Dallas Cowboys take flier on former second rounder

The Dallas Cowboys will often take a chance on a young player who didn’t live up to his draft status. They have found another one in this former second rounder.

The top wide receiver selected in the 2015 NFL Draft was Alabama’s Amari Cooper. And through a midseason trade, Cooper became a member of the Dallas Cowboys last season, sparking the team to a 10-6 record, an NFC East title and their first playoff victory in five years.

Whereas Cooper’s career has excelled, leading to two Pro Bowl nominations, other wide receivers in the same draft class haven’t been as impactful. Selected after Cooper in the first round in 2015 were names like West Virginia’s Kevin White, Louisville’s DeVante Parker, USC’s Nelson Agholor, UCF’s Breshad Perriman and Miami’s Phillip Dorsett.

But the first wide receiver selected in the second round may have posted the worst career of all of them so far. And that’s Ohio State’s Devin Smith, selected 37th overall by the New York Jets. Since entering the league four years ago, the Buckeye prospect has played in a total of only 14 NFL games due to injury.

Those injuries started early for Smith as he suffered broken ribs during the very first practice of Jets’ training camp, forcing the rookie to miss the rest of camp and the entire preseason. He would not make his professional debut until Week Three of the regular season. Unfortunately, an ankle injury and a season-ending torn right ACL limited Smith to only 10 games his rookie year, recording nine receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown.

Still recovering from his ACL injury, Smith would start his second season in New York on the reserve/PUP list. He would play only four games in 2016, recording a single catch for 20 yards. The following year Smith would suffer yet another ACL tear in April forcing him to spend his entire third season in the NFL on injured reserve.

Smith was waived last July by the Jets and spent all of last season out of football entirely. He signed with the Cowboys as a reserve/futures contract on Friday. Dallas could use a speedster who can take the top off of defenses. And that was the 26-year old’s specialty coming out of college.

At Ohio State, Smith was known for being a lethal vertical threat and a great deep ball tracker. Although he was considered a body catcher, he dropped just two passes his Senior year. Despite recording just 33 receptions that season, he racked up an incredible 931 yards and 12 touchdowns averaging an incredible 28.2 yards per catch.

After two major ACL injuries, it’s anyone’s guess if Devin Smith still has the speed to become a deep threat in the NFL. The Dallas Cowboys have taken a gamble that the former Buckeye star can return to form and display the traits that made him a second-round selection in 2015.