Quote:Jimmy Smith was a rare talent of real speed combined with good hands.  He at one time was one of the fastest players in the league an would just out run db's. It's a rare shame his drug problems later in his career.

 

It wasn't just his speed or his hands.  It was his route running.   He could change direction at top speed, something even the fastest WRs often can't seem to do.   Most WRs I see at training camp or in games, when they change direction they have a little hitch or dip or slowdown or something that tips ti DB off to the fact that they're making a cut.  Jimmy Smith would be running at top speed and suddenly he's made his cut and still running at top speed, no hitch in his cut.

 

And he was really aware of whatever flaws there were in the DB's technique.  I remember one game he was miked up and he came back to Mark Brunell on the sideline and told him the CB who was covering him was making some kind of false step, so the next play, sure enough, Brunell hits him for a long TD. 

 

So it wasn't just speed and hands, it was all the little intricacies that separate a good WR from a great one. 

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