Xavier Smith is a ray of sunshine in a locker room, a positive force of energy who is constructive in any roster. Smith served as the teams special teams returner as well, showing versatility to a roster interested in adding him. He’s got speed, as he proved at the 2023 HBCU Combine, but his film is filled with solid plays, nuances, and an overall good understanding of the wide receiver position. 

The upside with Xavier Smith is that he can develop his additional tools in his game. He’s already a great athlete, I don’t know how much you can really improve his hands, and he ran an excellent route tree at Florida A&M. I think he’s pretty well set where he is and it’s going to be tough for him to crack a roster without an injury to a slot receiver. If Smith can create value for himself as a boundary receiver, there’s a chance he could have an easier time making a roster, I’m just not certain that he can. 

Florida A&M WR Xavier Smith showed out at the HBCU Combine yesterday but take a look at the route-running prowess he has here.

Sell the go over the top with the head fake, then he has the body control to cut straight into the gap and open himself between two defenders.

Special! pic.twitter.com/SuIvi2WAU2

— John “Draft” Vogel (@DraftVogel) February 21, 2023

Injured his thumb in 2021 that required surgery. Battled an ankle injury through 2021. Went through a shoulder injury in 2019. Size and frame will leave durability concerns. 

Xavier Smith’s scouting report

Athletic Ability (25)

Speed/Athleticism: 15 

• Speed (6.5/7) – Good athlete. Very quick. Solid long speed. Ran a 4.38 at the HBCU Combine, by far the fastest athlete there. 
• Change of Direction (3/4) – Xavier Smith can change direction in short burst very well, but doesn’t show a lot of cut ability as in after the catch jukes. Change of direction is good, not great. 
• Body Control (3/4) – Good body control, not great. Has positive ability. Flashes solid breaks. 

Explosiveness/Burst: 10 

• Acceleration (4.5/5) – Acceleration is very good. Gets up to top speed quickly. 
• Explosion (4/5) – Very solid explosion. Shows good acceleration and route running ability routinely. 

Receiver Technique (25)

Route Running: 15 

• Footwork (5/7) – Footwork could be better through breaks. Flashes solid quickness through his breaks. Gets low and dips when he has to. Has a tendency to round out his routes.
• Route Tree (4/5) – Ran a good, extended route tree with option routes and ran it well. 
• Nuances (2.5/3) – Ridiculously nuanced. Shows excellent understanding on how to manipulate defenders with his movement. 

Release/Flexibility: 10 

• Release Ability (4/5) – Solid release ability. Can win the leverage he wants with his set up. 
• Sideline Work (2.5/5) – Doesn’t show the consistency to get both of his feet down and secure catches on the sideline. 

Catching Ability (20)

Catch Ability: 15 

• Natural Catch Ability (7/10) – Good hands. Reacts quickly to footballs even when he’s not quite ready for them. Catch radius is somewhat limited due to lack of length. Sometimes struggles to secure the catch early and bobbles it a bit. 
• Consistency (3/5) – Struggled bad with drops in 2021, dropping 12.5% of his receptions opportunities. Straightened it out in 2022 with 100 more pass snaps, only dropping 4. 

Contested Catch Ability: 5 

• Catch Through Contact (3/5) – Struggles to catch effectively through contact. Flashes the ability to, but not consistent doing it yet. 

Schematics (25)

Deep Threat/Red Zone: 5 

• Deep Threat Rating (1/2) – Offers some deep threat ability – can stretch the field with his speed. Struggles to track the ball deep. 
• Red Zone Rating (1.5/3) – Typically, size is a huge part of the evaluation as making contested catches are the strength of red zone abilities. Smith is no exception and needs to be schemed open to be effective in the red zone. He scored 11 touchdowns in 2022, but 3 in 2021.

Run After Catch: 15 

• Field Vision (3.5/5) – Field vision is good, not great. 
• Creativity (3/5) – Has a bit in the arsenal to make the first defender miss. Rarely makes the second miss. 
• Strength (4/5) – Shows solid contact balance. 

Run Blocking: 5 

• Strength (1/2) – Decent strength, not great. 
• Consistency (1.5/3) – He wasn’t asked to block very much. Hard to get a feel for this. Takes pride in it and wants to be a better blocker.

Overall: (72.5) – 5th/7th Round