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INDIANAPOLIS -- When scouts at the NFL combine dissect the top running backs in this year's draft, they usually take their time before getting around to the guy who led the nation in rushing and scoring.
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| 'I don't come here feeling like a small fish in a big pond,' Kevin Smith says of the combine. (US Presswire) |
"This is the biggest test of my life," Smith said.
The University of Central Florida star is talking about Sunday's workouts, where Smith will be asked to rebut critics who say he doesn't have the speed, the explosion or the hands to belong in conversations with Darren McFadden, Rashard Mendenhall, Chris Johnson and Jonathan Stewart.
Smith believes he does. In fact, he's so sure what's about to happen that he invited the country to tune in and watch Sunday's workouts.
"It's my plan to shock the world," he said. "I hope every eye in America is open."
I don't know about that, but every eye in the RCA Dome should be. Smith has credentials you can't ignore. He ran for more than 2,500 yards last season, finishing 61 short of Barry Sanders' single-season record, and he scored 30 times. Smith once carried 46 times. He had 320 yards in a defeat of UAB. And he had 100 or more yards rushing in every game but one last season.
Yeah, that's impressive, but when scouts and personnel directors talk about the top backs they begin with McFadden, move to Mendenhall and Felix Jones, then start working their way through backs like Stewart, Johnson, Jamaal Charles and Ray Rice before getting to Smith.
One reason is Smith's speed. Scouts say he doesn't have it. Another is his explosion. One GM told me Smith glides rather than bursts. Another is his hands. Nobody knows if can catch because when you run for 2,500 yards you're not asked to catch the ball.
Duh.
Lastly, of course, there's the competition.
"I just play football," said Smith, who is refreshingly oblivious to criticism. "Everybody puts on their equipment the same way. I led the nation in rushing. I led the nation in scoring. That's the way I approach the combine. I don't come here feeling like a small fish in a big pond."
Nor should he. The guy has a mother lode of talent. At 6-1, 212 pounds, he has decent size. He's productive. And he can take the punishment, going seven games last season with 30 or more carries and his last two with 85 combined. But Smith knows what scouts are looking for, and it's not a résumé. They want to see him for themselves, and Sunday is their opportunity. Smith is confident he's about to climb the draft ladder.