Puzzling to me...
Firstly I want to say that everything good anyone has ever read or said about Brett Smith is true...he's a class act, a God-fearing young man who has a deep faith in Christ Jesus, and he is one of the most electric football players ever to wear the Brown & Gold.
At media day this past summer, Brett took to my 6 year old boy, spoke with him at length, then insisted that they have a catch together. I have the picture of my son playing catch with Brett in my downstairs TV room, it was a moment my boy will remember forever.
With all that said this seems premature to me.
In all objectivity, aside from the Nebraska game, and the Arena League game against Hawaii, I thought Brett looked more than mediocre this season for long stretches of time.
Yes he was running for his life on every other play, but even when the pocket protection was good, his throws and accuracy left much to be desired.
I thought he fell into a lot of bad habits this season, in part due to an offensive line that couldn't protect him, or an offense in general that seemed to be in 3rd & long situations with regularity.
His footwork and mechanics need a big fine tuning in my opinion...I thought the move to a more conventional offense under the Bohl regime would have been good for him.
He has already shown scouts the ability to make plays outside the pocket, to run a hurry-up offense...what he needed in my opinion was some rigidity within the position, a more pro-style offense where his pocket skills would be enhanced, running an offense much less helter-skelter to smooth out a lot of his rough spots.
I wish him nothing but the best going forward and as a Pokes fan I'll always remain thankful that I got a chance to see him play and meet him a few times up close and personal.
Bring on the Jason Thompson era, of which I am very excited for.
I think Thompson has a chance to be really good.