Torrey Smith Not Ready To Be #3 WR

**RavensHJCA** · 08-23-2011, 06:29 PM

I also recall Preston referring to Suggs as a bust his rookie year. He was spot on with that assessment.

**wickedsolo** · 08-23-2011, 06:56 PM

First, anyone who thought Torrey Smith was going to come in and take the #2/#3 receiver spot by storm was fooling themselves.

He's got two big things going against him:
1 - small hands. Having small hands makes it very difficult to reel in those tough passes in traffic. That said, he does have good hands.
2 - at Maryland (much like DHB) he wasn't really asked to run a lot of precision routes. He used his speed to outplay most defenders.

Torrey Smith is a hard worker and if anyone is going to "get it" he will. He needs to work on route running and that can only come with time.

Just be thankful that Tandon Doss is a hell of a route runner and has excellent hands. Also, this is a good situation for Torrey Smith. He doesn't have to come out of the gate with guns blazing. We have Q, Evans, and David Reed sitting in front of him and that's a pretty good unit.

Also, Preston is lazy and takes cues from everyone else rather than putting a whole lot of analysis into the play of the person. Realistically, Torrey Smith hasn't gotten many looks in either of the pre-season games and in fact in the last Chiefs game Flacco went to Boldin deep when Torrey was wide open going across the middle. He completely had his man beat. In practices, Torrey has been impressive in a lot of circumstances and has messed up and dropped passes that he probably shouldn't have.

He's a local guy with a lot of pressure to perform and get better. I'm sure that working with Flacco, Q, and Evans is going to boost his ability tremendously.

I'd also like everyone to keep in mind that the lock out is going to cause a lot of rookies to be extremely raw and look "unready" for the lime light.

Tandon Doss would also be unready if it were not for the fact that his bread and butter in college were come back routes, crossing patterns, and slants. He was groomed to run good routes and make tough catches in traffic. You can coach those things. You can teach a guy how to get better at running routes. What you can't teach is speed and Torrey is stupid fast.

As far as LaQuan goes...the guy has come out of nowhere. He never performed like this while at Maryland. He never seemed to "get it" at Maryland. Guess he figured out how to play. I'd like to see him against first stringers though. He's shown he can play with 2nd and 3rd string defenders.

**MachineJerk** · 08-23-2011, 06:56 PM

Originally Posted by Captain Silver

Just Captain obvious trying to string a few crumbs into his usual loaf of bullshit.

lol - correct.

Editor "hey chubby, where's your 200 words for 3pm?"

**Shas** · 08-23-2011, 07:00 PM

Passive? Soft? Sorry, but that's not what everyone at Maryland said about him. That's just Preston making vague accusations. He was no DHB, but a real football player. Not explosive? Also BS.

The issue I am willing to bet is that he is just a little overwhelmed by everything he needs to learn the offense, so his athleticism is geared way back as he tentatively figures out his assignments. That's why it's so hard for rookie receivers to contribute, and why it's so hard to project them. The position requires as much understanding of defensive schemes as is required of a quarterback.

Thank god they didn't try to throw him out there this year.

I still feel good about the pick.

**chicagoravensfan** · 08-23-2011, 07:44 PM

You know what, the more I think about it, F--- Mike Preston! The guy's been a pro for all of a month and he's ripping him? For a guy you knew would be a bit of raw prospect? Of course he's not ready to be a starter now! Give me a break.

**PurpleRulz** · 08-23-2011, 08:05 PM

I don't care. Let Storey develop slowly

**Ravenous1** · 08-23-2011, 08:12 PM

Originally Posted by Captain Silver

Just Captain obvious trying to string a few crumbs into his usual loaf of bullshit.

lol so true

So the 2nd round speed guy who everyone said would need a little work turns out to be exactly that.....how is that even news????

I dont think the Ravens EVER intended on him being the #2 guy unless he just tore off the roof and went hog wild. They swung and missed at a couple targets but go their guy in Evans.

As the season progresses you will see more of Torrey. He is in a ideal situation were he is being given the time he needs to adjust his game to the pro level.

**SugarRay52** · 08-23-2011, 08:24 PM

Originally Posted by Ravenous1

lol so true

So the 2nd round speed guy who everyone said would need a little work turns out to be exactly that.....how is that even news????

I dont think the Ravens EVER intended on him being the #2 guy unless he just tore off the roof and went hog wild. They swung and missed at a couple targets but go their guy in Evans.

As the season progresses you will see more of Torrey. He is in a ideal situation were he is being given the time he needs to adjust his game to the pro level.

Torrey isn't ready to be a starter yet but that certainly doesn't make him a bust and Preston as usual was way off base for calling him soft. Preston misses Derrick Mason from a professional standpoint. He knows Derrick's occassional antics gave him material for his articles. The fact that he desperately tried to paint Lee Evans in a bad light and compared Ricky Williams to Bam Morris shows you how badly he wants attention. The fact that everytime Joe Flacco makes a mistake Preston always puts Kyle Boller into the conversation, he misses Boller from a professional standpoint too LOL.

**NC Raven** · 08-23-2011, 08:44 PM

Originally Posted by SugarRay52

Torrey isn't ready to be a starter yet but that certainly doesn't make him a bust and Preston as usual was way off base for calling him soft.

This. I admit I'm disappointed (again) in what appears to be the lack of immediate impact -- or even glimpses of where the impact will come from in the future -- from a relatively high draft pick.

But that's not his fault -- we know from reading about him that Torrey is a good young man and will work hard and do everything it takes to get better. He's a guy you have to love and know will be dedicated to doing what it takes.

Just like Paul Kruger......

We can't judge from 2 preseason games, and calling him soft or whatever is totally uncalled for, especially when it's Mister Donut doing the talking. But the fact that guys like Doss, McPhee, Jah and even LaQuan Williams are coming in as lower picks and showing where they can fit in and help out, causes Torrey's invisibility to stand out more by contrast.

**wickedsolo** · 08-23-2011, 08:56 PM

Originally Posted by NC Raven

This. I admit I'm disappointed (again) in what appears to be the lack of immediate impact -- or even glimpses of where the impact will come from in the future -- from a relatively high draft pick.

But that's not his fault -- we know from reading about him that Torrey is a good young man and will work hard and do everything it takes to get better. He's a guy you have to love and know will be dedicated to doing what it takes.

Just like Paul Kruger......

We can't judge from 2 preseason games, and calling him soft or whatever is totally uncalled for, especially when it's Mister Donut doing the talking. But the fact that guys like Doss, McPhee, Jah and even LaQuan Williams are coming in as lower picks and showing where they can fit in and help out, causes Torrey's invisibility to stand out more by contrast.

You also have to take into consideration the level of competition they're facing. Torrey has mostly been taking snaps with the 1's while the rest of those guys have been working against 2nd, 3rd, and 4th string guys.

I will say that I'm not surprised that Tandon Doss is looking better than Torrey Smith right now. Different styles of play. Doss was much more of a route runner with strong hands and run after the catch ability. He didn't have elite speed to beat out the competition he faced in college. He had to become a good route runner.

Torrey didn't have to become a good route runner. He could destroy defenses with his speed.

He'll get there. I wouldn't be surprised to see some good things from him towards the midway point of the season. He just needs some confidence and refinement.

**houstonravensfan** · 08-23-2011, 09:47 PM

So T Smith is not ready to step in and beat out veterans on a team aiming for the SB? Not such a bad thing. And the good thing is that we have so much depth that we can give him the time to develop and grow. He's tall, fast, has good (small) hands, and is a hard worker. IMHO we should be very happy with the situation overall.