A Can’t-Miss NFL Draft Prospect Thought He’d Be a Giant
Time to break some Big Blue hearts.
In an interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia's Chris Long, new Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith broke down his mindset during the draft. Within this conversation, he mentioned how after the Carolina Panthers chose not to draft him, he fully expected to be a New York Giant by the end of the night. And that was the end of the story and everybody went home happy.
Wait, nope, then all hell broke loose.
Before we advance, here is the quote in question from Smith:
"SMITH: I thought Carolina was going to draft me. That's who I thought. I knew of course the Giants, but it was all about, You have to get to 11. I knew if I was there at 11, I was for sure going to the Giants." - NBC Sports Philadelphia
What a rollercoaster of an evening for the Heisman winner, and I think all Giants fans can agree, we road that same rollercoaster that night. Going into the draft, the question rang in fans' ears: wide receiver or O-lineman? Was Dave Gettleman going to get another weapon for his QB, or would he add another heavyweight to the front lines for the Big Blue.
After Jaylen Waddle was taken, a trio of players were taken off the board, none of which were named DeVonta Smith. Left in front of the Giants stood the Dallas Cowboys, who have quite the compliment of wide receivers surrounding Dak Prescott. Then, Roger Goodell ruined EVERYONE's fun time, and told us there was a trade to announce.
In came the Philadelphia Eagles, who swooped in (HA...puns) and took Smith to add to their wide receiving corps for Jalen Hurts. Smith was, in all likelihood, left stunned. His original plan was to be drafted by the Panthers, which did not happen. He then expected the Giants to take him, as he told NBC Sports, then THAT didn't happen, as the dark horse Eagles took him instead.
In summary...let's go Yung Joka, Kadarious Toney.