24K Goes as the First 3rd Round Pick (64th Overall)

The Detroit Lions sent a sixth round draft pick to Miami for the privilege of moving up two spots to draft Kevin Smith. 24k is the first pick of the third round, and the 64th overall. Readers will no doubt remember that after many, many, many assurances that he would not turn pro, Smith reversed position.

Not only was 24k not drafted in the first or second round, he was also the third C-USA running back picked. East Carolina's Chris Johnson went to Tennessee at number 24 overall. Chicago drafted Matt Forte of Tulane in the second round.

Regardless of the self-esteem hit of not being the first or second C-USA running back drafted, the Lions seem to be an excellent fit for 24k. The Lions have no running game to speak of, and will give Kevin Smith carries until he collapses give Kevin Smith plenty of opportunities to prove himself. They’ll appreciate his complete willingness to sacrifice his body hard-nosed work ethic.

Some collected perspectives on the 24k pick by those who are far more informed than we are:

ESPN:

1(64)	Detroit (From Miami)	Kevin Smith	RB	CENTRAL FLORIDA
	Smith can dance in the backfield too much and he's a little bit of an upright runner, so he takes some big hits. However, he does an excellent job of reading his blocks and shows good burst in the hole. He also has good vision and enough lateral mobility to make defenses pay for overpursuing.

College Football News:

1

64

Detroit (from Miami) Kevin Smith, RB UCF Would Smith be considered a first rounder if he was Kevin Smith, Florida instead of Kevin Smith, UCF? While his competition will be questioned, playing in Conference USA, he produced against everyone including NC State (217 yards and two touchdowns), Texas (149 yards and two touchdowns), and Mississippi State (119 yards, but on 35 carries). George O'Leary and the Knights weren't afraid to overuse their star getting him a whopping 450 carries and 24 catches last season, and he cranked out 2,567 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns despite having all 11 defenders and the waterboy focused on stopping him. He's a producer, but he'll have a short shelf life if he's asked to be a No. 1 back.

From Sports Illustrated:

Let me get this straight: the Lions traded two picks to Miami to select Central Florida running back Kevin Smith with the first selection of the draft's second day, No. 64 overall? I think I'm beginning to understand the draft strategy in Detroit. Whenever possible, you take the best available generically named running back -- providing his first name is Kevin.

The Lions cut injury-prone veteran running back Kevin Jones (first round, 2004) earlier this offseason and just replaced him with Kevin Smith. What, was Kevin Doe draft ineligible?

But seriously, not a bad recovery by the Lions after passing on Illinois running back Rashard Mendenhall with their No. 15 first-round pick on Saturday. Smith, of course, led the nation in rushing last year for UCF, and listening to him at the scouting combine in February, he clearly has a chip on his shoulder with something to prove to the teams that classified him a second-day pick. Detroit seems satisfied to go to work with a backfield tandem of Tatum Bell and Smith.

We'll update this post with other perspectives as they come out.

Good luck 24K, and thanks for carrying our entire offense last year. Let's send you off with, say, a highlight video of everyone of the 41 carries you had against UAB: