Covering wide receivers and reading quarterbacks comes naturally to some NFL cornerbacks, and Dolphins rookie Sean Smith looked quite at home during rookie mini-camp, OTAs and regular mini-camp back in May and June. The second-round draft pick out of Utah impressed not only Miami’s coaching staff, led by Head Coach Tony Sparano, but also his veteran teammates on both sides of the ball.
One look at Smith’s college and high school bio causes even more jaws to drop as his limited experience in the secondary is documented for all to see. The California native was a mainstay on the offensive side of the ball all the way up to the last two games of his redshirt freshman year at Utah and actually was pegged to be a running back at the time of his enrollment. At 6-foot-3 and 214 pounds, Smith’s size and speed were first a natural fit at wide receiver and he was utilized in the slot the first 11 games of the 2006 season before being moved to defense and lining up as a nickel back, and he credits his receiver background with making him such an effective cornerback because he can anticipate what the opposing receiver is going to do.
“I know what defense we’re in so knowing that, I know what they’re thinking because depending on the coverage they may have to make adjustments on their routes,” said Smith, who helped the Utes go unbeaten in 13 games last year by intercepting five passes and returning one for a touchdown to go along with 46 tackles (23 solo). “For example the basics, as a slot receiver if you have two safeties deep the majority of the time they’re going to try to attack the middle of the field because it’s wide open. So knowing that when I’m playing defense I know what the slot is doing.
“And when you start talking about the slot receivers you start talking about the outside receivers and you get route combinations, so when the slot does one thing the majority of the time he’s trying to clear something out for the outside receivers. If the slot goes vertical usually the outside receiver is going to do a curl or a dig or something like that. When I have that understanding as a former wide receiver I kind of know what to expect when I’m playing in my corner spot on defense. I’m always a step ahead.”
http://www.miamidolphins.com/newsite/news/top_story.asp?contentID=6531
One look at Smith’s college and high school bio causes even more jaws to drop as his limited experience in the secondary is documented for all to see. The California native was a mainstay on the offensive side of the ball all the way up to the last two games of his redshirt freshman year at Utah and actually was pegged to be a running back at the time of his enrollment. At 6-foot-3 and 214 pounds, Smith’s size and speed were first a natural fit at wide receiver and he was utilized in the slot the first 11 games of the 2006 season before being moved to defense and lining up as a nickel back, and he credits his receiver background with making him such an effective cornerback because he can anticipate what the opposing receiver is going to do.
“I know what defense we’re in so knowing that, I know what they’re thinking because depending on the coverage they may have to make adjustments on their routes,” said Smith, who helped the Utes go unbeaten in 13 games last year by intercepting five passes and returning one for a touchdown to go along with 46 tackles (23 solo). “For example the basics, as a slot receiver if you have two safeties deep the majority of the time they’re going to try to attack the middle of the field because it’s wide open. So knowing that when I’m playing defense I know what the slot is doing.
“And when you start talking about the slot receivers you start talking about the outside receivers and you get route combinations, so when the slot does one thing the majority of the time he’s trying to clear something out for the outside receivers. If the slot goes vertical usually the outside receiver is going to do a curl or a dig or something like that. When I have that understanding as a former wide receiver I kind of know what to expect when I’m playing in my corner spot on defense. I’m always a step ahead.”
http://www.miamidolphins.com/newsite/news/top_story.asp?contentID=6531
