Once he set foot on the NFL stage, the brilliance of DeVonta Smith was lucid for all to see, but his effulgence so far has been just a mere reflection of an exceptionally brilliant college career. And while he is on his way to leaving a tremendous legacy in the NFL, the marks he made in college football was enough to put him up there in the GOAT debate.
Is DeVonta Smith the greatest college wideout of all time?
Smith’s 4-year stint with the Eagles has been nothing short of impressive, setting a team record of receiving the most yards for a player in his first four years with the team. His impressive numbers saw the Eagles soar to Super Bowl glory at the Caesars SuperDome last month.
He had an outstanding performance at the Super Bowl, recording four receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown.
Thus far, Smitty has looked so promising that his status as an all-time NFL great can’t be gainsaid, especially with the marks he made at Alabama Crimson Tide, where he played college football.
During his college days, the Eagles’ wide receiver recorded 235 catches for 3,965 yards and 43 touchdowns in four years. His 23 receiving touchdowns in 2020 rank fifth-all-time in a single season.
DeVonta Smith is also one of only four receivers in college football history to win the Heisman Trophy over its 90-year existence. And with him clinching the Vince Lombardi Trophy at Super Bowl LIX, he’s now one of a small group of players to win the Heisman in college, and then go ahead to win the Super Bowl in the NFL.
His impressive numbers forced the hosts of the ”7pm. in Brooklyn Podcast” to ask if he deemed himself the greatest college wide receiver of all time…
“I’d say yeah,” Smith agreed. “But then again, the receiver in me that kind of watched other receivers, like, guys that didn’t get the opportunities that I had. Like, you had Julio (Jones) in a run-first offense, was the only option in the pass game, doing the things that he did. You had Coop (Amari Cooper), who was just like cooking everybody. You had guys like that. Of course, you got Justin Blackmon, he won the Biletnikoff back-to-back. It’s guys like that.”
“I know I was cooking, but they were cooking, too. You’ve got to have respect for them. Those guys kind of made me do what I did, like, take my receiver stuff to another level.” (Quotes Via AL.Com)
While he acknowledged the other top guys, winning the Heisman Trophy as a wide receiver for the first time in 29 years, alongside two national championships and playoff MVP in his final season, makes DeVonta Smith’s claim a worthy one.
DeVonta Smith is just four years into his NFL career, and should he continue to replicate such feats in the big leagues, then he definitely will have his name among the greatest NFL wide receivers of all time, like Fitzgerald, Rice, Moss and Owens.
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
