Alabama Football: DeVonta Smith’s strengths and weaknesses

Strengths and weaknesses for Alabama football’s DeVonta Smith

Strength: Production

You have to scout traits with all receivers, but some players translate traits to production in college. That is exactly what DeVonta Smith did for four years with Alabama football.

Smith wasn’t a byproduct of the system. He didn’t rely on the scheme to get him open. Even when the roster was stacked with talent, he separated himself with his production. When you needed a play, he was where you turned.

Strength: Footwork

Smith has the best field awareness and footwork in college football. He could separate at the line of scrimmage with his agility, but this trait was proven on the perimeter of the field. He made countless plays with millimeters to spare before stepping out of bounds. He even managed to land on his backside with one cheek inbounds to score a touchdown.

Regular humans are not supposed to have that much control over foot placement while sprinting down the field and coming to a full stop. It is an elite trait that leads to highlights, and Smith will bring that to a happy NFL fan base.

Weakness: Size

Clearly, this is the one fair knock on Smith. He’s not short, but his frame is incredibly lanky. Many expect him to bulk up, and we’re not sure how that will impact his play. If he doesn’t gain weight, it will be hard for him to hold up against physical corners. That works in college, but the NFL is a different beast.

Weakness: Top-end speed

This is how you know that you’re splitting hairs with DeVonta Smith. He’s fast. There is no doubt that he has above-average speed. With his long stride, he can cover ground quickly. The weakness isn’t that he’s slow, because that would not be true. However, he isn’t one of the fastest players in the NFL.

With the way the NFL is changing, it is more common to see speed win on the perimeter. That’s why Alabama football fans saw Henry Ruggs go as the first receiver in the 2020 draft. With other speedsters in this class, this might cause Smith to slide down the board. Again, it doesn’t mean that he is slow. He’s just not as fast as some of the players he will be compared to.

When you analyze Smith, there is no logical reason to believe that he will fail in the NFL. He has the traits, and he will just have to put them all together when he is drafted.