<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jun 4 2007, 02:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Any qb who gets 30 TDs and only 6 INTs has great skill at reading coverage regardless, he also had a 65% completion %. Which is a better ratio then Jamarcus russell had BTW. I dont understand how he could drop as low as the 2nd round, much less the 5th but im glad we got him for such a good deal. In his senior year he flat out-played Jamarcus even and his team went further, just dont understand it at all. Im not saying he'll be better then Jamarcus(which is possible) but combines arent everything, its what you do on the field that matters and Troy Smith proved himself very well on the field.</div> Who cares about college football statistics, they don't really mean anything in predicting NFL success. Ken Dorsey and Jason White put up big numbers and won national titles and neither can start in the NFL. It's all about skills that transfer over. Many scouts don't think Troy Smith can transfer over and become an NFL starter. Bottom line, JaMarcus Russell got picked high because he can make every NFL throw, has one of the strongest arms ever seen, and he's gigantic, and can play. His upside is unbelievable. I have no idea if JaMarcus or Smith can succeed in the NFL...but thats the way drafting and scouting is.... It's the same way in the NBA....Mateen Cleaves and Drew Neitzel are amazing in college, but do they transfer over? No. Thats why Neitzel will be a 2nd round pick. JaMarcus Russell - 68% / 3,100 / 28/8 Troy Smith - 65% / 2,500 / 30/6 Those are their 2006 statistics.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BrewCityBuck @ Jun 4 2007, 12:57 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>All those players you mentioned all had considerable more 'NFL Potential' than Troy Smith does.</div>That's exactly what I was saying, if Troy Smith had NFL potential, then his character issues would not have dropped him that far at all. You was making it sound like that was the big reason he dropped so low, when in fact, his character issues played only a small part in him dropping. The biggest part, was his inability to read a defense with speed, in Florida.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jun 4 2007, 02:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Any qb who gets 30 TDs and only 6 INTs has great skill at reading coverage regardless, he also had a 65% completion %. Which is a better ratio then Jamarcus russell had BTW. I dont understand how he could drop as low as the 2nd round, much less the 5th but im glad we got him for such a good deal. In his senior year he flat out-played Jamarcus even and his team went further, just dont understand it at all. Im not saying he'll be better then Jamarcus(which is possible) but combines arent everything, its what you do on the field that matters and Troy Smith proved himself very well on the field.</div>He had a better TD/Interception ratio, but he also played against much slower and worse team defenses in the Big Ten compared to the SEC defenses that Jamarcus Russell played against. Jamarcus Russell had a better completion percentage, showed the ability to throw the deep ball better which well help stretch defenses at the NFL level, is much bigger and stronger, and more of an NFL prospect. On the field Troy Smith proved himself against the slower big ten defenses, whereas Russell proved himself against the faster SEC defenses. When Smith had to face the same speed on defense, he looked much worse, held the ball much longer causing alot of sacks, and and just couldn't play out there.
In Smith's defense, he was still missing his biggest weapon in Ginn and 90% of their playbook is based upon him being on the field. Of course they have other weapons but Ginn was like the glue to the team.I don't know why Smith is even being compared to Russell anyway, he's not on a level of him yet. You're knocking Smith for playing in the Big Ten and not being able to handle faster defenses or whatever but what about the QB's who went After Russell and Quinn? Kevlin Kolb who went in Round 2 (4th pick in the Round) from Houston, which plays in the Conference USA? Not exactly your power house conference either. Sure he threw 30 TDs/4 INTs/ 3809 Passing Yards, but again it's Conf. USA.John Beck who went in Round 2 (8th pick in the Round) from BYU, which plays in the Mountain West. Again, not a great conference. 32 TDs/8 INTs/3885 Passing Yards. Drew Stanton who went in Round 2 (11th pick in the Round) from MSU, same conference as Smith. 12 TDs/10 INTs/1807 Passing Yards? Are you kidding me? What made him a better pick than Smith? Character issues? More NFL QB size? It's not like he had one bad season (Stanton that is) either. The season before this one he threw 22 TDs/12 INTs/3077 Passing Yards. I'm not knocking either of those QB's but they didn't play in power conferences, had similar or worse stats than Smith so why were they taken well before he was even being considered? Character issues can be fixed. The kid grew up in a F*cked up environment and football was his only way out. It's not like he was some rich preppy kid who just did off the wall things. That "he's not NFL built" sh*t is played out too. He either can play or he can't. His linemen are all NFL size linemen and he didn't have a problem seeing over that line when he was under center. Now, I know someone is going to have something to say about him being in the shot gun all the time but that was put in simply because of all the offensive weapons on the team.
He also had some pretty bad workouts from what I saw and read.. He's not a first round type prospect. Jason White also won the heisman and he went undrafted. Like BCB said, some players skills just will not transfer over well to the NFL.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>I'm not knocking either of those QB's but they didn't play in power conferences, had similar or worse stats than Smith so why were they taken well before he was even being considered? Character issues can be fixed. The kid grew up in a F*cked up environment and football was his only way out. It's not like he was some rich preppy kid who just did off the wall things.</div>Have you even noticed that NFL teams are shying away from players with character issues even more than they did before? They don't give a f*ck about him growing up in a bad environment; if he has problems he has problems, and they're not going to gamble on a player with those issues and have him be the face of the franchise. They see the consequences in drafting a player with those problems; look at Pacman Jones, Chris Henry, Tank Johnson...
I want to bring back this thread in about 3 years just to laugh if Troy Smith does end up being a pretty damn good qb like I suspect. Combines said Vernon Davis was going to be the greatest TE ever also. he had 20 rec for 3 TDs last year. I see him improving but thats my point, combine dont mean everything. They said Drew Brees is too small to take the Saints far but he was one game from the superbowl.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jun 2 2007, 12:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I dont know if anyone remembers but this guy lead his team to a nearly undefeated season and won a heisman. in reward he was drafted in the 5th round which ill never understand(yes hes short for a qb but hes taller then drew brees) My Ravens actually drafted him in the 5th round and I believe hes going to shock some people soon. IF Boller doesn't pan out, I think Troy Smith will be a great player to suceed steve mcnair. What do all of yall think about troy smith and why he dropped to the 5th?</div>Trust me, in 2 or 3 years, after learning and playing behind Steve McNair, you guys will be happy you drafted Smith, because he is going to be a damn good quarterback. I'm a Browns fan, and I hate the fact that he's going to the Ravens, for two reasons. First because, obviously I don't want my guys going to opposing teams, but also because I know he is going to be fantastic and will probably dominate the Browns in a couple of years.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jun 5 2007, 05:18 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I want to bring back this thread in about 3 years just to laugh if Troy Smith does end up being a pretty damn good qb like I suspect. Combines said Vernon Davis was going to be the greatest TE ever also. he had 20 rec for 3 TDs last year. I see him improving but thats my point, combine dont mean everything. They said Drew Brees is too small to take the Saints far but he was one game from the superbowl.</div> Vernon Davis had injury problems and played in a largely inept offense that made few plays because of it's lack of talent and inexperience.
