'17 FL WR Michael Smith (Pitt Verbal)

[BeauBenken]

Good offer. Has plenty to still learn, but what he can do is nothing short of impressive.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Apparently he did NOT go to recruiting service combines. The nerve of him. How are the gurus supposed to know he scored 24 TDs with an average 23+ yds per catch if he doesn't go to their camps? They crossed him off before the season with 5 CAREER catches. Apparently dad doesn't have a twitter account to make the turtleneck crowd look up to date.



By the way where did you see poor route running?



36% of his touches were touchdowns in what is reported to be quality, Florida competition. He didn't do this in Rhode Island or in a 6 man team league.













Duh? 24 TDs on 66 receptions ... 23+ yds/catch!



What play did you expect the coach to call ... 10 yd outs?



Seriously, 23 yds/catch on 66 balls.



There was 11 minutes of video there and a lot of him taking the ball into the endzone.



I saw him run vertical routes, run a curl AND then take it to the house leaving the defenders far behind, ... on a curl, an intermediate slant over the middle ... for another TD, ... and some deft footwork on those screens. I saw him get separation.





Did you watch the QB on those plays? On most he just wound up and heaved the ball downfield ... as far as he could.



Smith showed a nice ability to adjust to the ball ... making an over shoulder catch in stride, leaping one hand grabs, and several times slowing down, having beaten the defenders badly, to "come back" for underthrown balls ... and still score.



Most of the plays were probably called "Smith TD on 2", "Smith TD on 3", or "Throw as far as you can; Smith you run under it".



By far, most of the receivers that come to ND don't show up polished runners. Going long was Golden Tates only route as a freshman. He learned. Several other touted WRs ended up playing their last year or two somewhere other than ND because they didn't.

I thought he excelled at tracking the ball over the shoulder, which is not easy for many WR......Stepherson.


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[notredomer23]

bump

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Insider Report: Irish may have found a Florida gem at receiver to offset Jordan Pouncey's de-commitment. <a href="https://t.co/u7d0wNP3wH">https://t.co/u7d0wNP3wH</a></p>— Irish Illustrated (@PeteSampson_) <a href="https://twitter.com/PeteSampson_/status/814858088834596868">December 30, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Irish#1]

bump

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Insider Report: Irish may have found a Florida gem at receiver to offset Jordan Pouncey's de-commitment. <a href="https://t.co/u7d0wNP3wH">https://t.co/u7d0wNP3wH</a></p>— Irish Illustrated (@PeteSampson_) <a href="https://twitter.com/PeteSampson_/status/814858088834596868">December 30, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

So Sampson thinks we have a solid shot or are now the leaders?

 

[rtrn2glory]

Hope we can land him and he's qualified with such a short time table

 

[Big23Head]

bump

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Insider Report: Irish may have found a Florida gem at receiver to offset Jordan Pouncey's de-commitment. <a href="https://t.co/u7d0wNP3wH">https://t.co/u7d0wNP3wH</a></p>— Irish Illustrated (@PeteSampson_) <a href="https://twitter.com/PeteSampson_/status/814858088834596868">December 30, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Coach has known Denson a long time. Denson has been in contact all season. Smith's coach thinks he will be a good fit, only played football for 2 years.

 

[General Colon Bowel]

His comp must be bad.Not sure how he isn't rated though.

For those wondering about his level of competition:

If you go to the 3:10 mark in his highlight video, you'll see him almost outrun the safety (#2) up the sideline. That guy is a 3*, class of '18 prospect with interest from Clemson and Florida. Nothing to be crazy impressed about, but I thought it a good reference point

https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/18276

 

[ND Fan Vancouver]

For those wondering about his level of competition:

If you go to the 3:10 mark in his highlight video, you'll see him almost outrun the safety (#2) up the sideline. That guy is a 3*, class of '18 prospect with interest from Clemson and Florida. Nothing to be crazy impressed about, but I thought it a good reference point

https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/18276

We'll see him NOT outrun a 15 year old 3 star DB who doesn't have a scholarship offer from Clemson or Florida? I don't think that a compliment.....

 

[BobbyMac]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">No hiding 2017 WR Michael Smith's excitement over <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NotreDame?src=hash">#NotreDame</a> offer. <a href="https://t.co/1Ro3H56EML">https://t.co/1Ro3H56EML</a> <a href="https://t.co/iKnKiIAnZU">pic.twitter.com/iKnKiIAnZU</a></p>— David McKinney (@BGI_DMcKinney) <a href="https://twitter.com/BGI_DMcKinney/status/817026578425200640">January 5, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Freebie story from David McKinney @ BlueAndGold.com/Rivals

https://notredame.rivals.com/news/2...-smith-not-hiding-excitement-over-irish-offer

Michael Smith, a class of 2017 wide receiver from Vero Beach (Fla.) High is a relative unknown in the world of high school football recruiting.

You won’t find Smith on any top 100 lists or with any starts next to his name, but you may just find him as a member of Notre Dame’s 2017 recruiting class.

Smith was offered by the Irish on Dec. 21.

According to Smith’s head coach at Vero Beach, Lenny Jankowksi, Notre Dame running backs coach Autry Denson had been in contact with the receiver for some time before the offer came.

Of course, it wasn’t without a little nudging from Jankowksi first.

“When I started figuring that this kid could be on that level, I reached out to the guys that I’ve become close to in the business,” Jankowski said. “Coach Denson is one of those guys. I have the utmost respect for him. He does such a great job and I knew I would get an honest opinion. Whether I would like it or not, I wasn’t sure, but I knew he would genuinely look at his film and pass it on to whoever he needed to pass it on to and give me a fair evaluation.”

According to Jankowski, Denson’s first response was a standard thank you, but after he took a deep look at Smith’s film, more serious discussions started happening.

“I started having conversations that were more than just a polite “thanks but no thanks” kind of thing,” Jankowski explained. “It was more of ‘what else you got going? How is he academically? We really like the kid, coach Kelly really likes the kid,’ and on and on from there. Coach Denson usually swings by here a couple times a year He came by and sized the kid up, had some conversation with him, and I think he left impressed.”

On that film, Denson and the rest of the Irish coaching staff saw Smith go for more than 1,500 yards receiving and 24 touchdowns as a senior.

So how did such a prolific receiver fly so far under the radar in terms of recruiting?

For starters, Smith started out just playing basketball. When he did start playing football at Vero Beach, he was a little behind, but according to Jankowski, when he caught up with the game, everything changed.

“It’s pretty typical around here that we’ve got some kids who come out for football after they’ve been in high school,” Jankowksi said. “Michael was a guy who got involved with football pretty late. He was on the team last year and we had some senior receivers. Although they weren’t in the same category as him athletically, they weren’t bad themselves. Mike is such a nice kid and a good person, that he just kind of felt his way into it.”

The depth chart cleared for Smith to take charge his senior year, and after some meetings with Jankowksi, he did exactly that.

“We had multiple friendly conversations and some not-so-friendly conversations about him taking a dominating approach to the game because he has those capabilities,” Jankowski said. “Sure as heck, he took to it in the offseason. He really worked at his craft and just took a dominant approach to it.”

“I think as his confidence grew, and he grew comfortable with the sport, the rest is history,” Jankowski added. “When I say he started dominating and taking over football games, that’s an understatement.”

Finally the offer came, and Jankowski said anyone around Smith could tell how special it was to him.

“I know that when I was able to tell him that he had an offer from Notre Dame, there was a different look and a different bounce in his step,” Jankowksi said. “There’s no hiding the excitement.”

Almost simultaneously with the offer, came the planning of an official visit, which Smith is scheduled to take on Jan. 20. He officially visited Pitt on Dec. 9

Jankowski said that Smith’s interest in the Irish came from the receiver growing up following Notre Dame, and watching them play every Saturday.

“When you say Notre Dame, I think it speaks for itself,” Jankowski stated. It’s just a great brand. Down here in Florida, if they can’t buy the hoodie at Wal-Mart, then they may not even have heard of the school. The difference with Michael is he’s a big fan of the game. I know he’s followed Notre Dame’s style of football and their offensive style.”

The biggest factor drawing Smith toward South Bend though, is the first connection he had with the Irish; Autry Denson.

“I think the exclamation point on it all is Coach Denson, the guy who is recruiting him,” Jankowski said. “Our guys that have had an opportunity to meet Coach Denson and be around him all leave impressed. I think high school players, at some point, are going to be influenced by the people that are close to them and we have an opportunity as coaches to talk to our players, and they understand that I’ve got a lot of respect for Coach Denson.”

Jankowski said he thinks Smith and Notre Dame would be a perfect fit.

“In my opinion, and we coach all walks of life, Mike is a kid that would fit in to the Notre Dame situation,” Jankowski said. “He makes whoever he’s around proud.”

 

[Irish#1]

Like his size. With signing day not too far off, sounds like we have a legit shot at him as well.

 

[Blaise]

This kid reminds me of baseball spring training.. There is always one athlete that no scouts praise, but then for a couple weeks he blows up and goes back to minors and disappears.. I'm not sure how everyone overlooked a kid who could be a gem? I mean, FIU is the only florida school to offer him.. I don't know. he seems like hype

 

[BobbyMac]

This kid reminds me of baseball spring training.. There is always one athlete that no scouts praise, but then for a couple weeks he blows up and goes back to minors and disappears.. I'm not sure how everyone overlooked a kid who could be a gem? I mean, FIU is the only florida school to offer him.. I don't know. he seems like hype

Maybe LucasFilms did his highlights and Enron compiled his stats?

 

[Domina Nostra]

This kid reminds me of baseball spring training.. There is always one athlete that no scouts praise, but then for a couple weeks he blows up and goes back to minors and disappears.. I'm not sure how everyone overlooked a kid who could be a gem? I mean, FIU is the only florida school to offer him.. I don't know. he seems like hype

He had other offers going into his senior year, even though he had barely played.

Not sure I believe the "hype" either, but they explain why he was overlooked: he didn't start playing until very late, he didn't push hard enough as a young guy, and he played at a very good high school where he wasn't just going to push kids off the field based on raw athleticism. Also, his senior stats speak for themselves- they aren't hype.

Super 11 Spotlight: Vero Beach WR Michael Smith

 

[dwshade]

Reminds me of Thomas Davis, Pro Bowl LB from Carolina. He went virtually unrecruited coming out of HS and then someone got his tape to Mark Richt at Georgia. Richt and defensive coaches liked what they saw and they had one scholly available so they offered Davis. Became a star at Georgia before being a 1st round pick of the Panthers.

 

[Luckylucci]

This kid reminds me of baseball spring training.. There is always one athlete that no scouts praise, but then for a couple weeks he blows up and goes back to minors and disappears.. I'm not sure how everyone overlooked a kid who could be a gem? I mean, FIU is the only florida school to offer him.. I don't know. he seems like hype

I don't know but this seems to be a terrible analogy. Not only was it not spring training, but it was a full season, where he did it against the highest classification in Florida. I'm not saying he's going to be a star but this is very different than some training camp star.

To the bolded, it happens a lot with some very elite players. Elite NFL players have come out of nowhere to be stars. Again, not saying that is going to be him but its definitely happened before and will happen again.

Lastly, very few teams wanted Will Fuller. He would've been rated in the 60+ range of WR's coming out of HS if you combined his class and the class above him, for draft purposes, he was drafted as the 2nd best WR.

 

[Irish#1]

This kid reminds me of baseball spring training.. There is always one athlete that no scouts praise, but then for a couple weeks he blows up and goes back to minors and disappears.. I'm not sure how everyone overlooked a kid who could be a gem? I mean, FIU is the only florida school to offer him.. I don't know. he seems like hype

Kids in HS and college get missed all the time, but when given a chance they show they can play. Everyone questioned Bill Polian when he took Robert Mathis out of Alabama A&M. He just retired as #17 on the all time list.

Don't know if this kid will pan out or not, but from what I've read, he's worth taking a risk on. We never fill our allotment anyway so he wouldn't be taking a scholly from someone who would make a difference.

 

[PANDFAN]

This kid reminds me of baseball spring training.. There is always one athlete that no scouts praise, but then for a couple weeks he blows up and goes back to minors and disappears.. I'm not sure how everyone overlooked a kid who could be a gem? I mean, FIU is the only florida school to offer him.. I don't know. he seems like hype

the florida schools have their picks of the litter down there so if they are a late bloomer, usually they are late to the party because they will fill up w/ bigger stars...these schools often have a much wider net in who they can bring in as well compared to ND

 

[BobbyMac]

Why would ND EVER take a NO STAR WR when they can land a 6-2, 92+ Comp, 4 star out of schools like St Thomas Aquinas who are can't misses???

Recruiting is simple. Sign the most 5 stars and win the National Championship!





(Careful, this might be a set up.)

 

[ND Fan Vancouver]

I watched his film a few times. He's fast and seems to have pretty good hands and size. You can really see that he's only played for two years. I don't think he would see the field at all until he'd be an upperclassmen. I don't really see anything elite about him. Frankly, I'm surprised he put up such huge numbers. I think he has the speed to just turn and burn to the end zone after the catch at the HS level. Not that that's a bad thing but I'm not sure that he has lot of intermediate game or intangibles.

After saying this though, I trust staff and he has the speed and size to mould into a good WR and if Denson and Kelly like him, I like him.

 

[ND NYC]

trivia question:

was there ever a season when there was not a player with the last name Smith on a ND football roster?

 

[zelezo vlk]

trivia question:

was there ever a season when there was not a player with the last name Smith on a ND football roster?

Well technically this year. Smythe

 

[Sherm Sticky]

I watched his film a few times. He's fast and seems to have pretty good hands and size. You can really see that he's only played for two years. I don't think he would see the field at all until he'd be an upperclassmen. I don't really see anything elite about him. Frankly, I'm surprised he put up such huge numbers. I think he has the speed to just turn and burn to the end zone after the catch at the HS level. Not that that's a bad thing but I'm not sure that he has lot of intermediate game or intangibles.

After saying this though, I trust staff and he has the speed and size to mould into a good WR and if Denson and Kelly like him, I like him.

I usually agree with you, but disagree with you on this assessment.

I'm going to watch his film again though.


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[BobbyMac]

I usually agree with you, but disagree with you on this assessment.
I'm going to watch his film again though.

Do that and fall in line. You love him Sticky, you absolutely loooove him!

 

[fightingirish26]

Why would ND EVER take a NO STAR WR when they can land a 6-2, 92+ Comp, 4 star out of schools like St Thomas Aquinas who are can't misses???

Recruiting is simple. Sign the most 5 stars and win the National Championship!





(Careful, this might be a set up.)

Corey Holmes, can't miss

 

[Sherm Sticky]

'17 FL WR Michael Smith (Offer)

'17 FL WR Michael Smith (Offer)

I watched his film a few times. He's fast and seems to have pretty good hands and size. You can really see that he's only played for two years. I don't think he would see the field at all until he'd be an upperclassmen. I don't really see anything elite about him. Frankly, I'm surprised he put up such huge numbers. I think he has the speed to just turn and burn to the end zone after the catch at the HS level. Not that that's a bad thing but I'm not sure that he has lot of intermediate game or intangibles.

After saying this though, I trust staff and he has the speed and size to mould into a good WR and if Denson and Kelly like him, I like him.

I usually agree with you, but disagree with you on this assessment.

I'm going to watch his film again though.


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Watched his film again and you are wrong.

This kid will be seeing significant action by his second season in the program.

Kid seems to be a good athlete, quick learner, has goods hands and very importantly can track the ball over his shoulder exceptionally.

If this kid played football from his freshman year and went to the camps he would be a high 4 star.


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[TheChosen1]

Just remember guys If I made my own film that was produced for scout or 247 I would be a five star.

 

[ND Fan Vancouver]

Watched his film again and you are wrong.

This kid will be seeing significant action by his second season in the program.

Kid seems to be a good athlete, quick learner, has goods hands and very importantly can track the ball over his should WR exceptionally.

If this kid played football from his freshman year and went to the camps he would be a high 4 star.


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I respect your opinion. We'll see what happens. I've seen way more impressive film of a bunch of 3 star guys we haven't offered, IMO.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Just remember guys If I made my own film that was produced for scout or 247 I would be a five star.

Yeah ok.

I mean he edited the film so it looked like he was catching all those balls, when it was really Jerry Rice. Photo shop.

I respect your opinion. We'll see what happens. I've seen way more impressive film of a bunch of 3 star guys we haven't offered, IMO.

Can you give me some names so I can look at their film?



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[ND Fan Vancouver]

Yeah ok.

I mean he edited the film so it looked like he was catching all those balls, when it was really Jerry Rice. Photo shop.




Can you give me some names so I can look at their film?



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Emeka senior szn highlights - Emeka Emezie highlights - Hudl

Here's one I checked out last night a poster from here told me about.

 

[ND Fan Vancouver]

Yeah ok.

I mean he edited the film so it looked like he was catching all those balls, when it was really Jerry Rice. Photo shop.




Can you give me some names so I can look at their film?



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Senior Highlight Reel - Berkeley Holman highlights - Hudl

Here's another. This kid is a Northwestern commit who's a slot that I wish we offered.