{"id":207770,"date":"2025-01-03T10:58:58","date_gmt":"2025-01-03T15:58:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=207770"},"modified":"2025-01-03T12:31:22","modified_gmt":"2025-01-03T17:31:22","slug":"2025-nfl-draft-early-scouting-report-brashard-smith-smu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/01\/03\/2025-nfl-draft-early-scouting-report-brashard-smith-smu\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 NFL Draft Early Scouting Report: Brashard Smith, SMU"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brashard Smith\u2019s first year as a running back resulted in over 1,600 all-purpose yards as a main piece of a wildly successful SMU team. Here is a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/12\/11\/defensive-nfl-draft-risers-in-2024-conference-championships\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2025 NFL Draft<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Early <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/01\/01\/2025-nfl-draft-early-scouting-report-chris-paul-jr-ole-miss\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scouting Report <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and film analysis on him.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Overview, Film Analysis, And Early 2025 Scouting Report Of <\/b><b>SMU RB Brashard Smith<\/b><\/h2>\n<h3><b>Measurables:<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5\u201910\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">196 lbs<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Player Background:\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/247sports.com\/player\/brashard-smith-46056946\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">four-star prospect<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and Top-30 wide receiver nationally, Brashard Smith committed to Miami in the 2021 recruiting class. He saw action as both a WR and RB immediately, playing in 11 games his freshman season. He ran the ball six times for 23 yards and caught 14 passes for 199 yards and two scores. Starting six games and appearing in 11 the following year, he had three carries for 22 yards and 33 grabs for 308 yards.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Smith\u2019s role continued to expand in 2023 and he saw a few more carries as well as similar receiving opportunities. In 12 games, he racked up 132 yards and a TD on 9 carries and made 22 snags for 262 yards and two scores. He entered the portal as a three-star transfer and committed to SMU as a running back. He instantly became one of the best backs in the country, rushing for over 1,300 yards with 14 TDs, getting 327 yards and four scores through the air as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Accolades:\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Second Team All-ACC (2023)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First Team All-ACC (2024)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First Team All-Texas (2024)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Third Team All-American (2024)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Strengths\/Pros:\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Smith&#8217;s long speed can be deceptive at times, but when he hits his stride, he can work to the sidelines and break big gains. He\u2019s a decent lateral cutter, gaining solid ground on his redirects and shifting between gaps well. His stutter-and-go abilities are excellent, he navigates holdups easily and hits open space quickly. His compact movements are decent and he generates enough momentum to work through smaller openings.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Due to his lengthy experience as a receiver, Smith offers immediate and natural upside in the passing game. He moves out of the backfield more smoothly than most backs, can line up in the slot, and is effective in the short game. He\u2019s exceptionally smooth after the catch, both in space and in traffic, and he accelerates well after flipping his hips vertically to turn upfield. He excels at finding quick space out of the backfield, and his route-running ability is solid against man coverage.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Weaknesses\/Cons:\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Smith\u2019s inexperience at the running back position is painfully evident in his size and play style. He\u2019s more of an athlete than a true RB and consistently has physical issues as a runner. He needs to improve his contact balance against lower-body tackle attempts and gets worn down far too quickly. This leaks heavily into his pass-blocking, with a low level of physicality and frequent failure to hold his assignments.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His vision of the interior is inconsistent and he will fail to hit some holes that open up early. Smith\u2019s lack of physicality is also not helped by a less-than-ideal initial burst. He\u2019s more of a drifter than an accelerator when moving through running lanes and can get trapped in traffic before breaking into space. He settles too far behind the line as a \u201cleak out\u201d passing option, limiting his receiving skills by doing so.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Potential Team Fits:\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/eagles\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Philadelphia Eagles<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/packers\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Green Bay Packers<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/washington-commanders\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Washington Commanders<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>NFL Projection:\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite his heavy workload this season and impressive production, Smith projects as more of a gadget guy and receiving back in the NFL. His short experience as a RB and extreme issues against physicality make him an unlikely starter at the next level with a better fit in smaller doses. He could follow in the footsteps of smaller backs like James White and Theo Riddick who carved out solid careers for themselves as primary pass catchers and occasional rushers.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Prospect Grade:\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Early 5th Round<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Film Exposures:\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2024 vs. Duke<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2024 vs. BYU<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2024 vs. Pittsburgh<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Main Photo: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview And Film Analysis Of 2025 NFL Draft Prospect And SMU RB Brashard Smith, A Swiss-Army Knife And Receiving Threat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5364,"featured_media":207855,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1647],"tags":[32605,33118,27083,33116,33117],"class_list":["post-207770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-draft","tag-2025-nfl-draft","tag-brashard-smith","tag-scouting-report","tag-smu-football","tag-smu-mustangs"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5364"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207770"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":207857,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207770\/revisions\/207857"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}