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The New Orleans Saints held their rookie minicamp over the weekend and one of the players that impressed coaches was third-round pick Tre'Quan Smith.

Smith, a wide receiver out of UCF, caught passes thrown at him and showed off the speed that helped him average nearly 20 yards per catch this past season for the Golden Knights. But after the weekend's workouts, Smith said: "This is a different kind of fast."

Saints coaches however think he's doing a good job of adjusting to this level.

"First of all, he can run," Saints' receivers coach Curtis Johnson said. "He's fast. He has what we would call in this profession long speed. He can catch the ball very very well. He's pretty smart. He's getting lined up. He's only playing one position now but he's doing a fine job for us."

Coaches said he still has some aspects of his game to work on. Smith said Johnson has been on him about coming off the ball faster.



"(He said) 'A lot of people told me you are a build up speed guy, I don't believe that. Don't listen to anybody that says that and you can do it. I've seen you do it,'" Smith said. "And that's what we've been working on."

Saints coach Sean Payton echoed Johnson's assessment.

"He's long. He's athletic in and out of his cuts" Sean Payton said. "(He) Still needs to work on his lower body strength but he's handled the install well. I think he's a quick study. He's big and he's doing a good job."

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Crusader

Like the sound of this pick so far.

SmashMouth

K Major

I think Tre'Quan can contribute this season.

AsylumGuido

Me too. As will Davenport in a huge manner. All five top three rounders ended up starting last year. This year we only have two ... Davenport and Smith. To me that's still batting 1.000 in the draft.

SmashMouth

Tre’Quan Smith, New Orleans Saints
Sure, there’s already an alpha male in the Saints’ WR corps, but it’s not like a Drew Brees offense has never supported two startable fantasy receivers (and now will be minus Mark Ingram for four games). Smith has the potential to be that second option, or he could struggle to get on the field as a rookie. Smith did fare well against press coverage at UCF, posted the nation’s second-best catch rate on deep targets (70.8 percent) in 2017, and had the highest grade per target among this year’s draft class. There is a worthy predictive analysis piece by the PFF crew summing up Smith’s upside that you can check out here.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/new...ntasy-outcomes

nola_swammi

Honestly, I'll be shocked if any from this year draft start, but i do expect 3 will get significant amount of snaps (Davenport, Smith, and Scott)

Rugby Saint II

Touch down Smith!!!

K Major

Bump ...

K Major

A quote from Curtis Johnson on rookie Smith ...

"First of all, he can run," Saints' receivers coach Curtis Johnson said. "He's fast. He has what we would call in this profession long speed. He can catch the ball very very well. He's pretty smart. He's getting lined up. He's only playing one position now but he's doing a fine job for us."

I'm no coach but after watching his highlight reel @ UCF, I too see the "long speed" analogy. Once he gains a step on the defender ... trouble.