NFL Rookie Spotlight - DeVonta Smith

July 20, 2021

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Devonta Smith is coming off a Heisman trophy-winning season at Alabama and was a first-round selection in the 2021 NFL Draft. Rishi Patel evaluates his fantasy football outlook for the season in redraft leagues.

The Philadelphia Eagles have had a problem with their WR unit the past couple of seasons. That problem has been simple: lack of talent. Well, this past draft, the team made a huge move by selecting Heisman-winning WR DeVonta Smith out of Alabama in the first round. 

With a new starting QB in Jalen Hurts, a new coach, and an overall new feel to this team, Smith will be a huge factor in the Philly passing game considering guys nobody even knew were leading this unit last year. 

Smith will likely slot right into the WR1 role for this talent-starved pass-catching unit. The Alabama product has decent upside in real life and fantasy. Let’s break down his college numbers and fantasy outlook:

College Production

In four years at Alabama, Smith just got better and better with each season, which culminated in a Heisman-winning 2020 season. In that prolific campaign, the WR put up 117 receptions for 1,856 yards and 23 touchdowns in 13 games. Smith paced FBS WRs in receiving yards and receptions by a landslide last season (the next closest was 1,193 yards and 86 receptions, respectively). He also led FBS WRs in touchdowns. 

Despite his excellent senior season, Smith’s junior year in 2019 was also impressive. The WR amassed 68 receptions for 1,256 yards and 14 scores. Overall, Smith averaged a stellar 16.9 yards per catch in four seasons at Alabama. The Eagles certainly needed this type of talent as their leading receiver last season was Travis Fulgham with only 539 yards and Zach Ertz paced the team in 2019 with 916 yards. 

Smith has excellent catching abilities, great strength, athleticism, and is a knowledgeable route runner. He has drawn comparisons to Hall of Fame WR Marvin Harrison. A big area of concern related to Smith prior to the draft was his size--or lack of--as there were reports which had him listed at 6'0" and 166 pounds, certainly smaller than the ideal NFL wideout.

NFL teams didn't get athletic testing numbers from the Indy medical combine earlier this month, but they did get measurements. And that meant, finally, they got Alabama WR DeVonta Smith on a scale.

Per sources, the Heisman winner checked in at a 6-foot-0.2 and 166 pounds.

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) April 21, 2021

Nevertheless, regardless of his size, Smith has more than proved his talent as a receiver during his college years. It's not often that a wide receiver earns a Heisman trophy.

2021 Fantasy Outlook

DeVonta Smith fills a major hole on this Eagles squad. MAJOR HOLE. Last season, a receiver by the name of Travis Fulgham (who nobody thought to draft) led the team with only 539 receiving yards on the season. The second and third best pass-catchers were TE Dallas Goedert with 524 yards and WR Greg Ward with 419 yards. To put that into perspective, the total yardage of those three receivers (1,482) comes up nearly 400 yards short of Smith’s 2020 total, which is just mind-boggling.

Adding to the case that DeVonta Smith should be a strong WR1 with Philly is the fact that he and Jalen Hurts were teammates at Alabama for a couple of years in 2017 and 2018, so some chemistry and familiarity will likely already be there. 

When looking at target share, Smith’s biggest competition for targets will be Jalen Reagor and Dallas Goedert. The second-year Reagor will look to carve out a role for himself after a rather disappointing rookie season in which he managed 31 receptions for 396 yards and one score on 54 targets in 11 games. Goedert will be the likely TE1 this upcoming season and has put up two decent campaigns in 2019 and 2020. In 2019, the 26-year-old put up a career-best 58 receptions for 607 yards and five scores on 87 targets in 15 games. Both of these guys should only pose as small threats to Smith’s role as the top receiver, though.

Guys like Travis Fulgham and Greg Ward will also return, but none should be threats at all to Smith’s production and expected target share. Both are generally unproven guys who haven’t shown they can be elite NFL pass-catchers. Look no further than the fact that Fulgham has 539 total yards in two NFL seasons while Ward has 81 receptions for 673 yards and seven touchdowns in two total NFL seasons with Philly. 

Overall, while guys like Dallas Goedert and Jalen Reagor should be a factor in this passing game, Smith was drafted to be the guy for Jalen Hurts and thus has a chance to put up great numbers as a rookie. When looking at the bigger picture, consider Smith a WR3/flex heading into drafts with room to increase his value during the season.

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