The first round pick is coming in with the most unique challenge of any rookie player.
He is replacing a penalty machine, which is the main reason he is gone, with the same rep he got in college. He committed multiple penalties when facing better DL on better teams.
I do not recall another situation like this and while he has the customary challenge of playing NFL OL as a rookie, he has baggage he must unpack or the fans are going to be on him as they were Williams.
The strength of Smith’s game is aggression and power which are going to exacerbate his challenge to try and play a clean game. I saw some video of his play at Tulsa and am not sure all of those penalties were justified but that doesn’t matter, he is a rookie with a rep coming in and that is an unique challenge.
This is also a challenge for the OL coaching staff because they failed to cure Williams and went so far to bench him.
