Philadelphia Eagles Prospecting: A Look At Colorado CB Jimmy Smith

Colorado cornerback Jimmy Smith isn't the fastest guy entering this year’s draft; he's not even the fastest cornerback.

Yet ESPN Analyst's Todd McShay, Steve Muench and Kevin Weidl still claim he will remain within the top three prospects at cornerback entering the 2011 draft.

They didn't need to look any further than the skills he showcased at the combine for physical proof why he is ranked as high as he is for his position. Smith displayed good speed to compliment his superior size (6'2, 211 lbs) posting a 4.46 in the 40 yard dash.

He is considered to be a maturing player who is taking over as a leader on the field, making sure his teammates are in their correct positions prior to the snap.

Smith is an extremely physical tackler with prototypical size and excellent length who can become a serious force in the NFL with a freakish ability to bat down passes and force fumbles as he wraps up the receiver he is defending.

However for as good as he is and can be in the big leagues there are some areas he needs to concentrate on during the summer months—he must get more consistent in the open field. To become truly effective he needs to drop his hips and break down the play more quickly as he attacks a ball-carrier on the run.

On more than one occasion during his collegiate career he has been fooled by a quick move or slips off when he tries to tackle around the shoulder pads.

Another thing that slightly concerns me is the fact that he missed the first two games of the 2008 season to injury and most recently sustained a concussion during the 2010 season.

Even with that said the combination of size and speed at a position of need have to be extremely intriguing to the Eagles front office. He did back up the hype surrounding him and survived the prolonged attention he was receiving and further displayed what everyone saw on his game tape—a fundamentally sound football player!

Combine Note: The fastest guy entering the 2011 NFL Draft is Miami CB DeMarcus Van Dyke (6'1, 176 lbs) who ran an official time of 4.25 in the 40 yard dash at this years combine.