Alabama Football: Weight an issue at Senior Bowl for Smitty and Cornbread

Alabama Football: Some NFL Draft experts casting doubt about DeVonta Smith and Deonte Brown because of weight issues.

For two former Alabama football players, Senior Bowl weigh-ins present questions. Are those questions just concerns from always cautious NFL teams or are they potentially serious problems for either of the players?

The former Crimson Tide players are the ‘Slim Reaper’ DeVonta Smith and Deonte ‘Cornbread’ Brown. The nicknames are giveaways to the weights of each player. One is feared to not have enough weight and the other too much.

Too much weight has been an issue going back years for Deonte Brown. He was 350 pounds coming out of Austin High School, in Decatur, AL. At points in his first three Crimson Tide seasons, he struggled due to being overweight. Alabama football insiders claimed he got up to 375-plus pounds. Another problem was too much ‘bad weight’ limiting his flexibility and mobility. By the middle of his third season, he had ‘slimmed’ down enough to gain a starting role. His upward Crimson Tide path was derailed at the end of the 2018 season and the start of the 2019 season. He missed six games due to a suspension.

Brown earned All-SEC honors for the 2020 season and finished his Alabama football career with 26 starts in 48 games. As a senior, the Crimson Tide listed Brown at 350 pounds. At Senior Bowl weigh-ins, the number was 364 pounds. The average weight of an NFL lineman is under 320 pounds and many of the players are an inch to four inches taller than Deonte Brown. The bottom line is Deonte is outside the range the NFL considers prime for his position. A one-time, late second-round projection could even drop into the fourth round, costly Deonte some serious money.

DeVonta Smith has been slim his entire life. So far, his physiology makes it hard for him to add weight. Coming out of Amite, LA, he was a thin 160 pounds. As a Crimson Tide senior he was listed at 175 pounds. As DeVonta said when he accepted his Heisman Trophy, all his life he has been told what he could not do. With comments directed at youth, but pertinent for everyone, Devonta said,

"if don’t nobody else believe in you, then you just have to believe in yourself and prove everybody wrong.To all the young kids out there that’s not the biggest, not the strongest: just keep pushing."

DeVonta is still pushing. He declined to be weighed at the Senior Bowl. He is attending for meetings with NFL team representatives. but unable to practice and play because of his injured finger. It is believed when the Alabama Crimson Tide has its annual Pro Day, he will be weighed in Tuscaloosa.

The difference of a few pounds means little for DeVonta’s NFL future. He will be a high first-round pick. Sliding a bit because a team worries he is too thin could cost him some NFL Draft dollars. Most NFL teams know he is the best wide receiver in the 2021 Draft.  For good measure, maybe he can push his weight up to 180 pounds by the Crimson Tide Pro Day.

Alabama football fans know this about DeVonta Smith – there has never been a more deserving Heisman winner.