2.06 Baltimore Brown Clowns - QB Geno Smith

In the real world: "Smith has the arm strength to make all the NFL throws, solid mechanics to get his feet set, and even in a spread offense he shows the ability to get through progressions. It's his composure behind that shaky line that stands out most, though." - Kevin Weidl of Scouts, Inc. in December 2011. Todd McShay compared Smith to Christian Ponder on two different occasions: "With Smith, I think he's still developing as a quarterback. He's a smart kid, he works unbelievably hard and he has all the intangibles you're looking for, but a little bit like Christian Ponder, he didn't always transfer that information on the field. Ponder would often lock in on his initial read, and I think there's a lot of the same questions about Smith." Later: "He's still a work in progress. Like Ponder, he's a bright player but sometimes doesn't process his reads quickly enough." Smith had a really high completion percentage, but he had more screen passes than other QB's and his yards per attempt average is also among the lowest among this year's rookie QBs for that reason. So long-range accuracy is a question mark at this time. 24 fumbles in 33 games—including 12 last year—are also cause for concern. So is this report, in which a league executive says, "He's tuned out because he thinks he's got it all down" and isn't willing to take instruction or listen to coaches. And this one, stating "diva" issues. Nevertheless, one thing is clear: the Mark Sanchez Era is over in New York.

In the TUFF world: Smith went from early Round 1 pick to Round 2 pick in the NFL Draft, and not surprisingly, the same thing happened in the TUFF Draft. But I like this pick by Baltimore--with two good veterans in Matt Schaub and Jay Cutler, they have time to wait for Smith to develop into something better than Christian Ponder. In a TUFF draft filled with trades up and down and in and out, the Brown Clowns have done great just standing pat and taking the best available player. At this point in the Draft, you can take those aforementioned reports about being a diva who won't take instruction with a grain of salt. And how often do starting QBs fall this far? Not very often.