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Smith impressive so farMcDaniels says rookie corner ‘has definitely shown up’ at campDaniel Williams, DDN Staff WriterTuesday, August 4, 2009 |  | | SMITH |
The Denver Broncos took a huge gamble when they traded up in the second round and drafted 5-foot-9 cornerback Alphonso Smith in this year’s draft.
Yet Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels believes that, so far, his gamble looks like it might pay off.
McDaniels traded the Broncos’ first round pick in 2010 for the right to take the Wake Forest cornerback with the 37th overall pick — a pick that if the Broncos struggle this year as expected will end up being a top-10 pick.
But McDaniels has repeatedly called Smith a “first round talent” and also said that he was the best cornerback in this year’s draft on the Broncos’ draft board, and he is quickly showing his value thus far at training camp.
“He is competing every day, he is working on the little things and he has definitely showed up,” McDaniels said. “He is always around the ball, he made an interception [yesterday] and got his hands on a few balls the last couple days.”
Picking off balls is nothing new for Smith. If it weren’t for his size, Smith may have been a top 10 pick, but that hasn’t stopped him from being extremely productive.
Smith was a two-time first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection at Wake Forest. His 21 career interceptions rank as the 10th most in NCAA history (all levels) and represented a conference record.
He led the nation with 15 interceptions during his final two seasons with the Demon Deacons.
“I can’t make any promises, but I can promise that I will play really hard and play like my hair’s on fire,” Smith said. “I’ve found that when you play that way, making plays happens naturally. I’m not going to force it, I’m just going to play really hard and if it happens, it happens.”
And not only does Smith want to start alongside Champ Bailey, he wants to be the team’s return man on both kickoffs and punts — a job a lot of guys in the NFL don’t want to do.
“Kick return I have a lot of experience. Punt return not so much, because I was kind of good at blocking punts, but I know I can do it well,” Smith said.
Smith has been working with the special teams as well as the first-team defense, and he may be the team’s kickoff man when the season starts.
Confident but not overly cocky, Smith’s low-key demeanor helps him fly under the radar at times in terms of being vocal, but his play on the field is very loud.
“He had a lot of ball production coming out [of college]. That is one of the things that we really liked about him, and it is starting to show its face here in training camp,” McDaniels said.
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