Talk about Will Smith for a second (1 Viewer)

[Rugger]

IMO Will Smith was worth the 1st rounder and he is in the top half of the REs in the NFL.
His issue seems to be that he tends to dissapear for quarters at a time (so does Grant) and sometimes gets overpowered by NFL LTs.
What I do like is that the guy is a playmaker. He gets his sacks, sure he doesnt log 15 a season, but he causes fumbles! He steps up on 3rd down. He knocked THREE QBs out of games last year. He is fiery and emotional. He gives his best effort.
I was a fan of him in his Ohio State days and I'm telling you, the #s may not say it, but this guy is possibly our best defender.

Being the best defender on a bad defense does not necessarily say a lot. You can argue , stat wise, that Brooks was our best QB...yea. Not only does he get overwhelmed by stronger OTs, but he gained too much weight and can't beat them to the outside.

I can not remember the last time Will blindsided a QB off the snap. Most of his sacks (off the top of my head) come when the pocket breaks down. Seriously when was the last time he beat an OT off the edge?

 

[lilvipa221]

Smith hasn't lived up to his potiential. He is not an elite player. He produces like an average pass rusher. Not an elite player. He does not bring 12-15 sacks a season for us. That would be an elite player, which is not Will smith

sacks are overrated. he is one of the best overrall defensive ends in the league. tell me what would 4 more sacks have done positively?

 

[bradley.broussard]

trade smith and get chris long. Smith is going to want to much money in a new contract. IMO i like long for the future anyway.

 

[robsmith32]

trade smith and get chris long. Smith is going to want to much money in a new contract. IMO i like long for the future anyway.

rofl, bet you chris long's contract for a rookie that never taken a pro snap, is close to what will smith would be signed to.

 

[seraph33]

Being the best defender on a bad defense does not necessarily say a lot. You can argue , stat wise, that Brooks was our best QB...yea. Not only does he get overwhelmed by stronger OTs, but he gained too much weight and can't beat them to the outside.

I can not remember the last time Will blindsided a QB off the snap. Most of his sacks (off the top of my head) come when the pocket breaks down. Seriously when was the last time he beat an OT off the edge?

On defense, if you only have one or two good players, teams can game plan for you. During his 4 seasons with the Saints, when has Smith had either a.) dominant DT's b.) LB who actually threatened the QB? I don't remember any. Football is one of the ultimate team sports. You can't take LT and put him behind the Falcon's O-line and expect him to have near the kind of production he has had in San Diego. If you are one of the better players on a weak defense it only makes it easier for teams to plan against you. We didn't have a lot of pressure up this middle this season. Teams knew this and focused on our DE's. They would just swing our DE's out wide, which leaves gapping holes in their protection scheme but didn't affect their pocket, b/c our DT rarely got any push and our LB's were hardly ever effective when they blitzed.

Everyone points to the sack statistic and that's not really a good measure for scoring a DE. Remember in Grant's first couple of years, he had double digit sacks, you say he's awesome. But in reality, he wasn't good at playing the run and as a result we had one of the bottom rush defenses in the league during those seasons. You need a combination of both run stopping and pass rushing skills. I think Smith has a good combination of both. Sure he needs to develop some moves instead of constantly relying on bull-rushing. People keep saying "let him earn it" . . . well he has. He's been with us for 4 years. He's played a very high level all those years. He statistically didn't have the season we were anticipating him to have, but he by no means had a bad season. Just not as good as we were expecting. Even if you put a guy like Jared Allen in Smith's place last year, I think they end up with similar numbers. Smith has been with us longer than Evans or Colston. I think you gotta pay him and Colston this offseason. Colston is grossly overpaid and deserves a to be paid top 10 WR money. I think you have to pay Smith before Evans though. Smith has been here longer. Ideally I'd like all 3 extended but if you are asking my priority I'd go with Smith and Colston as priorities this offseason, with Evans this or next offseason.

 

[Torgo]

Count me in that number of those who don't think Smith is an elite player. I'm not just basing it on sack numbers. Obviously, I don't key on the guy every play, but the few times I've watched him, he just didn't seem to have the hands to get off opposing blockers. Smith has a fast first step, but if he doesn't beat his man off the line and gets engaged, he seems to get neutralized. Perhaps Orgeron can teach him better technique so that he can become more effective, but I just haven't seen this elite pass-rusher that Smith was advertised as being out of college.

Somewhat off-topic, I really wish this staff would bring in the guy Ditka had in training camp one year to teach the D-lineman martial arts techniques. It really seemed to help Wayne Martin, La Roi Glover and Joe Johnson.

 

[BnGfan]

I agree

Make him EARN IT this season. The bottom line is hat this coaching staff and our new D Line coach will know if he is worth the money after this season and IMO he would be if he lost some weight. It is still a wait and see process for Will although I love his upside.

IMO, if you pay him now, it gives him less reason to play (even though he has reason, he gets paid to play a sport) his best because he has already got his check. If you make him wait, he will have to prove himself, if not to us then to other potential teams that will sign his checks. It is all up to Smith, and I believe if he does well, the saints will be more than happy to reward him. First he has got to show commitment to stay fit, and the determination to give it his all every down.

 

[Moot Point]

trade smith and get chris long. Smith is going to want to much money in a new contract. IMO i like long for the future anyway.

Long is going to go in the first 5 picks if not first overall. So this make no sense. We are not going to give up picks to move that far up in the draft only to tread water at a postion when we really need a DT and a Corner.

 

[mvtrucking]

I think the signing of Grant to the big contract more or less was a sign of things to come for Will Smith in that he would not be a Saint after this year. I can't see the team tying up $120 + million in contracts on 2 DE's. Just too much money.( I think we will see a trade soon or he will walk like Darren Howard after 2008)

 

[whiteshadowen]

I like WIll Smith but I just can't see calling him an elite DE. We can give all the reason we want to for why he isn't putting up the numbers, but look around the league and you will see others in pretty much the same situation who are.

I see too much of the same thing from him. He seems to have only one pass rush move, the bull rush. If he wants to get to that next level and stay there, then he needs to continue to develop.