For three seasons we’ve seen Tre’Quan Smith show a glimpse of high potential, but the injury factor holds him back. Smith even when healthy however just never seemed to get into a consistent rhythm, but why? Drew Brees was the quarterback, so why was Smith’s production so low?
Coming out of college Tre’Quan Smith was a deep threat receiver and was valued due to his big play making abilities. When Smith was drafted in 2018, Brees’ arm still had a little bit of juice remaining but it wasn’t enough for Tre’Quan Smith to play his standard deep threat game like in college. Even if Brees had the arm to go take shots deep to Smith he likely wouldn’t due to the situational awareness and how fast Brees made his reads. This ultimately affected Smith’s role in the offense to minimal and primarily run blocking along with the over the middle passes.
Now in the final year of his rookie contract, could we see a bigger role in the offense from Smith? With a new quarterback in either Jameis Winston or Taysom Hill, Smith is bound for a more vertical offensive role. He’s been working out and training with Jameis Winston and creating a chemistry with the possible starting quarterback for the Saints this season. A new quarterback can help Smith develop and evolve his skill assets into what he is truly capable of. There could be more games like the 2018 Eagles game where Smith totaled 10 receptions, 157 yards along with a touchdown. Maybe those games wouldn’t be as elite but he could have a bigger impact and role in the offensive scheme and play with more consistency.
That was a year where Brees was capable of going downfield more frequently, so with a new younger quarterback who will develop under Sean Payton, everything is setting up for Smith to have a great out year. The only thing holding Smith back are the injuries, if he gets that under control and can minimize his injuries he’s bound for a big year. The way he can minimize injuries are simply just working out more and doing more training based workouts with a trainer. Working out the movements and flexibility of the bones will prevent injury (it’s important to note that Tre’Quan had surgery on something this offseason).
Written By Kadin Janisch
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