ESPN's Todd McShay Talks About Ravens Jimmy Smith

by Bruce Raffel on May 3, 2011 6:00 AM EDT

ESPN NFL Draft guru Todd McShay took a few moments to dish on the Baltimore Ravens first round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, Colorado cornerback Jimmy Smith. Of course, just like every other so-called expert, he talks about the off-the-field "character issues"that have haunted Smith and was the main reason he lasted until the Ravens selectedhim with the 26th pick in the first round. McShay says he might have the "best pure cover skills" of any corner in this draft class, and that includes Patrick Peterson (LSU) and Prince Amukamara (Nebraska).

McShay likes the Ravens chances to keep Smith out of future trouble and between Ray Lewis and his teammates on defense, Smith will be mentored and molded into a model citizen but remain a beast between the white lines on the gridiron. McShay thinks there is no better place for a player with character issues to be than with the Ravens and because of Baltimore's veteran locker room, McShay sees Jimmy Smith as a "huge steal for the Ravens."

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I just can’t wait for the season to start and Jimmy to shut up all the people that say Jimmy won’t ever do anything except get suspended. It will be so great when he is one of the top CB’s in the league and turns out to be a great teammate. Glad McShay talked so highly of Jimmy because based on cover skills he really is just as good as Peterson and Amukamura who are supposed to be in a class of their own.

by AV23 on May 3, 2011 6:18 AM EDT reply actions

The play he made on the fake field goal at 0:33 was Reed-like in his reaction to the play. Simply amazing.

The more I watch and here about this kid, the more I love. I think we may have just gotten the league’s (future) best corner.

by BAL_Hawk on May 3, 2011 8:13 AM EDT reply actions

I completely agree. Every day I find myself getting more and more excited about him. The FG he returned takes some serious instincts to read that play and it’s scary to think how good he can be when he has that size, athletic ability and also great instincts. I have seen quite a few bloggers over at mocking the draft saying he won’t amount to anything and he’s another pac man jones.I really can’t wait til Jimmy shows all those people how good he is and can’t wait to rub it all their faces.

by AV23 on May 3, 2011 9:21 AM EDT up reply actions

My favorite play

was that pick off on the fake FG. Easily reminds you of Ed Reed. Imagine two guys whith those instincts back there? Better throw to the other side, because you won’t be passing to his and you certainly can’t run against us.

Ray’s retiring soon and opponents think they wil be able to run on us then? Forgetting about Suggs, Ngata and soon, Cody?

aka 'Rexx'

by Bruce Raffel on May 3, 2011 9:28 AM EDT reply actions

That’s exactly what I was thinking…

by BAL_Hawk on May 3, 2011 3:39 PM EDT up reply actions

If he earns a starting role from day 1, I can easily see this kid getting Defensive Rookie of the Year. Between him and Reed, our secondary went from being somewhat questionable to outright beastly. I can’t wait to see Jimmy put Ward on his ass.

"Really, all Americans want is cold beer, warm p***y, and someplace to take a s**t with a door on it."

by StuckInUtah on May 3, 2011 12:37 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

This guy’s a future stud…I can feel it.

by JoshuaStein on May 3, 2011 2:36 PM EDT reply actions

Hey, how about that batted ball away from AJ Green at 0:22? I, for one, cannot WAIT to see their matchups for years to come!

by JoshuaStein on May 3, 2011 6:19 PM EDT reply actions

Agreed I’m sure he will have his ups and downs this year, but he gets to match up against some great WR’s this year and we will see what he can do. He gets Green twice, Vincent Jackson, Andre Johnson, Wayne, and Fitzgerald. If he can hang with those guys I feel bad for the rest of the league. We can’t expect him to lock them all down this year, but if he can do a decent job I will be more than happy.

by AV23 on May 3, 2011 7:17 PM EDT up reply actions

It can also be scary,

because as a rookie, he will get taken to school by some of the gus listed above, but will learn and improve game-by-game.

aka 'Rexx'

by Bruce Raffel on May 3, 2011 7:31 PM EDT reply actions

agreed. We should expect him to struggle at times this year because those aren’t very easy guys to guard, but hopefully he keeps competing and learns from the experiences. I am looking very forward to seeing how he competes with them as a rookie.

by AV23 on May 3, 2011 9:10 PM EDT up reply actions

You stand where you sit...

It’s interesting how overwhelming the sentiment is on this site for Jimmy Smith. He’s one of yours now. At the Steelers site, it’s overwhelming how they all say they are glad the Steelers didn’t trade up to get him because of all the character issues. If Pittsburgh WOULD have traded up, the Steelers fans would all be raving about Smith while the Ravens fans would be pointing out the charatcter issues.

I have no idea how this guy will end up, neither do any of you. Maybe he’ll be a great thing for the Ravens and the difference-maker in our rivalry. My only point is how interesting it is that fans take the overwhelming outlook, both Pittsburgh and Baltimore, based upon their own current perspective. I guess you stand where you sit…

Thoughtful discussion with a sense of history

by maryrose on May 4, 2011 12:05 AM EDT reply actions

Part of it I believe is since he is our own that we look more into him. Ozzie is one of the best in the business when it comes to drafting, so if he is good enough for Ozzie he is good enough for us. Most people don’t realize that he hasn’t had any problems the last 2 or 3 years and those so called character issues were when he was 18 or 19. From what we have heard it sounds more like just being young and dumb rather than true character issues. The Ravens did an extensive amount of homework on this kid and they obviously felt good enough about him to make the pick. We have all the faith in the world that Ozzie and the scouting knows what they are doing and they have the track record to prove it.

by AV23 on May 4, 2011 4:55 AM EDT up reply actions

Very true. It’s human nature to think someone or something is special because it’s connected to you.

by MrPoopyPants on May 4, 2011 8:16 AM EDT up reply actions

Its sad how right you are. We here at the Beatdown could very well be bagging on Jimmy and saying how happy we are we landed Heyward, which honestly most of us here are glad we passed on him. But it would definitely be a completely different story if that’s who Ozzie thought was the best player available. However I personally always wanted Jimmy, and I’m confident he’ll be giving Pittsburgh receivers headaches for years to come.

"Really, all Americans want is cold beer, warm p***y, and someplace to take a s**t with a door on it."

by StuckInUtah on May 4, 2011 10:13 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

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