He wasn't THAT obscure.

I think Brugler and Jeremiah both had him as a 5th round talent.

The issue is that those boards grade guys in a vacuum and don't consider the glut of players at the RB position. Lots of teams had already filled a need at RB in day 3 so he slid.

He's still a guy that in an average year is a 5th rounder. It was just a deep RB draft.

Some of those plays were really bad defense. A few of those were some really good blocking destroying some flowing linebackers (that was enjoyable, regardless of who I was watching :D ).

I'm trying to keep the uber homer in me tamped down. I don't think he can do Tyreek things. Tyreek is ridiculous. But the homer is coming, he can do some really nice slippery things that the offense has been missing since Jet was healthy. I'm trying to find ways to keep the homer at bay, but it's coming!

Remember that this kid literally played WR until last year so he’s multi-faceted. I half wonder if Andy gets him some snaps out wide at times on certain plays.

He could be another screen option, running option, WR option or play some of the gadget role. He’s extremely versatile.

I expect Elijah Mitchell to get the Perine 3rd down back role bc he is a decent blocker, but it is nice to have insurance for when he eventually gets hurt.

It’s such a breath of fresh air man. People constantly blamed the coaches when we had old, washed slow players that severely limited the offense. The injection of speed and juice on the offense is gonna help us big time.

Just remember that Jet wasn't exactly a punishing blocker back there.

He succeeded through intelligence and willingness.

Smith CAN get there. Will he? Who knows? But this isn't a situation where we grabbed a 5'9", 170 lb guy to go stand in front of LBs.

Smith is gonna play at 200 lbs. He's not someone who physically won't be able to stand in there and throw a block if he's in the right place at the right time. The tools are there.

So now it's a question of drive and experience.

It may not come early, but there's no reason to think it can't come at all. He can be a legitimate James White sort of 3rd down weapon with a little time. He has the tools and the frame to do it.

I think your percentages are off. The margin of skill is so slim in the NFL, that 80 percent of a guy who was viewed as a top 15-20 pick is not even a practice squad guy.

The percentage differences in skill or speed from NFL stars and NFL never-gonna-make-its is SMALL.

Let's use speed as an easy example. If you're a WR or RB or CB or S who runs 4.4, you're fast enough to be in the NFL. But if your speed is 80 percent of what it was, you're now a 5.28 guy and probably not a football player past high school. If your speed is 90 percent of what it was, you're now a 4.84 guy and definitely not jumping from college to the NFL (and probably were a walk-on or fringer roster guy at the college level).

Guys that lose 5 percent of their physical abilities are guys that start to slide out of the league.

Simmons needs to come back at 95 percent of what he was, or better, to really even have a chance to stick in the NFL.

I feel like you're pissing into the wind on this one...

Well, no more excuses, anyway. We're fast as ****.

I think the biggest plus is the fit.

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I think it's the world class speed...

I don't even have to click it; one of my favorite Norm bits, of many.

He has a bunch to work on to be able to pass block. He's not a guy I suspect will be in much on 1st and 10. And that pleases me because I don't ever want to run on 1st and 10 anyway.

For starters I'm thinking he is taking every single one of Hardman's plays just right off the top.

Can't wait to see this guy run reverses.

The Kool-Aid Man says OH YEAH!

But if you don’t WANT to run on 1st and 10 … wouldn’t the back who is primarily a receiving threat be THE perfect back for 1st and 10?

It’s a conundrum…

Agreed. I love the guy on 1st and 10.

Because there's a credible threat of the run (which will mitigate his shortcomings as a pass blocker) but the Chiefs will still prefer to pass (which can get him out in space).

Run the ball even 1/4 of the time that he's in there on 1st down strictly as a tendency breaker and if he gets the corner even 10% of the time, you're cooking with gas.

I see Mitchell as a 3rd down back (for now) where Brashard Smith can actually be a really nice fit on early downs in 'open' down/distance situations.