Smith or Chase? Opinions mixed on best WR for Fins
The Dolphins, with a choice of two top wide receivers to fill their biggest need, probably couldn’t go wrong by taking either Alabama’s 6-1 DeVonta Smith or LSU’s 6-1 Ja’Marr Chase with the third overall pick in April’s NFL Draft.
Chase, the 2019 Biletnikoff Award winner, set Southeastern Conference records in receiving yards and touchdowns in 2019, producing 84 catches, 1,780 yards (21.2 average) and 20 touchdowns in 14 games. That included 221 receiving yards in the national championship game (most ever in the playoff era) before he opted out of playing this past season.
Smith, meanwhile, had 117 catches for 1856 yards (15.9 average) and 23 touchdowns in 13 games in 2020, won the Heisman Trophy and caught three TD passes (and finished with 215 receiving yards) in Alabama’s recent national championship game win against Ohio State.
Chase has the bigger build (207 pounds to Smith’s 175). But Smith already has on-field chemistry with Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa from playing together at Alabama.
So which player would be the better option for Miami? I polled three longterm NFL evaluators; two former general managers told me they would pick Smith, while a veteran NFL scout opted for Chase. Some feedback:
The scout who preferred Chase said:
“He’s bigger, stronger, physical. I gave him one of the best grades I’ve ever given anyone. He can do it all, one of the best wide receivers in the draft I can remember. He outfights cornerbacks. He high-points the ball. When the ball is in the air, he has a mentality that it’s his.
“He can knock the [expletive] out of you as a blocker. He’s better than [Minnesota Vikings standout rookie and former LSU star] Justin Jefferson; he’s bigger and stronger. If you want a guy who can go underneath, go over the top, run after the catch, I’m taking Ja’Marr Chase.
“Smith is a very good player, but his size [weight/build] worries me. The DBs are getting bigger and it wears you out” breaking free from press coverage at that size.
A One of the ex-GMs: “Smith and Chase are both outstanding playmakers, but I would take Smith because I think he will give you more big plays. I know he’s not the biggest guy but that doesn’t concern me.” The other former GM expressed similar sentiments.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay favor Smith, but it’s close. Both advocate Miami taking him at No. 3.
“With 40 touchdown catches over the past three seasons, Smith has continued to get better every year,” Kiper said. “He has a slight
AAframe — McShay has compared his body and style to Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison, and I agree. Smith is going to be a superstar.”
But Kiper also loves Chase, noting “he’s stellar after the catch, breaking tackles and running away from defenders. Chase consistently beat first-round pick A.J. Terrell in the [2019 season] national title game, catching nine passes for 221 yards and two TDs. He’s an elite prospect.”
But Pro Football Focus rates Chase the better prospect, noting “he’s every bit the prospect A.J. Green was a decade ago. Chase was doing what DeVonta Smith is doing this year when he was 19 years old, and he was doing it against guys like A.J. Terrell and Trevon Diggs, who are currently the best starters on their respective teams [Falcons, Cowboys, respectively]. His 24 deep catches that year is still the most we’ve seen in a single season.” PFF ranks Chase the fifth-best prospect in the draft and Smith eighth.
ESPN’s Chris Fowler said Smith’s appeal extends even beyond his talent.
“You look deeper, this guy is a model teammate, an alpha of that offense,” Fowler said. “His contributions, his example, his quiet leadership, his toughness, his completeness as a player, his humility.” Smith was PFF’s highest graded receiver from the slot this past season, so he would be a weapon in the slot or on the boundary. … Both are very good in yards after catch, an area Miami finished 30th in 2020. Smith had 39 catches in which he
AAAgoing to work with these young kids. It’s not just about our top team, our first team. It’s about the academy, it’s about the USL, it’s about the potential that runs through this club and that was the most important thing for me to see, and to understand and one of the reasons we made the changes that we have.
“We have to indent a DNA that runs through this club and that was why we made the moves and the decisions that we’ve made in the last few weeks.”
Neville pointed back to his experience as a player when he explained why he got the job despite a thin coaching resume.
Neville said he first realized he wanted to be a coach when he was 22, playing for legendary coach Alex Ferguson with one of the most successful teams of all time at Manchester United. After he retired, he came to Los Angeles and spent about eight weeks shadowing Bruce Arena when he was coaching Beckham for the LA Galaxy. Then his formal coaching career began with high-profile stops as an assistant.
With England, he put together a solid resume in his first stint as head coach of any team. In 2019, England won the SheBelieves Cup for the first time, then finished fourth at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup after a one-goal loss to the United States in the semifinals.
After he successfully made the switch from coaching men to coaching women, Neville isn’t worried about jumping back to the men’s side.
“I used to always get this gained at least 10 yards after the reception; no other college receiver had more than 26 such receptions.
Smith will not practice or play in Senior Bowl this week, but will spend the week in meetings with Dolphins coaches, who are coaching one of the teams.
CHATTER
There’s one stat that Tagovailoa led the league as a rookie: He was first among all NFL quarterbacks in fourth quarter completion percentage at 76.9 percent (50 for 65). That’s a byproduct, in part, of strong fourth quarter work in wins against Arizona and New England and a loss to Kansas City.
Drew Brees was second in that category at 76.2 percent. Tagovailoa was eighth in the NFL in fourth quarter passer rating at 110.9, behind Brees, Deshaun Watson, Lamar Jackson, Kirk Cousins, Pat Mahomes and Josh Allen.
A Ryan Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, led the league in percentage of passes completed on firstand-10, at 75.4 percent (89 for 118). Seattle’s Russell Wilson was second at 74.9.
The Heat — with its 2021 and 2023 picks owned by Oklahoma City — currently isn’t permitted to trade any future first-round pick before the March 25 trade deadline, and it will likely cost it a small asset to get that changed. Because the Heat’s 2023 firstround pick owed to OKC is lottery-protected, that prohibits Miami from trading picks in 2025 or 2026 or 2027; teams cannot trade picks in consecutive sea
AAquestion at my early press conferences with the women’s team. It was as if football on the women’s side was played on a different planet. For me, it was football,” Neville said. “Football for women, football for males is the same. It’s a ball played on the same pitch with the same size goals, and ultimately the sessions that I did at Manchester United, the sessions that I did at Valencia were no different from my women’s team last year.”
HOW’D INTER MIAMI LAND HENDERSON?
While Inter Miami’s addition of Neville is probably flashier, the addition of Henderson might be more important.
In Seattle, Henderson built an expansion team into a two-time champion. In the Miami metropolitan area, he’ll get to try to do virtually the same thing. While this will be Year 2 for Inter Miami, the coronavirus pandemic made Year 1 something of a wash, and the organization is still trying to build a real foundation and identity.
Last season, Inter Miami played a slow, defensiveminded style. It ranked near the bottom of the league in passes and possession time. It was incongruous with what a Beckham-led team was expected to look like.
Neville’s tactics with England fit better and should immediately lead to Inter Miami improving in both categories, and Henderson’s involvement is evidence of a desire to make something sustainable.
“When I looked at the project and spoke with the ownership, it was an excitsons and can’t trade picks more than seven years out.
You would think OKC would be happy if the Heat went to the Thunder and said it would like to remove the protections on that 2023 pick — with OKC getting it regardless of whether Miami is in the lottery or not during the 2022-23 season. That would free up Miami to trade either its 2026 first-rounder or its 2025 and 2027 first-rounders.
But before last year’s Jrue Holiday trade, when the Bucks asked Cleveland to unlock protections on the first-round pick owed to the Cavaliers in 2022, Milwaukee had to give Cleveland a second-round pick to cooperate — even though the unlocking was helping Cleveland.
The signing of Anthony Bass gives the Marlins three relievers who held opponents to batting averages below .200 last season: Bass (.189), Yimi Garcia (.164) and James Hoyt (.173). Batting average allowed in 2020 by the other veterans very likely to be a part of the Marlins bullpen:
Adam Cimber (.289), Ross Detwiler (.253) and Richard Bleier (.250).
Quarterback Tate Martell is expected to return to UM after sitting out the fall semester, per 247 Sports. … One UM source said senior Mike Harley Jr. — who’s returning for another season — was a factor in a couple of other players also deciding to return. He’s very respected among teammates.
AAing new opportunity to take a team that can get to the championship level and has aspirations to be a global club, so the challenge is exciting,” Henderson said. “It’s a huge challenge and it’s going to take a lot of work and evaluation and assessment.
And it’s great to work with a new coach who has new energy and to have David’s involvement in the everyday building of the team.”