West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith continues to impress as the NFL draft is quickly approaching. After being scouted as the best quarterback in this year's draft class, Smith only did more to prove the report at his Pro Day Thursday. The West Virginia campus was filled with NFL owners and general managers all looking to see more from the quarterback. With representatives from both the Buffalo Bills and the Jacksonville Jaguars, Smith impressed and showed he is worthy of a first-round pick.
Smith went through a 64-play scripted workout that was put together by his personal coach. He completed 60 of 64 passes, with two drops from wide receivers. He wowed scouts with his deep passing abilities, accuracy and strong zip on the ball while on the move. He showed his strengths as both a pocket passer and mobile quarterback.
In college, the West Virginia offense was mainly dependent on horizontal and crossing passing route. He threw for 4,205 yards last season. While it was already known that intermediate accuracy was Smith's strength, he showed he can maintain balance and accuracy on rollout plays hit targets 25 yards or more down the field. As the NFL moves toward a more mobile, passing quarterback, Smith showed he could keep up.
The Pro Day brought out scouts from 28 of the 32 NFL teams. Buffalo Bills general manager Buddy Nix was present at the workout. The Bills are in desperate need of a quarterback after they recently released Ryan Fitzpatrick earlier in the week. The Bills have No. 8 overall pick in this year's draft but could attempt to trade up and get Smith before he is taken.
The Jacksonville Jaguars' head coach Gus Bradley was also present at the Pro Day. The Jaguars have been rumored to be interested in Smith to help provide some quarterback competition to current starter Blaine Gabbert. Jacksonville also has a planned one-on-one workout scheduled with Smith. Jacksonville has the No.2 overall pick and could easily grab Smith right away.
The Philadelphia Eagles are another team with a planned personal workout scheduled with Smith. Any team interested in the quarterback is going to want to see more from him. There is still lingering doubt that no quarterback this year is worthy of being taken in the first round. If Smith can continue to replicate what he has done during the combine and in his Pro Day, he will erase any questions a team has about him.
