Tyreke Smith’s 40 of 4.86s at first glance made him one of the least unappealing prospects drafted in this Class. And his 34 inch Vert and 9’09” Broad didn’t really stand out especially compared to Mafe.
Then I saw he put up 4.24 Shuttle and 7.06 3-Cone and to put that in perspective Tariq Woolen at 40-50 pounds less put up a 4.3 shuttle and 7.10 cone. That’s pretty impressive agility and lateral movement.
Then actually seeing some of his tape and highlights, I saw a bit of Bennett, bit of Avril, bit of Clemons in his game. When Smith won his battles, there was no wasted movements just a perfect combination of finesse and violence.
At some point I don’t know if it was the sleeves, the palindrome jersey number, the length, Ohio St’s silver looking a bit gold on low brightness and low video quality, or maybe just the name but I started getting some serious Aldon Smith vibes. Which made me look up Aldon’s own combine/pro day numbers and was surprised how well they compared:
A. Smith (T. Smith)
Ht: 6042 (6033)
Wt: 263 (255)
Hand: 9 3/4 (10 1/4)
Arm: 35 3/8 (33 3/4)
Wing: 83 7/8 (80 7/8)
Electronic
40: 4.82 (4.86)
20: 2.79 (2.84)
10: 1.68 (1.72)
Hand-Held
40: 4.74 (4.75)
20: 2.70 (2.75)
10: 1.66 (1.67)
Vert: 34.5 (34)
Broad: 9’10 (9’09)
Shuttle: 7.50 (7.24)
3-Cone: 7.19 (7.06)
They’ve also shared similar strengths and weaknesses in their games. Both had high-remarks for their pass-rush ability and agility and some criticism on their explosion, strength, and run defense.
Obviously, I’m not saying Tyreke Smith is going to be as dominate as Aldon Smith was when he had his head right and was on the field. Tyreke was a 5th round pick for a reason, Aldon Smith was a top 10 pick for a reason. I’m just saying the best of what I saw (aside from other things) from Tyreke took me back to prime Aldon and that analysis was even more cemented with comparing their athletic and scouting profiles.
Tyreke Smith has a long ways to go in terms of refining and maximizing his tools and building up his strength profile to NFL standards. But I get why a lot of draftniks think he has massive untapped potential and if he can grow and improve and put out a more consistent product Tyreke Smith has the ability and ceiling to be a dominate player.
And that’s how after a deep dive one night probably my least favorite prospect after the draft became maybe my top favorite out of a lot of quality players to like even though Abe Lucas was the one guy I had to have in all mock scenarios.
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