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DeVonta Smith Rules, a Gamer on a Team Full of Gamers
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How can you not love Smitty?
This after he hauled in the game-winning touchdown and caught the crucial 3rd and long pass that helped the Eagles kill clock and flip the field late in the fourth quarter. He finished with 4 receptions on 7 targets for 69 yards and a score and gave the offense a couple of key big plays on a night when nobody was truly at their best.
Not exactly a hot take, but Smitty might be the most likeable player on a roster full of likeable players. He’s quiet, goes about his business, and doesn’t say anything dumb or waste his time on social media, and that’s not even a shot at A.J. Brown, it’s just a general observation across the Philly athlete landscape. He always shows up with a contested catch, takes big hits, and snags pretty much everything that comes his way. This year he has a career-high 77.4 catch percentage through nine games, on a career-high 10.6 yards per target, so it’s not like they’re dinking and dunking with easy throws. They’re throwing him some tight balls and he has 0 drops this year.
DeVonta really is the definition a gamer. He shows up every time. You see him on these deep shots and he makes himself as big as Mike Evans. He’ll catch short and intermediate passes in traffic and doesn’t mind getting popped. There are games when he doesn’t get as many looks as he should, but not once have I ever thought to myself that he didn’t put forth the effort or turn in a truly poor outing.
He’s also been super-durable despite all of the concerns about his size around the time of the draft. He’s played 72 regular season games in four and a half seasons since he was selected by the Birds in the first round, plus nine in the playoffs.
Of course, this is a guy who won the Heisman at Alabama. The only reason he wound up here is because the Eagles smartly tanked the final game of the 2020 season, ended up with the 6th overall pick, moved down to 12 while picking up an extra first rounder. Then they traded back up to 10 to select him, so they basically turned the disgraceful tank into a series of moves that got them the best receiver in college football (and two Super Bowl appearances in 3 seasons).
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com