Wednesday the NFL released official heights and weights from its Combine medical check held in Indianapolis earlier this month and some of the figures listed were eye-opening to say the least.
Leading up to the draft, which kicks off next Thursday in Cleveland, Heisman winner DeVonta Smith has made a concerted effort to avoid the scale, opting not to weigh in at Alabama’s recent Pro Day, among other opportunities. It’s understandable why Smith would go to such lengths to conceal this highly classified information—in the cut-throat world of NFL scouting, where any perceived shortcoming could cost players millions of dollars, revealing his actual weight could only stand to hurt his already volatile draft stock.
Try as he might to mask the truth, Smith knew he couldn’t hide from the facts forever, eventually relenting in his months-long cat-and-mouse game at his mandatory Combine check-in. Per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, Smith measured a hair over six feet (6’0.2”) with a weight of 166 pounds. That’s definitely on the slender side, though remarkably, Smith wasn’t even the tiniest receiver making the Combine rounds, outweighing pint-sized Louisville alum Tutu Atwell by a full 17 pounds.
This has been touted as an unusually small receiver class with countless players listed under six feet and only a handful of prospects eclipsing the 200-pound threshold. But even among that comparatively undersized crop, Smith’s measurements are a cause for concern with many evaluators wondering how his slight six-foot, 166-pound frame will stand up to the rigors of an NFL workload against bigger, faster defenders than he faced at the college level.
Obviously, Smith’s success at Alabama, where he reigned as arguably the most decorated receiver in SEC history (it’s possible he could have gone for 300 yards in January’s title game if not for a hand injury suffered early in the second half), can’t be entirely dismissed. And if Smith is diligent enough in his offseason regimen, religiously visiting the weight room, he could probably add another 10-15 pounds of muscle without losing much in the way of speed. Either way, Smith’s weight is just one factor among many that teams will have to consider ahead of next week’s draft in the Rock and Roll capital.
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram