VDT: CB Cam Smith Is a Wild Card in the 2023 NFL Draft
Josh Frey
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CB Cam Smith was one of the more highly sought-after cornerbacks in all of college football following his high school days. Over the course of four years with the South Carolina Gamecocks, he has proven to live up to the hype with some incredible athletic ability at the cornerback position. However, he remains one of the wild card prospects in this upcoming draft, so should the Vikings target him in April?
That is the topic of today’s edition of Vikings Draft Thermometer series, PurplePTSD‘s one-stop shop for all your 2023 NFL Draft needs. Throughout this series, we have examined a number of prospects ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft, analyzing their strengths, weaknesses, what exactly their role could be at the NFL level, and most importantly, whether or not they could end up playing their first NFL snaps in a Vikings uniform.
Background
- Height: 6’1
- Weight: 187 pounds
- School: South Carolina
- Games Watched: Kentucky (2022), Florida (2022), Tennessee (2022), Clemson (2022)
Statistics
- 2019: 7 tackles (2 games)
- 2020: 16 tackles, 2 PDs, 2 INTs (8 games)
- 2021: 41 tackles, 2.5 TFLs, 11 PDs, 3 INTs, 1 FF (11 games)
- 2022: 27 tackles, 1 TFL, 5 PDs, 1 INT (11 games)
Strengths
If we’re going to talk about Cam Smith’s strengths heading into the draft, we have to bring up one of his greatest performances as a collegiate player. During this season, he found himself matched up against one of the better wide receivers in the country, Tennessee’s Jalin Hyatt. In that game against the Volunteers, Smith limited Hyatt to just 65 yards, eliminating any explosive plays for the talented wide out.
Smith was able to do this because he remains one of the most athletically gifted cornerbacks in this draft class. He has terrific straight-line speed which allows him to hang with burners deep in the secondary, but his lateral movements are also very efficient and smooth.
On top of that, he doesn’t have the length concerns that someone like Utah’s Clark Phillips III could run into, standing at 6’0 and possessing great arm length that can break up passes.
Weaknesses
Despite his athletic skills, Smith is a very inconsistent tackler, failing to wrap up plays on a number of occasions. This lack of true physical prowess also comes into play in run support where he simply is a non-factor more often than not.
Additionally, he struggles at times in press man coverage and can allow contested catches to bigger, stronger receivers. There are also a few instances where he becomes grabby in coverage, which could result in penalty problems at the NFL level.
NFL Projection
- Draft Round: Early-Mid Second
- Immediate Role: CB2-3
- Best-Case Scenario: Marshon Lattimore
- Vikings Draft Temperature: 35
If the Vikings were going to run it back with the same defensive scheme that they had in 2022, I think Smith would have been a much more likely selection. However, with Flores’ defense really needing cornerbacks that can win one-on-one battles in man coverage, Smith may not be the best man for that job.
Overall, the South Carolina product possesses great upside, and it’s worth noting that technique in coverage can be taught whereas elite athletic gifts cannot. Perhaps he remains on Minnesota’s radar due to his upside, but he has a ways to go before becoming a true lockdown cornerback in the NFL.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. He also earned minors in History, Human Biology, and Journalism. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys marathon training, playing video games, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. For more of his opinions, check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.