DALLAS (AP) -Jason Smith simply did as he was told.
He took a redshirt his first year at Baylor. The next year, he was a backup tight end. Then coaches asked him to move to tackle, a switch that required bulking up and learning the intricacies of blocking schemes.
Two impressive seasons later, Smith looked into going pro. When the evaluation pointed out all sorts of flaws, Smith returned to school and used it as a checklist of things to do better.
Consider them all checked. Smith was headed Wednesday to New York for the NFL draft, widely expected to become a top-five pick.
“I came here and didn’t do anything I wasn’t supposed to do and everything I was asked to do,” Smith said during a conference call from Waco, Texas. “When you come to Baylor, you get what you want if you work hard.”
Smith’s school spirit is admirable, but it brings up another interesting part of his dramatic rise:
Baylor?
that last had a winning season during the days of the Southwest Conference, and that last produced a top-three pick in 1950, just churned out perhaps the most sought offensive lineman in the land.
“Baylor,” Smith added, “is a force to be reckoned with.”
So is Smith.
Pass blocking is his specialty, but Smith – who is 6-foot-5 and 305 pounds, with a frame that can handle a couple dozen more pounds – is obviously good enough at opening running lanes to be projected as the anchor for Detroit’s hoped-for turnaround or as St. Louis’ replacement for Orlando Pace.
Part of the appeal is his character. As already mentioned, he’s loyal, has a solid work ethic and respects authority. He answers to “Smooth” and is popular for his outgoing personality. He’s also a serious student, having made the honor roll and graduated in four years.
Best of all for a team about to invest a healthy chunk of its salary cap in Smith, his rap sheet is crystal clear. The “very, very tight circle” of folks he’s invited to New York include a high school coach and three coaches from Baylor: the head coach, offensive line coach and his strength coach.
“You don’t need 100 people to get one job done,” Smith said.
oming out of the area in 2004.
He made his presence felt on Baylor’s scout team, earning top offensive honors that fall. As a redshirt freshman, he caught six passes for 70 yards and a touchdown, which came in a double-overtime loss at Oklahoma.
“Y 22 Spartan,” he said. “I ran a corner route.”
Guy Morriss, a former NFL offensive lineman, was Baylor’s coach at the time, and in the spring of 2006 he suggested that Smith change positions.
“It’s what my team needed,” Smith said. “I never thought twice about it.”
He was solid as a sophomore and better as a junior, until an injury cut the season short. He looked into the draft anyway, then came back ready to answer any questions about his skills.
His play this past season – under first-year coach Art Briles and in front of dazzling freshman quarterback Robert Griffin – started sending him up the draft boards. His intangibles likely have helped keep him climbing through the combines, pro day and other evaluations.
“Since my pro day, it’s been about staying ready for camp,” said Smith, who worked with Baylor during its spring drills. “I’m not out in Honolulu or somewhere thinking about the draft. I’m here in Waco focusing on football.”
ill Parcells and other football types like their players, especially the rookies. In a half-hour conference call Tuesday, Smith offered plenty more.
-On football becoming his business: “I’m a product now. I’m not somebody’s son or friend. I’ll be paid to do a job. If they don’t think I can do the job, they’ll find somebody else.”
-On whether he’s asked friends in the NFL for any advice: “Until I actually get there and go through it myself, I don’t want any preconceived thoughts.”
-On spending his soon-to-be riches: “The one thing I’m going to get is insurance. I want to insure my body for what it’s worth and then go play football. I don’t have the thoughts and visions of these things that don’t mean anything … (things) that could be burned in a driveway.”
And then there’s his take on the importance of being picked No. 1 overall.
“I’m not going to be disappointed or happy,” Smith said. “I’m going to New York, so somebody likes me. I’ll have a job. I don’t focus on the things I can’t control. I focus on things I can control, like how I’m going to look when I’m in New York, how my suit fits my body. I can focus on the shoes I wear on stage. I have no thought process as to what team is going to take me.”
He probably won’t have to wait too long into the draft to find out.
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