You would be easily forgiven for not knowing who Shi Smith is. The 5 ’10 ”wide receiver for South Carolina Gamecocks did not rank in the top 50 on the NCAA in yards or touchdowns in 2020.
In fact, Smith never reached 675 receiving yards in a single high school season and the most touchdowns he has managed in a single season was four. That’s almost ¼ of his 13 touchdowns.
In a year when Heisman was defeated by a receiver for the first time in almost thirty years, Smith flew extremely below the radar. However, he started to distance himself a little from the group, starting with his excellent training and playing in the Senior Bowl.
Having the chance to go 1 on 1 with some of his fellow Senior Bowl participants, Smith stood out with fast, incredibly agitated feet, without losing momentum and speed. His cuts looked sudden and unexpected and he never seemed to be selling a route earlier.
Here is just a taste of the separation he was creating.
Shi Smith is doing a show at the Senior Bowl🔥 pic.twitter.com/oypntuXXGp
– Draft PFF (@PFF_College) January 27, 2021
He showed his soft hands and understanding of how to keep track of a low shot in the Senior Bowl as well.
Shi Smith is playing in the Senior Bowl 👀 @GamecockFB
(by @nflnetwork) pic.twitter.com/jeTIPWDtHu
– The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) January 30, 2021
This has already earned him a much-deserved moment in the draft and his stock will probably only rise during the draft process due to his athletic build. He should be at the top of the class in terms of the 40-yard run time and will likely shine in all other athletic exercises like the 20-yard shuttle, but he will probably struggle with the bench press.
The only concern with Smith fitting into the Vikings’ wide receiver room is that he is probably a slot machine, something that Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson do very well. This lends itself to congestion in 2021 in that position, but with Thielen’s age and Jefferson’s ability to move both in and out, as shown by his stellar 2020 campaign, it shouldn’t be too worrying.
At the moment, Smith is projecting to be a choice on the second day. Vikings don’t have a choice in the second round, but they do have two-thirds. Targeting a receiver on the third seems to be the ideal location for Minnesota anyway, as position is not an immediate necessity.
Smith would need to fit Rick Spielman’s ideal of value for his position in the draft. Therefore, he will likely need to slide a little after Spielman inevitably negotiates one or both of the choices in the third round. This seems unlikely, given Smith’s already growing stock, but it is very possible that the recipients will slip into this draft with a strong top class likely going in the first round. If Smith fits into a spot in the third, Minnesota should absolutely pull the trigger on him like a new WR3.
