Troy Smith's Window of Opportunity

Per Rotoworld:

Troy Smith will start at quarterback for the Ravens in Week 16. Kyle Boller (concussion) will either back him up or be inactive Sunday, and coach Brian Billick acknowledged his season may be over. Smith, the 2006 Heisman winner, has the support of the locker room, but will get two tough matchups against Seattle and Pittsburgh, if he makes it that far. If Boller can't back up Smith, Cullen Finnerty will be promoted from the practice squad.

We had some good discussion on Troy Smith in the Dynasty Rankings thread at footballguys.com this week. Next year's Ravens remind me of this year's Chiefs. If they don't know by now that a season with Kyle Boller at QB is a lost season, then they deserve whatever fate awaits them. There are only 16 games in a NFL season, so a franchise can't afford to be wasting a good portion of those games -- and a lost season -- on a QB with no future.

The Ravens can either chalk next season up as a loss and watch how pissed off this makes Ray Lewis, or they can bring in a better QB than Kyle Boller. I highly doubt Troy Smith is the answer for a 16-game season at this point in his career, but we know that Kyle Boller is not. If they don't want to be the Chiefs, they better find a legit NFL starting QB. But if they're resigned to a lost season, then Troy Smith makes a lot more sense than Boller does.

The Sporting News' Mike Florio was impressed by Smith's poise during Sunday's game against the Dolphins:

Ray of hope for Ravens?

If there's anything positive to be gleaned from the Baltimore Ravens' eighth straight loss, which put the fans of the previously 0-13 Fins out of their collective misery, it's that the team that has been searching for a quarterback ever since Brian Billick became its head coach might finally have found one.

And he's 2006 Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith.

Although it would be wise not to get too carried away, Smith did everything he could to deliver a victory after replacing Kyle Boller, who suffered a concussion late in the game. If not for Matt Stover's missed 44-yard field goal try in overtime, the Dolphins would be 0-14.

Smith was poised, confident, decisive, elusive. The potential he flashed could be enough to persuade owner Steve Bisciotti to give Billick another year or two.

Then again, the Ravens lost to ... the ... Dolphins. So maybe Baltimore's next coach can work with Smith.

Ben Riley of Football Outsiders was similarly impressed:

Speaking of Smith, he seems to have some of those “intangibles” you want in a quarterback. While Kyle Boller looked like a corpse on the sideline, Ravens players were rallying around Smith and seemed far more energized when he was in the game. Plus, he’s good at avoiding sacks and he threw a couple of perfect passes in tight windows that should have been caught but weren’t.

This jives with my opinion of Troy Smith coming into the league. I don't know if Troy Smith will make it as a starting QB in the NFL, but I do know he's up there with guys like Shane Battier and Byron Leftwich as the best leaders I've seen in college athletics over the past 10 seasons. It remains to be seen if his talent is NFL caliber, but it's nice to know his "intangibles" translate to the next level. He's still somewhat of a longshot to build appreciable dynasty value, but his situation should put him on the radar of every owner in larger leagues and many owners even in 12-team leagues.

Finally, speaking of his competitiveness and leadership, my friend Brad Spieser works in the sports talk radio business in Cincinnati. Brad is an absolute college football nut (maven?) and very astute when it comes to judging talent. I trust him almost implicitly when it comes to judging college football and basketball talent. I'm sure he's seen every Ohio State game going back at least 10-12 years, so he's on top of the program like few are. He simply raves about Troy Smith's intangibles: in addition to the off-the-charts competitiveness and leadership, Smith did the most impressive 180 degree turn he's ever seen out of a college athlete. Smith was something of a problem child when he arrived at Ohio St., and then there was the suspension in 2004. He said Smith was extremely embarrassed and ashamed by the suspension, especially because it left his teammates with a disadvantage in those games. After the suspension, Smith worked harder than any college athlete he's ever seen to improve his game, make it up to his teammates, and do everything in his power to ensure that Ohio St. would win every time they took the field. The turnaround in Smith's game was all-encompassing.

Brad thought Troy Smith should have easily been a 2nd round NFL draft pick if you consider his talent level and intangibles.

Update: Brad, who in addition to being in sports talk radio, is also the founder as well as the main contributor to twinkilling.com, saw this Troy Smith story and pointed me to his post-NFL draft column at Myspace. See below for Brad's Troy Smith comments from that column:

Admittedly, there's more than a little bias here, but don't let that screw you up too much. I care about Ohio State football like little else in my life, BUT…my blinders rarely mess with my head on draft day. Consider this list of former OSU players: Nate Salley, Ben Hartsock, Anthony Schlegel, Donnie Nickey (and dozens more I'm struggling to remember). I never thought for a second anyone on that list would be anything but—at best--career back-ups (by the way, I was spot-on with my assessment). And for the record, I don't think Quinn Pitcock (3^rd round) and Antonio Pittman (4^th) were the steals of the '07 draft; that seemed like fair places for them to be taken. I bring this up just to illustrate my ability to think (somewhat) objectively about the Buckeyes, which—if you're familiar with Bucknuts.com—places me in the overwhelming minority.

I love being right about things (this isn't a newsflash, but still). This is especially true when the topic is the future of college athletes. This is even more true when it comes to players I follow passionately, like Troy Smith. It's truthful (and pathetic), but I watched every throw of his OSU career. I also watched him sit the bench for an unjustified reason (Justin Zwick!) and an embarrassing one (taking $500 from a booster). I watched him grow by leaps and bounds, personally and athletically. He wasn't just the best Buckeye of my lifetime; he was the best team-leader I've ever seen at the NCAA level (only Shane "Moonlight" Battier and Byron Leftwich rival Troy Smith).

In November 2004, Troy Smith (a sophomore) turned in a performance for the ages versus Michigan. I was a happy boy, but not yet convinced of Smith's ascent to stardom. Weeks later, the story was leaked about Smith's involvement with a booster. I was an angry boy, but only because I couldn't watch him play in the upcoming Alamo Bowl. The way I saw the situation, it didn't matter that he took the cash; only that he didn't do it again. (Note: I may have felt differently had Zwick not been the back-up QB). As of December 2004, Troy Smith was merely OSU's QB; a guy I would root for simply because he wore an Ohio State uniform. Things were about to change. And soon.

Sometime in February (or maybe January) 2005, I listened to Kirk Herbstreit interview Troy Smith on 1460thefan.com, and I was blown away by Smith's candor. He made no excuses, and he didn't duck the barrage of tough questions. At the end of the conversation, Smith apologized to his teammates, the coaching staff and the fans. You might find it hard to believe, but I had goosebumps for the duration of his apology. Listen, I've spent approximately 3,500 hours of my life lying to principals…plus, I never believe anything an athlete has to say…so I can tell you--there wasn't an ounce of bulls**t spewing out of Smith's mouth that day. When he spoke of his teammates, I was legitimately inspired. It was unlike anything I'd ever heard. It's hard for me to imagine another human being possessing more charisma.

Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking my man crush for Troy Smith is making you a little uncomfortable. You're also thinking it's impossible for someone to change over night, and that I'm just drinking the scarlet and gray Kool-Aid. That's a fair rebuttal, I suppose, but all I can tell you is I heard the interview and you (probably) didn't. I would never dispute Smith's shaky character before 2005. Since then? An alter boy. I never buy into stories about bad people experiencing a rebirth (a jerk is a jerk, you know?); with Troy Smith, I'm making an exception.

As for Troy Smith the football player, I have no doubt he's a starting NFL QB. Strong arm (check), accurate passer (check), mobile (check), natural leader (check), handsome (obviously)…what else do you want? Yeah, he's only 6'0, but that doesn't concern me; I don't recall too many of his passes being swatted to the turf last year, so why would the change be drastic in the NFL. Plus, look at the success of Andy Brees, Steve Young and the Buffalo version of Doug Flutie…(lack of) height didn't relegate them to the bench…why would it for Smith?

Prediction #1: Troy Smith is the starting QB for the Baltimore Ravens by the end of 2008.

Prediction #2: Starting sometime during 2008, I will be a Ravens fan for fourteen games per season for the next decade.

Advice to Bengals fifth round pick Jeff Rowe: It would be wise not to suck.

See, I told you Brad was a college football maven (nut?). Who goes into that kind of depth on a NFL 5th round draft pick?