The NFL scouting combine is supposed to be an opportunity for prospects to put their best foot forward and prove that they should be selected high in the draft. But so far, it appears that Alabama offensive tackle Andre Smith is treating the opportunity like it’s a vacation.
If you remember correctly, Smith was the player that Nick Saban had to suspend for this year’s Sugar Bowl because he violated a team rule. As it turns out, Smith was actually suspended because of improper dealings with his agent, according to ESPN.com. Now it appears that Smith might not even work out at the combine because he indicated that he’s out of shape.
This isn’t a bad player we’re talking about here. Smith won the Outland Trophy this season and was a huge part of Alabama’s offensive success. He’s an outstanding run blocker and could be the type of mauler that a pro team would love to have at the tackle position. But his weight continues to be an issue and even worse, his work ethic has often been questioned throughout his collegiate career.
Considering the plethora of offensive line prospects in this year’s draft, it’s not advantageous to be known as an unmotivated prospect. Virginia’s Eugene Monroe, Baylor’s Jason Smith and Ole Miss’s Michael Oher are the other top tackle prospects in the draft and anyone of them could be taken ahead of Smith. Instead of being selected in the top five, Smith could easily fall into the middle of the first round because of his weight issues and lack of motivation.
At this point, it looks like Smith’s draft stock is plummeting. It’ll be interesting to see if he skips the combine workouts this week and drops his stock even further.
