Should the Vikings be Targeting South Carolina’s Shi Smith?

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Feb 3, 2021
South Carolina receiver Shi Smith (13), who has never dropped a pass in his college career, had five catches for 119 yards and a touchdown against Vanderbilt on Saturday. AP/Mark Zaleski

You’d be easily forgiven for not already knowing who Shi Smith is. The 5’ 10” wide receiver for the South Carolina Gamecocks didn’t rank in the top 50 in the NCAA in receiving yards or touchdowns in 2020.

In fact, Smith has never cracked 675 receiving yards in a single collegiate season and the most touchdowns he caught in a single season was four. That’s nearly ¼ of his total receiving touchdowns of 13.

In a year where the Heisman was won by a receiver for the first time in nearly thirty years, Smith flew extremely under the radar. However, he has started to distance himself a bit from the pack, starting with his excellent Senior Bowl practices and game. 

Given a chance to go 1-on-1 with some of his fellow Senior Bowl participants, Smith stuck out with incredibly choppy, quick feet while not losing any momentum and speed. His cuts looked sudden and unexpected and he didn’t ever seem like he was selling a route early.

Here’s just a taste of the separation he was creating.

He showed his soft hands and understanding of how to keep control of a low throw in the Senior Bowl too.

 

This has earned him some much deserved draft momentum already and his stock is likely to only go up throughout the draft process given his athleticism. He should be at the top of this class in terms of 40 yard dash time and will likely shine in all other athletic workouts like the 20 yard shuttle, but will likely struggle with the bench press.

The only concern with Smith fitting into the Vikings wide receiver room is that he is likely a slot guy, something that both Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson do very well. This lends itself to a bit of a log jam in 2021 at that position, but with Thielen’s age and Jefferson’s ability to move both inside and out, as shown by his stellar 2020 campaign, it shouldn’t be too much worry about.

Right now, Smith is projecting to be a day two pick. The Vikings don’t currently have a second round pick, but they do have two thirds. Targeting a receiver in the third seems to be the ideal spot for Minnesota anyways as the position is not an immediate need.

Smith would need to fit Rick Spielman’s ideal of value for his draft position. Therefore he will probably need to slide a bit after Spielman inevitably trades one, or both, third round picks. This seems unlikely given Smith’s already rising stock, but it is very possible that receivers slide in this draft with a strong top-end class likely going in the first round. If Smith fits a spot in the third, Minnesota should absolutely pull the trigger on him as a new WR3.