On Wednesday, while Aaron Wilson was minding the PFT store (among other things, he refused to sell a calzone to a hipster doofis who wanted to pay for it in pennies), we posted a couple of stories regarding the horrendous workout of Alabama tackle Andre Smith. Smith also had a nightmarish Scouting Combine, with reportedly horrible interviews followed by an unexpected no-show for his Saturday workout. But some contrary voices are emerging regarding Smith’s supposedly poor Pro Day showing -- which included a 40-yard dash in the 5.2-second range. And, as is usually the case this time of year, it’s virtually impossible to separate the bull’s-eye from the bullsh-t. Said one veteran scout, “I just looked up the Combine 40 [times] for [tackles] and Smith ran equal to or faster than most. Yup, he had a poor workout. An out-of-shape fat guy ran better than most of the guy who were supposed to be in shape.” It could be that Smith’s biggest mistake on Wednesday was to shed the modesity and run without a shirt. (CBS42 has the video. And, yes, there is considerable jiggling.)
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(The image reminds us of this Taco Bill gem from yesteryear.) “They say he was fat and the flab was all over the place,” the source said. “What the f--k did they expect? A body builder’s physique? Smith is a fat guy. He has always been a fat guy. That’s his genetics. It’s never going to change. “When he was dominating the SEC last fall he was a 340-pound fat guy, and everybody said he was a top three [draft pick] and maybe the top guy. He is too good a player who got some poor advice and it has hurt him a little. But it hasn’t hurt him a lot. “Here’s the fact -- the a-holes making the comments are scouts who are not decision-makers, or they are people who want the kid to fall to them. Mark it down -- he still goes high.” Said another source, “While the [Smith] workout wasn’t one for the ages, it also wasn’t that bad, either. I would say if a team liked him yesterday they still like him today.” And that’s where this pre-draft process gets incredibly screwed up. The teams that like a player will say bad things about him privately, in the hopes that he’s still on the board when they pick. The teams that don’t like the player will talk him up, so that someone in front of that team will take him, pushing farther down the board one or more of the players that the team truly covets. So, basically, it’s hard to know what to believe, and the job of the media in all of this is to at least try to discern the potential biases and prejudices of the folks who are saying the good or bad things. That said, the scout from whom we heard works for a team that, based on their current roster, probably would draft Smith in round one, if he’s still on the board. So it looks like we can believe him. Unless his team actually has its eye on another tackle. and thus is hoping that some other sucker drafts Smith.