MOBILE, Ala. – The winner of the Heisman Trophy, DeVonta Smith, has already imagined himself in a Miami Dolphins uniform meeting with former college colleague Tua Tagovailoa, and the thought could be mutual.
“We just talked about how good it would be to run it back,” Smith told the NFL Network after Tuesday’s Senior Bowl training session about the possibility of rejoining the Dolphins starting quarterback. “Not much, but I talked about it a little.”
The Dolphins hold number 3 in the NFL’s 2021 draft, and the team has a great need for more explosive game creators for Tagovailoa. Smith, who became the first wide receiver to win the Heisman Trophy since Desmond Howard in 1991 and only the second since 1940, would certainly fit that criteria.
Smith is attending meetings and watching training with the Dolphins coaches at the Senior Bowl, but he is not participating on the field because of a dislocated finger suffered in the Alabama national championship victory over Ohio. He had 12 receptions for 215 yards and three touchdowns in that game before the injury.
He was wearing a black coat in his right hand on Tuesday.
The biggest question about Smith before recruiting is whether his size will prevent him from becoming one of the top five choices. Alabama listed Smith as 1.80 m, 175 pounds, and he refused to weigh in the Senior Bowl on Tuesday. He said he would wait until Alabama’s professional day to take complete measurements.
Dolphins coach Brian Flores doesn’t seem too concerned about Smith’s size affecting his assessment of him.
“This guy is a very, very good player. You can choose as much as you like about the size of a guy, but good players are good players. We can all see that,” said Flores on Tuesday. “This guy is a very good player. He played a lot in college. He played a lot in the biggest games of the year. You can criticize people all day long. He is a very good player, and it was nice to meet him. He’s a good boy too. “
Smith played more than his size in college, as he regularly found a way to separate himself from press coverage, broke tackles in the open and proved to be durable throughout his four-year career in Alabama.
If Dolphins want Smith, they may have some competition. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. projects that Smith will go to second place on the New York Jets in his first mock draft, with the Dolphins beating LSU’s Ja’Marr Chase in third place.
Running back Najee Harris, Smith’s teammate in Alabama, is also participating under the tutelage of Dolphins coaches at the Senior Bowl and may also be on the team’s radar to meet with Tagovailoa in Miami. The Dolphins have four choices in the top 50 of the NFL draft (Nos. 3, 18, 35 and 50).