[EmpireWF]

Smith became a force on the national stage last season when he led the Buckeyes to a tremendous bowl victory. This year, he helped lead the Buckeyes to an undefeated regular season record and birth in the BCS National Championship game. To most observers, he's clearly improved his overall game and may find his way into the first round in April. The question is, how high can he go? If all goes well, expect him to go in the second half of the first round or possibly very early in the second round.

Class: Senior
Hgt/Wgt: 6'0, 215
40-time: 4.65

Positives: (GBNDR)..."The “x” factor in the 2007 draft class; no question that Smith is an outstanding athlete playing QB, but has he improved his passing enough to rate as a potential elite QB prospect this coming April; has put up eye-popping numbers this fall and looks to be a lock to win the Heisman Trophy; has completed close to 70% of his pass attempts and has only thrown a couple of picks while tossing over 20 TD passes; Smith is both quick and strong and has the ability to scramble out of danger and turn a potential loss into a big gainer; unlike past years though when Smith was most likely to simply take off, this fall he has been keeping his eyes downfield and has been throwing much more off the scramble; has a quick release and gets good velocity on short and medium passes even if his feet aren’t totally set; has the ability to take a couple of quick steps out of trouble, reset and qet quick pass off; also throws well on the run; doesn’t have a super strong arm, but can make most of the passes; has decent accuracy on the deep ball; is very patient, reads the field well and takes what the defense gives him."


Negatives: (FF)..."Size is a question mark with Troy Smith. His listed size is merely average, and he appears to be a bit smaller than that. It may effect his ability to throw from the pocket on a consistent basis and see the entire field."


The Great Blue North Draft Report compares Smith to a young Donovan McNabb although the Buckeye clearly won't go that high in the draft. He has a lot of qualities that some team will look to and could find themselves a steal. Nevertheless, I'd say a good number of teams won't consider him because of his lack of height, even though it's a silly reason.

[EmpireWF]

I've seen this comparison a lot lately in the national media, comparing Troy Smith to Drew Brees. Both had great collegiate careers but are shorter than the average QB. Brees went at the top of the 2nd round and turned out to be a steal. Smith is projected to go anywhere from the middle to late 1st round. It may take him a few seasons, but many expect him to do well in the NFL.

[Lefty Noob]

After the BCS title game, ESPN's Mel Kiper is now projecting Smith as an early second-day pick. Amazing how much his stock has fallen.

[azrael492]

That game should not be held against him. A few times I thought they hiked the ball to the Florida players. They were in the backfield as much as Smith.