is that Smith is expected to be a first-round pick. The persistent question is how much will its thin frame affect its ability to be a top-5 or top-10.
“I feel like it’s going to be different from college. I played in the SEC. I feel like it’s the toughest conference there is,” Smith said. “I know a lot of people who are older than me and who have more problems than me, so I’m not worried at all.”
Smith would be the second lightest receiver in the first round of the 1999 project; The Baltimore Ravens selected the 166-pound “Hollywood” marquise Brown, the 25th general pick in the 2019 draft. But there is a precedent: Smith has been compared to Indianapolis Hall of Fame recipient Colts, Marvin Harrison, several project analysts, including Mel Kiper Jr. and Mike Tannenbaum. Harrison weighed 181 pounds in the combine and played in the 170s.
Other successful receivers who weighed under £ 175 also include DeSean Jackson (£ 169) and Isaac Bruce (£ 173). Chad Johnson also said on Twitter that he played for 170 pounds, while noting that Smith was better than him in college.
In his latest fake sketch, ESPN’s Todd McShay makes Smith finish 8th at the Miami Dolphins.
Dolphins coach Brian Flores was asked about Smith’s weight in the Senior Bowl, where the receiver spent the week attending practices and meetings in Miami. Flores said: “This guy is a very, very good player. You can drop everything you want about the size of a guy, but good players are good players are good players. We can all see that.
“This guy is a very good player. He played a lot in college. He played a lot in the biggest games of the year. You can get rid of people all day. He’s a very good player and it’s been good to meet him. “And he is a good child.”
Despite some examples of less successful receivers, Smith can be seen as an outlier for NFL teams that are declining because of his stature. But Smith said he was not at all worried about his size because he had the “mentality that I will not be stopped.”