Brad Smith to Return This Week?
Posted on December 18th, 2008 by Bassett
Brad Smith seems to have past some of his injury recovery benchmarks, as he was out practicing with the team the past two days. Whether or not you like his play as a receiver, Smith is an integral part of the coverage and blocking units on special teams and the Jets missed his presence having a flat day without him.
As interesting as it was to watch Clowney get activated last week, see what happens this week as it will help indicate where Mangini’s priorities are for a 4th/5th receiver.
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Bassett:
I love B. Smith for his effort but he reminds me of the deck hand on a fishing charter……….” he is the jack of all trades and the master baiter”.
Mangini had the wildcat in mind when he drafted him but he’s not NFL level in anything.
be patient, be patient
So Fonz, was that Raider game a fluke?
Nice catch Clowney! See you next year… maybe. I wonder how much of our ST problems were affected by B Smith’s absence.
We were flat?!?! The special teams kept the Bills in the game for thr first half. At least that’s the game I was watching.
Kewpie to Fonz.
Smith is not the answer at WR. Clowney needs to get the chance for us to find out if he can get the separation deep that both Coles and Cotch have failed to do.
While Smith helps out on Specials, stretching the field is more important to this team and I hope Eric can see that.
These are decisions that win or lose games. And the decision will be successful to the extent our CS understands our team’s strengths and weaknesses (or does not).
h
harlan
Take your time, Brad
Kewpie= first of all don’t answer fonz-he is an idiot.
Second -please everyone pray that smith CAN’T play-he is HORRIBLE!!!!
I left out Hank-fonz” twin he is an idiot as well.
we need both players active not two place kickers bs and dc are both very effective at what they do we need clowney in our o dump nugent already
If possible, play both. Brad on Special Teams and Clowney, a burner, to stretch the field!
Joe B,
Smith was used only in that one game out of 14 so far because Coles, Cotchery, and Stuckey were taken out by their linebackers and defensive backs courtesy of Rob Ryan and his scheme, and FARVE didn’t know who Keller was. Smith was drafted as a quarterback and then molded into a receiver. What is disappointing is that after a somewhat surprising first year his production has slacked off the last two years especially last year with so many injuries on the team. He hasn’t excelled in one part of the offensive system and now that Clowney has picked up his part on special teams first and then on the offense Smith is starting to look at the team from the outside. Smith can have any one good game given against the raiders but has he consistently tried to push Cotchery in front of him to make the receiving corps better? I haven’t seen it. Cotchery got away this year with a lot of fumbles see versus the Patriots and Denver and Coles has gotten away with his mouth and the fact that teams know how to play him so he can’t demand the ball too often. Now I believe Clowney will push the receiving corps just based on his mature attitude and his selfless commitment to his job but what has impressed me is that I expected him to struggle in special teams but he has found a comfort area there so that he can move away from the scout team and improve his game. Clowney has shown he can play to a similar level to Wallace Wright on special teams and Wallace Wright should be recognized for his play this year with all his special team tackles.
Electric Ham,
I’m with you. Two kickers is too many! But, Nugent has a lot more career ahead of him. See ya, Feely.
“Clowney has shown he can play to a similar level to Wallace Wright on special teams and Wallace Wright should be recognized for his play this year with all his special team tackles.”
Really? When was this?
Also, I think it’s funny how everyone derides the coaching staff for not running more plays to Leon, Clowney, etc. but when Smith never touches the ball, it’s his fault.
Joe, the difference is that a RB is either handed the ball or not. If the play is not called with him carrying he does not carry. And the issue with Clowney is if he is not on the field or active, he cannot get touches. So, it is fair to note that these decisions are CS staff decisions.
OTOH, Smith has been on the field a lot during this year and has little to show for it. Favre looks for the open receiver who can do something. Coles and Cotch have both failed to get open deep (and sometimes mid range). Neither has any significant YAC. It is reasonable to assume that if Smith was open and did not drop passes or have them go through his hands, he would have more touches to show for his PT.
Hence, it is the CS that gets the hit for Leon and Clowney but not for Smith (unless you want more stupid end arounds telepgraphing them and more Wildcat, taking Favre and TJ out of their milieu).
Simple as that.
You have a point, but a quick screen (like they run to Coles and Cotch to “get them going” seemingly every week) might be a nice idea, since Smith has shown good playmaking ability when he does get the ball.
Generally, while Smith has failed to produce big numbers statistically, he usually does one or two positive things a game to help the team and is not expensive. So I don’t have a problem with him, as long as he looks after the ball.
Let’s hope Smith responds the same way he did last time Harlan ran him down like this.
P.S. “Smith was drafted as a quarterback and then molded into a receiver. ” This is inaccurate. He was drafted as a receiver. The fact that he played QB in college is irrelevant. He does not have anywhere close to an NFL-caliber arm and was never going to draw any interest from teams as a QB prospect.