This story originally appeared on the Tuscaloosa News.
DeVonta Smith, the Alabama Heisman Trophy winner and projected first-round NFL Draft selection whose weight is more scrutinized than a panda cub at the National Zoo, is back in the news after his official NFL weight was listed at 166 pounds.
NFL teams didn't get athletic testing numbers from the Indy medical combine earlier this month, but they did get measurements. And that meant, finally, they got Alabama WR DeVonta Smith on a scale.
Per sources, the Heisman winner checked in at a 6-foot-0.2 and 166 pounds.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) April 21, 2021
Smith’s relatively slight size has been discussed frequently as the April 29 NFL Draft approaches. Wednesday’s post rekindled much of that debate.
Smith, meanwhile, was visiting New York on Tuesday.
DeVonta Smith was at the Knicks game last night wearing a Yankees hat 👀
(via IG/rubicontalent) pic.twitter.com/WsGVFMriLW
— Giants Videos (@SNYGiants) April 21, 2021
Smith spoke to the media at Alabama’s Pro Day last month and said he did not see any problem with his size.
“I feel like it’s not going to be any different than college,” Smith said.. “I have played in the SEC. I feel like it’s the toughest conference there is. 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.”
Alabama coach Nick Saban was asked about Smith’s size by The Tuscaloosa News on March 29.
“I’ll be honest with you, when we recruited DeVonta Smith he weighed 159 pounds,” Saban said. “I wished he was bigger. And now he weighs 170 pounds and I think people at the next level are probably saying ‘I wish he was bigger.’ But saying all that to say this: there are bigger people who don’t perform anywhere near how he performs. There are people that are bigger than him that don’t have the competitive spirit that he has nor the competitive toughness.
“Tell me how many receivers are tougher than he is — that block better, that play more physical than he does — so I think maybe there’s a time when you say, ‘This guy really overcomes the fact that he’s not the biggest guy in the world and he really plays this game really, really well,'” Saban said.
Smith is one of three Heisman Trophy winners in Alabama history, joining Mark Ingram (2009) and Derrick Henry (2015), who have both had stellar NFL careers as running backs. He led the country in receptions (117), receiving touchdowns (23) and receiving yards (1,856) as a part of Alabama’s 2020 CFP national championship team.
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