Eagles rookie DeVonta Smith shows elite traits in preseason debut

Eagles rookie receiver DeVonta Smith showed that he’s ready for the NFL. Joe Flacco showed that it might be time to think about broadcasting.

The Eagles selected Alabama receiver DeVonta Smith with the 10th overall pick in the 2021 draft in part because Smith has advanced route skills that bring Marvin Harrison to mind. Smith missed his first preseason game against the Steelers with a sprained MCL he suffered in early August, but he was ready to go against the Patriots on Thursday night.

Right off the bat, Smith was ready to show top-level NFL cornerbacks that his route-running skills extended beyond the collegiate level. On this incompletion, he separates well from J.C. Jackson, who’s one of the best press-man cornerbacks in the NFL.

Unfortunately, starting quarterback Jalen Hurts was scratched from the game with an illness (the team said that it’s not COVID-related), which meant that Joe Flacco was throwing Smith the ball. And Flacco threw this ball… well, let’s just say it came in a bit late.

The errant throws continued at the start of the second quarter, when Smith did a nice job of separating from Patriots cornerback Joejuan Williams to the boundary, but we’re not sure what Flacco was doing here.

Smith got his first NFL catch one play later, when he beat Williams in off coverage.

And this is just ridiculous.

Smith has already shown excellent ability to separate from just about any type of coverage. Once he gets a quarterback in there who can zing more than hanging sliders, he could be a very dangerous individual in this league.