Torrey Smith of Maryland ~ 6.1/205
"If it was athletic ability and straight-line speed alone that made you a good wideout, Maryland’s Torrey Smith would be near the top of any list. However, despite his great initial burst and vertical speed down the field, he still has a long way to go. Smith struggles as a route runner to cleanly change directions and quickly get out of his breaks, chopping his feet in order to gear down and regain balance before making his cut and working his way back toward the football.
Plus, he isn’t a real natural plucker, seems to often fight the football into his body and overall lacks ideal body control when asked to quickly regain balance and adjust to the play. Overall, the skill set is there for this guy to make big vertical plays at the next level, but he still has a ways to go if he ever hopes to be more than just a gifted athlete trying to run away from defenders at the next level."
Plus, he isn’t a real natural plucker, seems to often fight the football into his body and overall lacks ideal body control when asked to quickly regain balance and adjust to the play. Overall, the skill set is there for this guy to make big vertical plays at the next level, but he still has a ways to go if he ever hopes to be more than just a gifted athlete trying to run away from defenders at the next level."
"Acceleration: Smith is a quick-twitch athlete who can quickly create space up field. Can rely on pure acceleration instead of head moves and double moves to get open. Smith gets good separation in and out of his cuts because of his acceleration.
Agility: Displays excellent agility after the catch and in the return game. Changes direction with ease and isn’t solely a straight forward track star playing football.
Body control: Shows good body control to turn his head and catch the ball over his shoulder. Has had to learn how to adjust to several poorly thrown passes that come in low or high. Has good vision to catch the ball in tight spots, but doesn’t always extend his hands.
Blocking: Only average as a blocking receiver. Dips his head on contact. Is more of a mirror only blocker.
Hands: Catches a lot of passes with his arms and body. Needs to do a better job of reaching his hands out and grabbing the ball away from his frame. Doesn’t appear to have concentration issues, but isn’t predominantly a receiver who goes over the middle. Shows good ball control, holding the football high and tight against his body.
Release: Has quick feet to get off the line. Will be high out off the snap allowing defenders to jam. Needs to get stronger in his upper body to shed defenders easier.
Route running: Runs mostly verticals, mid-range comebacks and short-area passes that utilize his speed. Because of his speed, Smith can simply run past defensive backs on vertical routes. Shows good short area quickness to get open on comebacks at the sideline.
Size: Smith has a lean track body with thick legs and a somewhat small torso. Arms don’t appear extraordinarily long and hands don’t look overly big. Has room to grow some.
Speed: Speed is Smith’s best asset by far. Has reportedly ran in the 4.3 range in the 40-yard dash. Gets up to top speed in an instant and will be one of the fastest receivers in the draft over six feet tall. Has the classic “second gear” that allows him to pull away from defenders in the open field.
Final word: Smith has been one of the top risers in 2010. Everyone has always known he’s a great return man. But now he’s developing into a good wide receiver. He’ll finish his career as Maryland’s career leader in all-purpose yards.
As much as Smith has developed, he has plenty of work to do to be more than the next Darrius Heyward-Bey. Namely, Smith will have to start catching the ball more away from his frame. It seems like Smith makes a lot of catches with his arms and not his fingertips. While he’s done a better job on his routes in 2010, he doesn’t run an especially complex route tree.
Smith may never be a true No. 1 receiver on an NFL team. What he will be as a good No. 2 and a standout special teams performer."
Agility: Displays excellent agility after the catch and in the return game. Changes direction with ease and isn’t solely a straight forward track star playing football.
Body control: Shows good body control to turn his head and catch the ball over his shoulder. Has had to learn how to adjust to several poorly thrown passes that come in low or high. Has good vision to catch the ball in tight spots, but doesn’t always extend his hands.
Blocking: Only average as a blocking receiver. Dips his head on contact. Is more of a mirror only blocker.
Hands: Catches a lot of passes with his arms and body. Needs to do a better job of reaching his hands out and grabbing the ball away from his frame. Doesn’t appear to have concentration issues, but isn’t predominantly a receiver who goes over the middle. Shows good ball control, holding the football high and tight against his body.
Release: Has quick feet to get off the line. Will be high out off the snap allowing defenders to jam. Needs to get stronger in his upper body to shed defenders easier.
Route running: Runs mostly verticals, mid-range comebacks and short-area passes that utilize his speed. Because of his speed, Smith can simply run past defensive backs on vertical routes. Shows good short area quickness to get open on comebacks at the sideline.
Size: Smith has a lean track body with thick legs and a somewhat small torso. Arms don’t appear extraordinarily long and hands don’t look overly big. Has room to grow some.
Speed: Speed is Smith’s best asset by far. Has reportedly ran in the 4.3 range in the 40-yard dash. Gets up to top speed in an instant and will be one of the fastest receivers in the draft over six feet tall. Has the classic “second gear” that allows him to pull away from defenders in the open field.
Final word: Smith has been one of the top risers in 2010. Everyone has always known he’s a great return man. But now he’s developing into a good wide receiver. He’ll finish his career as Maryland’s career leader in all-purpose yards.
As much as Smith has developed, he has plenty of work to do to be more than the next Darrius Heyward-Bey. Namely, Smith will have to start catching the ball more away from his frame. It seems like Smith makes a lot of catches with his arms and not his fingertips. While he’s done a better job on his routes in 2010, he doesn’t run an especially complex route tree.
Smith may never be a true No. 1 receiver on an NFL team. What he will be as a good No. 2 and a standout special teams performer."
"Receiver Torrey Smith shows terrific speed and quickness in his game. He has a burst and top end speed which allows him to run away from defenders. He must polish his pass catching skills as Smith is inconsistent coming away with the difficult grab and shows just average focus and concentration. He’s a talented athlete who must take the next step on the football field this season."
"Positives: Elite combination of size and speed, has reportedly run in the low 4.3 range... Stock should rise during post season workouts... Does a nice job beating jams... Has a good burst off the line of scrimmage... Explosive out of his breaks, accelerates quickly... Solid production, coming off the best game of his career with a 224 yard, four touchdown performance against North Carolina State in the last regular season game of 2010... No notable injury history... Has added value as a kick returner... Home run hitter, tough to defend down the field, a big vertical threat... Huge upside if he can learn the intricacies of the position, physical tools are outstanding... Players with his physical abilities are often drafted high.
Negatives: Lets too many passes get into his body, has to learn to catch with his hands... Drops some catchable balls.. Gathers himself a bit before going into open-field cuts... rounds off some of his routes... Runs most of his routes along the sideline, hasn't shown a willingness to work the middle of the field... Just an average run blocker... Maryland is known for players with tremendous triangle numbers who don't translate well to the NFL (see: Darrius Heyward-Bey)... A bit of a project."
Negatives: Lets too many passes get into his body, has to learn to catch with his hands... Drops some catchable balls.. Gathers himself a bit before going into open-field cuts... rounds off some of his routes... Runs most of his routes along the sideline, hasn't shown a willingness to work the middle of the field... Just an average run blocker... Maryland is known for players with tremendous triangle numbers who don't translate well to the NFL (see: Darrius Heyward-Bey)... A bit of a project."
Fanatical FootBall Fiend on Torrey Smith
Explosive Break Away Speed and, at this point, nothing else.
He'd be best advised, at this point, to stay in for another year and refine his game.
If he comes out, he looks like a Big Project, worthy only of a very late Rounder.
As always, the preceding thoughts were regurgitated, derivative tripe, adding no value whatsoever, while in fact obliterating intelligent thought and offending the spirit of all decent men. You are now stupider for having read it, and are encouraged, in the strongest possible language, never to expose your eyes to this Site again.
He'd be best advised, at this point, to stay in for another year and refine his game.
If he comes out, he looks like a Big Project, worthy only of a very late Rounder.
As always, the preceding thoughts were regurgitated, derivative tripe, adding no value whatsoever, while in fact obliterating intelligent thought and offending the spirit of all decent men. You are now stupider for having read it, and are encouraged, in the strongest possible language, never to expose your eyes to this Site again.
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