Devin Smith (American football)

For the basketball player, see Devin Smith (basketball).

Devin Smith

Smith with the Dallas Cowboys in 2019
No. 19, 15, 83
Position:	Wide receiver
Personal information
Born:	(1992-03-03) March 3, 1992 (age 32) Akron, Ohio, U.S.
Height:	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:	199 lb (90 kg)
Career information
High school:	Massillon Washington (Massillon, Ohio)
College:	Ohio State (2011–2014)
NFL draft:	2015  / Round: 2 / Pick: 37
Career history
New York Jets (2015–2017) Dallas Cowboys (2019) Houston Texans (2020)* New England Patriots (2020–2021)* Jacksonville Jaguars (2021) Carolina Panthers (2021)*
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
CFP national champion (2015)
Career NFL statistics
Receptions: 15 Receiving yards: 248 Receiving touchdowns: 2
Player stats at NFL.com  ·  PFR

Devin Smith (born March 3, 1992) is a former American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He played college football at Ohio State.

Early years

Smith attended Massillon Washington High School in Massillon, Ohio, where he played three sports: football, track and basketball. He was a two-time first-team All-Ohio performer. He had 110 career catches for 2,119 yards and 24 touchdowns (second-best in school history). He was also named All-county Independent player of year. ^[1]

He lettered 2 years in track & field at Massillon High and previously at Ellet High School in football and track. He was the state's long jump champion (24–7 or 7.55 metres). ^[2] As a sprinter, he recorded a personal-best time of 10.56 seconds in the 100-meter dash at the 2011 state meet, where he placed first. ^[3] He was also a state qualifier in the high jump and as part of the 4x200 relay.

Considered a three-star recruit by Rivals.com , Smith was rated as the 58th best wide receiver prospect of his class. ^[4] On June 17, 2010, he committed to Ohio State University to play college football. ^[5]

College career

As a true freshman, he caught 14 passes for 294 yards and 4 touchdowns, highlighted by a 40-yard game-winning touchdown reception from Braxton Miller with 20 seconds left in a 33–29 win over Wisconsin.

As a sophomore, he started 10 games, playing in all 12. He caught 30 passes for 618 yards and six touchdowns.

As a junior, starting 12 games, he recorded 44 receptions for 660 yards and 8 touchdowns, and earned himself honorable mention all-conference honors.

As a senior, Smith had 33 receptions for 931 yards and 12 touchdowns. In the 2014 Big Ten Football Championship Game, he caught 4 passes for 137 yards and 3 touchdowns, helping the Buckeyes to a 59–0 victory over Wisconsin. ^{[6] [7]} In the 2015 Sugar Bowl, in which Ohio State upset No. 1 Alabama 42–35, Smith had 2 receptions for 87 yards, including a 47-yard touchdown that put his team ahead for good early in the third quarter. In the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship victory over Oregon, he had one reception for 45 yards.

Smith finished his college career with 121 receptions for 2,503 yards and 30 touchdowns.

He also spent three spring seasons sprinting and jumping with the Buckeyes track & field team. He finished in a tie for second at the 2014 Big Ten outdoor championships in the high jump by clearing a personal, collegiate-best 7–0.25 (2.18 metres) in his first competition of the season, and qualified him for NCAA regional competition. ^[8]

Statistics

Ohio State Buckeyes
Season	Team	GP	Receiving
			Rec	Yds	Avg	TD
2011	Ohio State	13	14	294	21.0	4
2012	Ohio State	12	30	618	20.6	6
2013	Ohio State	14	44	660	15.0	8
2014	Ohio State	14	33	931	28.2	12
Total		53	121	2,503	20.7	30

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables

Height	Weight	Arm length	Hand span	40-yard dash	10-yard split	20-yard split	20-yard shuttle	Vertical jump	Broad jump	Bench press
6 ft 0+3⁄8 in (1.84 m)	196 lb (89 kg)	31 in (0.79 m)	9 in (0.23 m)	4.42 s	1.56 s	2.59 s	4.15 s	39 in (0.99 m)	10 ft 2 in (3.10 m)	10 reps
All values from NFL Combine [9]

New York Jets

Smith was selected by the New York Jets in the second round (37th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft. ^[10] On May 8, 2015, the Jets signed Smith to a four-year, $5.87 million contract with $3.23 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of 2.53 million. ^{[11] [12]}

On November 29, 2015, Smith caught his first career touchdown against the Miami Dolphins. ^[13] On December 12, 2015, Smith suffered a knee injury and had to leave the Week 14 matchup against the Tennessee Titans. Two days later, it was revealed that he had suffered a torn ACL, bringing his rookie season to a premature end. ^[14] In 10 games of his rookie season in 2015, Smith had 115 receiving yards and a touchdown. On December 18, Smith was placed on injured reserve. ^[15]

Smith started the 2016 season on Physically unable to perform (PUP) to rehabilitate his right knee suffered the previous season. He was activated off PUP to the active roster on November 9, 2016 prior to Week 10. ^[16] Smith was limited to four games in 2016, recording only one reception for 20 yards.

On April 29, 2017, as the third day the 2017 NFL Draft was in progress, it was revealed that Smith had suffered another torn ACL to the same knee. This was his second torn ACL of his professional career, and he would miss the entire 2017 season. ^[17] On May 22, 2017, the Jets waived/injured Smith and placed him on injured reserve. ^[18]

On July 16, 2018, Smith was waived by the Jets. ^[19]

Dallas Cowboys

On January 18, 2019, Smith signed a reserve/future contract with the Dallas Cowboys. ^[20] His play was a surprise during the preseason and was able to make the team as a backup wide receiver. ^[21] In Week 2, he played against the Washington Redskins because Tavon Austin was out with an injury, catching 3 passes for 74 yards, including his first reception since 2016, which was a 51-yard touchdown to open up five straight scoring drives. In Week 3, he started against the Miami Dolphins in place of an injured Michael Gallup, registering 2 receptions for 39 yards. After appearing in the first four contests of the season, he dropped on the depth chart and was declared inactive for 12 straight games, when the Cowboys opted to instead activate wide receiver Ventell Bryant for his special teams play. He finished the season with five receptions for 113 yards and one touchdown. ^[22]

On September 2, 2020, Smith was released by the Cowboys. ^[23]

Houston Texans

On September 21, 2020, Smith was signed to the practice squad of the Houston Texans. ^[24] He was released on November 10. ^[25]

New England Patriots

On December 9, 2020, Smith was signed to the New England Patriots practice squad. ^[26] He signed a reserve/future contract on January 4, 2021. ^[27] He was released on July 27, 2021.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On August 28, 2021, Smith signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. ^[28] He was waived on August 31, 2021 and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. ^{[29] [30]} He was released on October 12. ^[31]

Carolina Panthers

On October 27, 2021, Smith was signed to the Carolina Panthers practice squad. ^[32] He was released on November 2, 2021.

See also

• List of NCAA major college football yearly receiving leaders

References

1. "Ohio State Buckeyes Official Athletic Site – Football". Archived from the original on April 10, 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
2. "Massillon's Devin Smith wins regional long jump title". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
3. "OHSAA Regional Track and Field Championships - Youngstown (1) 2011 - Complete Results (Raw)". Ohio MileSplit. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
4. Devin Smith – Yahoo Sports
5. Devin Smith Commits To Ohio State
6. Buckeyes blank Wisconsin, 59–0, to win Big Ten Championship Game
7. Ohio State Buckeyes WR Devin Smith's NFL draft stock on rise
8. Ohio State's Devin Smith aims for NCAA bid in high jump
9. "Devin Smith Combine Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
10. Lange, Randy (May 1, 2015). "Jets Tab Ohio St. WR Devin Smith with 2nd Pick". New York Jets. Archived from the original on May 5, 2015. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
11. "sportrac.com: Devin Smith contract". sportrac.com. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
12. Cimini, Rich (May 8, 2015). "Jets sign second-round pick Devin Smith". ESPN New York. Archived from the original on May 11, 2015. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
13. "Devin Smith follows Brandon Marshall's lead and scores first TD". ESPN.com. November 30, 2015. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
14. Cimini, Rich (December 14, 2015). "Jets rookie WR Devin Smith out for season with torn ACL". ESPN.Go.com/. ESPN. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
15. "Taiwan Jones Signed, Devin Smith to IR". www.newyorkjets.com. Archived from the original on December 20, 2015. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
16. Lange, Randy (November 9, 2016). "Devin Smith Activated, Ryan Clady Goes to IR". NewYorkJets.com.
17. Sessler, Marc. "Jets WR Devin Smith out for 2017 season with torn ACL". NFL.com. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
18. Patra, Kevin (May 22, 2017). "New York Jets waive injured WR Devin Smith". NFL.com.
19. Allen, Eric (July 16, 2018). "Jets Sign S Brandon Bryant, Waive WR Devin Smith". NewYorkJets.com.
20. Alper, Josh (January 18, 2019). "Devin Smith signs with Cowboys". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
21. "Massilon grad Devin Smith makes Dallas Cowboys' roster". CantonRep. August 31, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
22. "Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins – September 15th, 2019". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
23. Smith, Michael David (September 2, 2020). "Cowboys cut Devin Smith". ProFootballTalk. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
24. "Houston Texans Transactions (9–21–20)". HoustonTexans.com. September 21, 2020.
25. Williams, Charean (November 10, 2020). "Texans remove Max Scharping, Whitney Mercilus, Dylan Cole from COVID list". NBCSports.com. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
26. "Patriots Release LB Jack Cichy; Sign DB Dayan Lake and WR Devin Smith Practice Squad". Patriots.com. December 9, 2020.
27. "Patriots Sign 10 Players to Future Contracts". Patriots.com. January 4, 2021.
28. "Official: Jaguars Make Roster Moves". Jaguars.com. August 28, 2021.
29. "Roster Moves: Jaguars Reduce Roster to 53". Jaguars.com. August 31, 2021. Archived from the original on September 2, 2021. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
30. Oehser, John (September 1, 2021). "Official: Jaguars claim Johnson, sign 13 players to practice squad". Jaguars.com.
31. "Roster Moves: Jaguars sign RB Whyte Jr., OL Hocker and WR Imatorbhebhe to practice squad". Jaguars.com. October 12, 2021.
32. Gantt, Darin (October 27, 2021). "Panthers designate Juston Burris to return from IR". Panthers.com.

External links

• Ohio State Buckeyes bio