Jimmy Smith

Jimmy has been all across the media. We know that he is a possibility as our pick at 13 and in the second round. There has been a media wide consensus that he is a top 15 talent with a bad past. I am going to tell you why the media does not know crap when it comes to Jimmy.

Jimmy was originally assessed as a mid to late first round talent. The problem is the media took this as he is rated there because of his character issues. So, when the media reports on him he is a top 15 talent that could drop down to the second round because of character issues. The problem is he isn't a top 15 talent. His talent rates in the bottom 1/3 of the first round.

Rating:
-Big CB that excels at press coverage
-Hesitant tackler, but keeps his responsibility in the running game
-Needs to come up looking to hit someone, which is tough to teach
-Can make bonehead penalties
-Doesn't get off blocks well
-Good footwork
-Excellent hands
-Excellent while the balls in the air

A top 15 talent needs to be better in the running game and an overall tackler.

Character issues have to be considered in there. I don't know if you move up to an early second round pick to get him and it's not all his fault. Jimmy definitely made bad decisions in college. People like man formerly known as Pacman, Gholston, and others are hurting him. He can very easily drop into the second round. He in my opinion is the guy that is falling into what I call the "Tim Tebow rule." The Tim Tebow rule just simply states in only takes one team to like you or willing to take a chance on you.  He doesn't quite fit the Tebow rule exactly, because Tebow could have been taken anywhere really. There were several people that wouldn't have taken Tebow in the first 3 rounds. I don't know if that's true with Jimmy boy here. I know what your thinking Tebow had good character and it's the opposite for Jimmy. The Tim Tebow rule is all about it only takes one team to like you and you really could fall. Jimmy is one of the closest fits to this in the 2011 draft.

Back to the issue of Jimmy. I saw Gholston as one fine talent coming out of college and I was clearly wrong. You need to have a love for the game to be great. You can be good without a love of the game, but it's the ones that work hard are the ones that separate themselves. Now I don't go to every practice of every team, so I in no way am in a position to say who has a good work ethic. I think Haynesworth might be a good example. He had great seasons, but will not have a Jerry Rice like great career. Gholston is on the tip of the tongue of NFL teams and people will think of him and Pacman before they draft a Jimmy. Pacman showed us that your off the field issues can affect you on the field. These issues can keep you from playing all together and people really do have a problem changing. It probably isn't fair to say Jimmy can't change because Pacman couldn't, but it will come across decision makers brains when deciding.

As far as picking Jimmy I think every team is in a different situation on if they can take a chance on him or not. A team like Patriots might entirely rule him out. Lions have a good locker room and may not want to bring a guy like this in period. I wasn't in there for the interview, but it was something he had to nail for me to take him in the second round. I think teams in good situations can take him in the 20's. A team like a the Eagles would be a good fit.