Despite winning the 2020 Heisman Trophy, Alabama receiver DeVonta Smith has been faced when one central question throughout this draft process: his weight. After several questions from reporters Monday, Smith revealed that he weighs 170 pounds.
Smith said he plans to officially weigh in for teams Tuesday at Alabama’s pro day, but he won’t participate in on-field drills or do any other testing. He prefers to let his game tape speak for itself.
One of the top prospects in the 2021 draft, Smith is expected to be a first-round pick. The lingering question is how much his thin frame will impact his ability to be a top-5 or top-10 pick.
“I feel like it’s not going to be any different than college. I have played in the SEC. I feel like it’s the toughest conference there is,” Smith said. “I know a lot of people that are bigger than me that have more problems than me, so I’m not worried about it at all.”
Smith would be the second-lightest receiver taken in the first round of the draft since 1999; the Baltimore Ravens selected Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, who weighed 166 pounds, with the 25th overall pick in the 2019 draft. But there is some precedent: Smith has been compared to Hall of Fame Indianapolis Colts receiver Marvin Harrison by several draft analysts, including ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. and Mike Tannenbaum. Harrison weighed in at 181 pounds at his combine and played in the 170s.
Other successful receivers who weighed in under 175 pounds also include DeSean Jackson (169 pounds) and Isaac Bruce (173 pounds). Chad Johnson also said on Twitter that he played at 170 pounds while noting Smith was better than him in college.
In his latest mock draft, ESPN’s Todd McShay has Smith going No. 8 overall to the Miami Dolphins.
Dolphins coach Brian Flores was asked about Smith’s weight at the Senior Bowl, where the receiver spent the week attending Miami’s practices and meetings. Flores said: “This guy is a very, very good player. You can nitpick all you want about a guy’s size, but good players are good players are good players. We all can see that.
“This guy is a very good player. He made a lot of plays in college. He made a lot of plays in the biggest games of the year. You can nitpick all day on things on people. He’s a very good player, and it’s been good getting to know him. He’s a good kid, too.”
Despite some examples of successful smaller receivers, Smith may be viewed as an outlier for NFL teams who drop his draft grade because of his stature. But Smith said he isn’t worried at all about his size because he has “the mentality that I won’t be stopped.”