Hey folks... I'm a Panthers fan and stumbled upon this thread after hearing about the rumors the Pats might be interested in Smitty.. I have to say I'm surprised at some of the negativity towards him, and figured I'd give a "scouting report" to help clear up some misconceptions.
1) I noticed a lot of people bringing up the fight he was in with Ken Lucas. Yes, that was a dumb move, but that's just how Smith is. The guy is one of, if not the most competitive players I have ever seen play in the NFL. He made a mistake, and has stayed clear of anything like that ever since it happened.
2) The short thing.. I know you guys are sick of short receivers, but having seen Smitty play for the past decade, the guy plays like he's 7 foot tall. There is a reason Revis, when asked about Smith, called him a "competitor". His height has never been an issue in his entire career.
3) He's old! Yeah, he's 31, but he still has a few seasons left playing at a high level.
Some may look at his recent stats and see a red flag, but go ahead and look at the quarterbacks he's had throwing him the ball.. Jake Delhomme, Matt Moore, and Jimmy Clausen... Smitty with a guy like Brady would be unreal good. I can't tell you how many times last season where Smitty was literally 5-10 yards away from the closest defender, WIDE open, but still wasn't thrown a pass because Clausen was too afraid to throw down field and just checked it down.
What you'll get from Smith:
-He will NEVER give up on the team. The Panthers were 2-14 this season, yet he treated every game like a playoff game, never giving up on plays or slacking because of horrid quarterback play.
-Despite said horrid quarterback play plaguing the Panthers for the past two seasons, he's kept his mouth shut(for the most part) and played on.
-Still able to get open down field consistently, but has lacked an accurate deep passer. Up until last season, the Panthers had no GOOD #2 or #3 receivers, and the TE's used were there for blocking. Smitty on a team with other receiving threats to take some pressure off of him = gold.
Hope this helps..