Jets signed WR Vyncint Smith off Texans' practice squad

[jetstream23]

3 hours ago, C Mart said:

via Athletic 

How Demaryius Thomas’ recommendation helped land speedy wideout Vyncint Smith with the Jets

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Vyncint Smith owes Demaryius Thomas dinner. He figures it’s the least he can do for his fellow Jets receiver.

The 23-year-old Smith began this season on Houston’s practice squad. He had a good training camp, but, according to the Texans coaching staff, he wasn’t good enough. They needed his roster spot elsewhere. If someone went down, though, he’d get the call-up.

And for the first three weeks of the season, that’s where Smith stayed. He practiced. He ran scout. He did everything he could to make sure, when he got his opportunity with Houston, he’d be ready.

Until his phone rang on September 23rd.

“It was my agent,” Smith said. “He asked if I was ready to get on a 53-man roster. He said the Jets called and they wanted to bring me in. I was like, ‘Really?’

“He goes, ‘Yeah. Demaryius gave you quite the shout out.'”

The 31-year-old Thomas, now in his tenth NFL season, has accomplished quite a bit. He’s a former first-round pick. A two-time second-team all-pro. A five-time Pro Bowler. A Super Bowl Champion. Impressive accolades, along with a career total 693 catches, 9,376 yards and 62 touchdowns.

There hasn’t been much Thomas hasn’t accomplished in his career, but the 2018 season presented a challenge unlike one he’d faced up until that point.

Thomas spent his first eight and a half seasons with the Broncos. But midway through last year — and with Denver gearing up for a full-on rebuild — management decided to deal him to Houston for draft compensation. Denver got back a fourth-round pick. The Texans got someone they believed was a missing piece on their offense.

Learning a new scheme wasn’t anything novel for Thomas. He played for five different coordinators and seven quarterbacks during his time with the Broncos. But he always had the entirety of an offseason to learn the scheme and develop a rhythm with the passer. In Houston, he was thrust into the lineup and asked to make an immediate impact. He was fine with weekly game-planning. That’s no different wherever you go. But the playbook and its terminology were entirely new. Learning in days what others had in months wasn’t going to be easy.

Then Smith, an undrafted free agent who made the Texans’ 53-man roster last year, took the seat next to Thomas in a team meeting. He introduced himself.

“He offered to help me with the playbook,” Thomas said. “In return, I helped him on the field.”

Smith played college ball at Limestone, a Division II school in South Carolina. He finished his four-year career with 153 catches for 2,371 yards and 11 touchdowns, highlighted by a 49-849-2 line as a senior. After going undrafted, the Texans signed him as a priority free agent. They gave him $35,000 guaranteed — a sizable amount for a UDFA — which included a $10,000 signing bonus and a $25,000 guaranteed portion of his base salary.

Texans coach Bill O’Brien loved his size (6-3, 203), speed (4.36 40-yard dash), and hands. Smith was raw. But in Houston, they don’t require route technicians at receiver. They want guys who can get open.  The staff believed Smith could do that.

To an extent, he did. He caught four passes for 94 yards and a touchdown in the preseason to earn his roster spot. When Thomas arrived, though, Smith saw an opportunity to take his game to the next level.

Thomas played his college ball at Georgia Tech. While he played in a pro-style offense his freshman year under Chan Gailey, the offense converted to a triple-option the next season. Thomas ran “basically three routes” over the next three years, he said. He entered the NFL raw, much like Smith. He had to learn how to run routes, read coverages, and adjust based on what a defensive back gave him. Thomas prided himself on becoming a true student of the game, not someone who got by on his athletic gifts. Those were traits Smith desperately wanted to add to his own game.

So Thomas helped him.

Smith says it would take him hours to list the number of ways Thomas impacted his game and the little tidbits he passed down. But the one he always goes back to, and the one he’s still working to perfect to this day, is the way he breaks on his routes. Throughout his high school and college career, and into training camp with Houston, Smith ran patterns on his toes. So when it was time to break, he did so the same way. Thomas was the first to tell him to stop. He advised Smith to use his entire foot, not a portion.

“The way he described it,” Smith said, emulating a route in front of his locker, “was that it was basically like using half of your brake pad.”

The two men forged a friendship that lasted throughout the year. Even when Thomas tore his Achilles in December, he still helped Smith. Their lessons started to pay off. Smith caught just one pass the first 15 weeks of the season.

He caught four for 63 and a touchdown the final two.

“He wants to know the how and the why,” Thomas said. “That’s super beneficial. When you have someone like him that wants to work? Those are the guys who end up being the greats. They’re the ones who are in this league 10-plus years.

“We never had a problem with Vyncint. He was reliable, dependable and accountable. I praise him so much because he was always on time. He did everything right. We never had to ask him to do anything. He would work in with the No. 1 offense or scout team. He jumped in and did it the same way. He reminds me of myself. I would do those things.”

In late September, there’s only so much you can do to infuse your roster without trading away draft assets. Considering the dire state of the Jets’ offensive line and cornerbacks, dealing those picks wasn’t an option. So general manager Joe Douglas had to get creative to supplement the team’s underwhelming receiving corps after Quincy Enunwa went down for the year.

The team’s pro scouting department came across Smith. They watched his film last year and made calls on his play this summer. They were surprised this kid was still on a practice squad. Not so much that Houston hadn’t elevated him to its 53. That was understandable with DeAndre Hopkins, Will Fuller and Kenny Stills healthy. But why hadn’t another team scooped him up?

Douglas took his findings and knocked on Adam Gase’s door. The Jets coach watched the film. He saw the same thing Douglas did — speed. The type of speed that can cripple a defense. But then he grabbed his phone. Talent is one thing. He needed to know what Smith was like as a person.

And he knew just the guy to call.

“I couldn’t tell (Gase) enough about him,” Thomas said. “I told him how he’s the guy who, when you tell him something, he listens. He then instantly takes it to the field. He has raw talent. He can run, catch, run with the ball in his hands. But he listens. He listens and applies. That’s hard for young guys to do. But with Vyncint, you tell him, he’ll practice it a couple of times, then he does it.

“I’d been around him most of last year. So I knew how hard he works. I told (Gase) how, when we were in Houston, he ran the most routes out of anyone. Sometimes (Hopkins) would be out, or Fuller. Vyncint would fill in wherever they needed him. He ran everything. Never complained. He just did his job. Kept his head down.”

Gase told Thomas the Jets were thinking about signing Smith.

“And I told him I loved him,” Thomas said. “I told him he would come in here and do whatever we asked him to do. I knew, with our locker room, we needed someone like that.”

The Jets made the formal request to sign Smith the day before they played the Patriots. Adam Seifer, Smith’s agent, called his client. He had a decision to make. The Texans, after hearing of the Jets’ intentions, offered to promote him to their 53-man roster, too. They didn’t want to lose him.

Smith already knew Houston’s playbook. He was comfortable with their staff. Staying with the Texans made sense. But, Seifer said, there was a bigger picture to consider.

If Smith signed on the Texans’ 53, they could release him the next week and put him right back on the practice squad. With Hopkins, Fuller and Stills still healthy, they didn’t need Smith. They were just signing him to prevent him from going to New York. If Smith signed with the Jets, they had to keep him on the 53 for a minimum of three weeks — a league policy. Smith would have a chance to prove himself. Plus, considering the state of the Jets’ receivers, he had an opportunity to work himself into the lineup.

“This was a better situation for me,” Smith said. “Plus, I feel like the future is brighter here.”

Smith chuckles a little recalling the series of events that led to his first touchdown with the Jets last week.

First, the Jets recovered a muffed punt by the Eagles’ Corey Clement at the 19 yard line. Then, he heard receivers coach Shawn Jefferson call out his personnel grouping. That was cool, he said, because he knew he’d be on the field. Finally, Luke Falk called the play in the huddle.

“That’s when I really got excited,” Smith said.

The Jets dialed up a wide receiver reverse. The play called for Falk to fake a handoff to Le’Veon Bell, then run an option-type play with Ty Montgomery to the right side. At the same time, though, Smith would loop around and take the toss instead. The play was designed to get the defense all going right, before Smith darted around the left with Bell out as his lead blocker.

After Falk finished the call, Smith’s eyes must have grown quite a bit because Montgomery reminded the 23-year-old to breathe, secure the ball, then run like hell.

And Smith did. Everything worked perfectly for a 19-yard touchdown.

“I got around, and there was no one there,” Smith said. “I didn’t even have to run too hard. It was one of the easier touchdowns I’ve had.”

The touchdown run provided fans just a snippet of what Smith can do. In his short time with the Jets, he’s put more than enough on film at practice to have his role expanding. The Jets knew they were getting a decent player with speed to stretch the field. Gase didn’t quite realize just how good his hands were or how much progress he’s made with his route running.

The Jets have run a conservative offensive attack ever since Sam Darnold’s mono diagnosis and Trevor Siemian’s ankle injury. While the team likes Falk, they’re aware of his limitations. They simplified the offense not to overwhelm him. They deployed an abundance of two tight-end sets to keep the defense in base, which would be easier for Falk to read.

But in an attempt to ease Falk’s acclimation, the Jets offense became predictable, lacked excitement, and failed to keep the team in games. The Jets scored just one offensive touchdown after Darnold’s injury.

“It didn’t work,” said Gase.

This week against the Cowboys should be different. Darnold received medical clearance on Tuesday and will start. The offense will open up. And when it does, Smith will receive even more opportunities.

He’s finally getting a chance to play.

He owes a portion of that to Thomas.

So maybe it’s time they set that dinner date?

“No,” Thomas said, laughing. “He doesn’t have to do that. I just want him to come out here, have fun, and help us win. That’s repayment enough.”

 

Great read.  Thanks for sharing.

The Jets WR group is very, very interesting right now.  Can Thomas age as well as a guy like Larry Fitzgerald has?  Probably not, but don't put it past him to become a stable possession type WR that can do just enough on the field in something like a "10" personnel grouping (4 WRs).  And Smith, maybe a diamond in the rough.  Maybe he's never more than a WR5 but if Houston was going to put him on their 53 just to keep him from leaving that says something...especially given that Houston is loaded at WR.  Maybe Smith has WR2 upside and could project to something like a DeSean Jackson?

Drafting a WR in the 1st or 2nd round next year seems like a must, especially given how loaded that WR class is for 2020, but would a grouping of Robby Anderson, Jamison Crowder, Thomas, Vyncint Smith and a true WR1 prospect like one of these guys ...

 

 

...be horrible?

[Apache 51]

2 minutes ago, jetstream23 said:

 

Great read.  Thanks for sharing.

The Jets WR group is very, very interesting right now.  Can Thomas age as well as a guy like Larry Fitzgerald has?  Probably not, but don't put it past him to become a stable possession type WR that can do just enough on the field in something like a "10" personnel grouping (4 WRs).  And Smith, maybe a diamond in the rough.  Maybe he's never more than a WR5 but if Houston was going to put him on their 53 just to keep him from leaving that says something...especially given that Houston is loaded at WR.  Maybe Smith has WR2 upside and could project to something like a DeSean Jackson?

Drafting a WR in the 1st or 2nd round next year seems like a must, especially given how loaded that WR class is for 2020, but would a grouping of Robby Anderson, Jamison Crowder, Thomas, Vyncint Smith and a true WR1 prospect like one of these guys ...

 

 

...be horrible?

I'd take half of a D Jax.

[Jet Nut]

1 hour ago, joewilly12 said:

I hope this kid turns out to be good WR for us we desperately need something at WR its been dismal here for awhile. 

I hope he becomes as good as Anderson first.  One thing at a time