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The 2024 NFL Draft is getting close, making it an excellent time to highlight some of the class' best players with scouting reports. Each report will include strengths, weaknesses and background information.
Here's our report on Ainias Smith.
Ainias Smith'S 2024 NFL COMBINE RESULTS
- Height: 5'9"
- Weight: 190 lbs
- 40-Time: DNP (Did Not Participate)
- 10-Yard Split: DNP
- Vertical: DNP
- Broad Jump: DNP
- 3-Cone: DNP
- Shuttle: DNP
Ainias Smith 2024 NFL DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT
STRENGTHS:
- Predominantly lined up in the slot in Texas A&M's offense. He has natural quickness as route runner and mover.
- Loose-hipped, fluid mover with easy re-direct and change of direction. Some wiggle and shake to his movement.
- Showed in-and-out of break separation quickness. At times, he looked sudden and explosive in his movement.
- Caught the ball easily with his hands away from his frame on the move. Seamless transition to run after catch.
- From the slot, he ran by and got on top of off-coverage defensive backs on vertical routes with shake and burst.
- Showed run after catch juice with sudden lateral agility, movement, excellent balance and body control.
WEAKNESSES:
- Has the lateral quickness to be a strong separation generator but needs more subtlety and refinement in his routes.
- More quick than straight-line fast. Not likely to transition as a vertical dimension, unless it is schemed.
- While highly competitive, Smith is not likely to make contested catches. More of a movement receiver.
NFL TRANSITION:
Smith predominantly lined up in the slot in Texas A&M’s offense but was also deployed as a motion receiver. That is the role he will likely play in the NFL. Smith is a loose, fluid athlete with stop-start suddenness and smooth change of direction. He also showed quickness and burst as a route runner and run after the catch.
Smith is quicker than straight-line fast, which, more often than not, projects and transitions well to the slot and to movement and motion. He showed some electric playmaking traits with the ball at Texas A&M.
In an NFL where motion and formation multiplicity is more the norm than the exception, Smith can have a significant role as a location-versatile receiver, who an offense will want to get the ball in space with run-after-catch opportunities.
Smith consistently caught the ball away from his frame and transitioned easily to run after the catch, where he is among the best in the 2024 wide receiver class.
Overall, Smith is a strong prospect who some could see as a team- and scheme-specific but dynamic playmaker. In today’s NFL, quick-game and run-after-catch prowess is in demand. If Smith can stay healthy, he can develop into a volume receiver much in the way Amon-Ra St. Brown has for the Lions after coming out of USC as a fourth-round pick.
OTHER NOTES:
Smith played five years at Texas A&M with his 2022 shortened by a season-ending injury after four games.
Smith was predominantly a slot receiver in Texas A&M’s offense in 2023, with 59 of his 80 targets coming out of the slot or motion into the slot with 39 receptions for 641 yards (16.4) and two TD. Smith ran by Alabama corner Terrion Arnold on a slot go route, showing some wiggle and short-area burst to get on top of Arnold.
More must-reads:
- Winners and losers from Day 2 of the 2024 NFL Draft
- Juwan Howard returning to NBA as Eastern Conference assistant
- The '100 catches in an NFL season' quiz
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