On one hand, I think Smith is a pretty big reach given what else was on the board and his technique/hand usage issues are just too risky for me at 24.
On the other, if we had done the right thing and taken Jermaine Johnson, I would've been all for moving up to the first 5 or so picks of round 2 in an attempt to get Smith, so it's kind of like Frederick in that regard. It also seems like every league insider (not these chucklefuck Cowboys types but the national guys like Jeremiah, Pauline and Schrager) had him going late 1, so it's doubtful he even makes it to round 2.
There has been smoke around the Titans loving him for weeks now and I don't think it's a coincidence that they traded down right after we took him. I also wouldn't have been shocked if the Ravens took him at 25 given their need at RT and that Smith kind of profiles as a riskier Penning in terms of having ideal height/length, nastiness, and so forth.
He was the last "dancing bear" type of OT in the draft in terms of having the elite size (i.e. 6-4+, 310+), length (34+ inch arms) combined with the light feet/athleticism, so there's probably very little chance he would've made it out of round 1, and maybe not even past another pick or two.
With all that said, the most concerning thing for me is that Stephen and the front office loves to tout how "pure" they can draft because of how "efficient" they are at filling holes in FA, but they're developing more and more of a habit of going into FA with a pre-set mindset of what they're going to do in the draft and locking in on a certain position or two that they allow to become needs during FA.
They did it last year with CB and they did it again now with OL. You can't tell me Jermaine Johnson wasn't higher on their board unless he had some crazy medical/character situation, and who here is going to be shocked if they pass on someone like Perrion Winfrey in the 2nd to draft Sam Williams?
They love to tout how they're so focused on BPA but in reality they're doing the exact opposite.
