Here's what I'm going to say about Devin Smith, and I'm not changing the mock to the Chiefs. He's going to be very high on Andy Reid's radar guaranteed, and the Chiefs already have been talking to the kid.
Probably time for you guys to stop reading scouting reports from season's past and start watching the tape on Devin Smith. He runs great routes, for starters. His drop issues went away and has been better focused. He has developed into a guy that is very difficult to press off the line. He was outstanding running routes during Senior Bowl week, something scouts attested to. He's not just a deep ball threat.
The problem in Columbus was more a product of how they targeted receivers. A lot of run and deep ball stuff and QBs that weren't very good at reading defenses and finding wide open receivers. They often used Devin Smith to his ultimate strength, playing deep. I can't fault a coach for going with something that torches a defense for a TD a game and usually at least one more big play a game. When you can essentially put 2 TDs a game on the board because of one guy's skill set, you use that to your advantage.
I will concede that he is an inconsistent to even bad blocker in the run game, but it isn't for effort. He just is not very good at it and could use more coaching on what angles to take to seal in the run game.
I have no idea what one guy was talking about in a scouting report I read when he said Smith was taken out often in "11 personnel." I don't think the guy knows what 11 personnel is. Smith was in the game most of the time, unless he just got done running a handful of 9's in a row. Three receiver set, damn straight he was a primary option.
This little article has a few videos.
http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2...-wide-receiver
Watch that terrible hitch in the Wisconsin game at about the 1:50 mark in the video. Watch that terrible slant he ran at about 0:57 in the Illinois game. He also ran a terrible goal-line corner route at about the 1:53 mark in that Illinois game. He's so bad in the underneath game that the first few plays of that Michigan State tape were just horrendous.
Here also is a beautifully written piece that explains a bunch of this well that I don't have the time right now to similarly reproduce:
http://seahawksdraftblog.com/ohio-st...-first-rounder
The bottom line is that people think Devin Smith can't run any other routes besides a 9 because they seen him make so many of those plays for the Buckeyes. The problem is they aren't watching the other plays, including plays he just didn't get the ball thrown to him. That doesn't mean Smith can't run any other routes. In fact, Smith runs pretty damn crisp routes and gets separation on pretty much every play. He isn't the greatest hands catcher ever, but he isn't a drop machine like he seems to be made out to be.
From a numbers perspective, you have a guy that is probably going to run about a 4.35 40-yard, 1.52 10-yard split, a 6.85 in the 3-cone and a 4.25 shuttle while likely jumping 40" in the vertical. Essentially, he should test exactly like Mike Wallace.
I have three receivers ranked legitimately ahead of Smith in Cooper, White, and Parker. After those three there is a little drop off to Smith, but Smith is better than several ranked closest to him. His current biography reads like Emmanuel Sanders' did.
Altogether, Smith is going to be a fairly high pick because he can abuse defensive backs. He's much like Mike Wallace. He's got the potential, and attitude, to be a great receiver. I'm aware not everyone will like Smith, but I don't doubt for a second that the Chiefs' brass will. If they think they can mould him into what he's capable of becoming, they won't hesitate.
What puzzles me is that people think he doesn't fit Andy Reid and Alex Smith. Fact is, he fits perfectly. He's not an easy cover on the routes Reid loves to run, and to think Reid doesn't call deep shots, then they only need to reference some of the routes Donnie Avery ran for KC.
Anyhow, that's what I have to say about that pick. I'm also focused on 31 other teams and what projects well to them in this mock scenario. I did update the OP to reflect some bonehead moves I did make to a couple of teams.
