When looking at the Detroit Lions depth chart, there’s some uncertainty at wide receiver after Jameson Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown. Last season, the third receiver was Josh Reynolds but he signed with Denver this off-season.
This leads to a guessing game of who will step up. It could be Antoine Green, Donovan Peoples-Jones or Isaiah Williams. However, there’s one receiver that we’re not talking about and that player is Tre’Quan Smith.
Last summer, Smith underwent groin surgery and barely played in 2023 due to that injury. He only played 10 snaps in week 8 against the Chiefs. While there’s obvious concerns about the groin, there’s a chance for Smith to get a fresh start in Detroit.
It’s the same fresh start that was given to Josh Reynolds, Charles Harris, John Cominsky and others. These fresh starts in Detroit seemed to rejuvenate the careers of those players and the hope is that the same occurs for Smith.
When healthy in New Orleans, the results were positive for Smith. Oddly enough, the production was similar to what we saw from Josh Reynolds in Detroit. Let’s dive into some film from 2021 and 2022 on Tre’Quan Smith to see why he could be a surprise addition to the Lions 53-man roster.
When watching film on Tre’Quan Smith, one of the first things you’ll notice is the inconsistent quarterback play. During my film study on him, I noticed he had caught passes from Taysom Hill, Trevor Siemian and Jameis Winston. That said, he does a great job with running routes and getting open in the short and intermediate areas of the field.
Looking at the play above, you’ll see the Saints come out in a 2×2 set. In the slot on the left side of the formation (top), you’ll see Tre’Quan Smith (Saints WR #10). Once the ball is snapped, he chips the defensive end aligned on his inside shoulder. As he bounces off the defender, he runs a drag route over the middle of the field.
Despite it being 2nd and long, Smith finds an opening and secures the pass for a gain of 6 or 7 yards. This gain was enough to get back to the original line of scrimmage.
Moving to the next play, you’ll see another 2×2 set by the Saints. This time it’s against the Buccaneers. On this play, you can find Smith on the bottom or the screen and once the ball is snapped, he runs a quick out. With the defender in off-coverage, Smith is able to get open and this creates a clean passing window for the quarterback.
After securing the catch, Smith shakes off the initial tackler and runs downfield to gain additional yardage. In the 67 games he’s played in his career, Smith has been able to record 1,764 receiving yards and 541 yards have been gained after contact.
The next play I want to highlight is a corner route ran by Smith against the Titans. Looking at the play above, the Saints come out in a Twins Left formation. Condensed to the right side are the tight end and Smith. Once the ball is snapped, you’ll notice the tight end blocking in pass protection and most importantly, you’ll see Smith throttling down like he was going to crack block the linebacker.
This forces the safety to bite on the potential block and coming off play-action, the quarterback keeps the ball and fires it to Smith. Wide open, there’s plenty of room for him to make the catch and enter the end zone with ease. During his career with the Saints, he had 131 receptions on 196 targets and it led to 1764 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns.
Lastly, I want to focus on another out route by Smith. Looking at the play above, Smith is aligned in the slot to the right of the offensive line. On this play, he sets up as if he’s going to block for the run but then he cuts to the sideline and is open on the out route.
Coming off play-action, you’ll see Taysom Hill rolling to his right. He notices the window and delivers a good ball to Smith. Once he secures the catch, he turns upfield and stretches the ball out to try and pickup the first down.
When looking into the PFF stats for Smith, there’s a lot of similar production to what we saw from Josh Reynolds in Detroit. For example in 2022, Smith earned a 69.0 overall grade and Reynolds earned a 64.1 overall grade. In 2021, they were even more similar with Reynolds earning an overall grade of 65.9 and Smith had a 62.7 overall grade.
Much of what happens with Smith and his roster status will depend on if he can stay healthy. When he’s not injured, there’s a lot of positives to his game. For starters, he’s a bigger bodied receiver at 6’2″ and 203 pounds. Meanwhile, he does a really good job at getting open in the short and intermediate areas. He plays tough and is a consistent blocker when picking up second and third level defenders.
Expectations for Smith shouldn’t be sky high. But if the Lions are searching for a player to have similar contributions to what Josh Reynolds did in Detroit, they may be able to find it with Smith playing that role. As training camp gets underway, Smith is my surprise pick to make the 53-man roster for the Lions.