In the Game Magazine:
Telvin Smith, a former Lowndes High Viking, was selected in the fifth round (144th pick overall) by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2014 NFL Draft. Smith won a state title with Lowndes and played four years for the Florida State Seminoles. He saw significant playing time on special teams and at linebacker for his first three years but did not become a regular starter until his senior year. The 2013 Seminoles won the BCS Championship, and Smith was an integral part of that national championship team.
Draft analysts pegged Smith as a mid-round pick. No one doubted his athletic ability or whether or not he could play at the professional level. What did concern teams was his size – or lack thereof. He plays like a linebacker but at 220 pounds, has the frame of a defensive back. Scouts feared he couldn’t take the punishment a linebacker faces at the NFL level.
To be effective on a NFL team, Smith really needed a strong defensive line up front to handle the big offensive linemen and free him up to make plays. Smith is also skilled at dropping back into coverage. Fortunately for him, the Jaguars had several holes they needed to fill at linebacker. They run a 4-3 defense and didn’t really have a linebacker last year who was effective at coverage. He had exactly what the Jaguars needed.
Jacksonville waited until the fifth round to select Smith. He is expected to continue fighting for a spot on the team during the remainder of the preseason. Ideally, he needs to get bigger and stronger without losing any of his speed and quickness. He should have no problem making the team and ought to be a valuable addition to a Jaguars squad that was very weak at linebacker in 2013.
‘But wait,’ you might be thinking, ‘Telvin Smith isn’t the only In the Game athlete drafted into the NFL. I know for a fact there are others.’ That depends on a couple of different variables. The first In the Game athlete ever drafted came from Carver-Columbus and was Jarvis Jones, who currently plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers. One other South Georgia athlete was drafted this year – Garrett Scott, an offensive lineman from Coffee who went to Marshall. The Seattle Seahawks took Scott but had to release after team doctors discovered a heart condition that prevented him from playing. And at least three other In the Game players signed as free agents this year: Greg Reid, St. Louis Rams (Lowndes); Demario Bennett, New York Jets (Coffee); and Isaiah Crowell, Cleveland Browns (Carver-Columbus). But Smith was the first South Georgia In the Game athlete to hear his name called on draft day who still has an opportunity to make an NFL roster.
