Devin Smith (born March 3, 1992) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

wide receiver who is a free agent. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He played college football at

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

Early years

Smith attended

Massillon Washington High School Washington High School, commonly referred to as Massillon High School or Massillon Washington High School, is a 9th to 12th grade secondary school within the Massillon City School District in the city of Massillon, Ohio, United States. The schoo ...

in Massillon, Ohio, where he played three sports: football, track and basketball. He was a two-time first-team All-Ohio performer. He had 110 career catches for 2,119 yards and 24 touchdowns (second-best in school history). He was also named All-county Independent player of year. He

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

2 years

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

at Massillon High and previously at

Ellet High School Ellet Community Learning Center, formerly known as Ellet High School, is a public high school in Akron, Ohio. It is one of eight high schools in the Akron City School District. Ellet's daily enrollment for the 2012–2013 school year was 1,147 ...

in football and track and field. He was the state's

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

champion (24-7 or 7.55 metres). As a sprinter, he recorded a personal-best time of 10.56 seconds in the 100-meter dash at the 2011 state meet, where he placed first. He was also a state qualifier in the high jump and as part of the 4x200 relay. Considered a three-star recruit by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

'', Smith was rated as the 58th best wide receiver prospect of his class. On June 17, 2010, he committed to

The Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publi ...

to play college football.

College career

As a

true freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

, he caught 14 passes for 294 yards and 4 touchdowns, highlighted by a 40-yard game-winning touchdown reception from

Braxton Miller Braxton Marcellus Miller (born November 30, 1992) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes and was their starting quarterback from 2011 to 2013, before moving to the wide receiver posit ...

with 20 seconds left in a 33-29 win over

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. As a sophomore, he started 10 games, playing in all 12. He caught 30 passes for 618 yards and six touchdowns. As a junior, starting 12 games, he recorded 44 receptions for 660 yards and 8 touchdowns, and earned himself honorable mention all-conference honors. As a senior, Smith had 33 receptions for 931 yards and 12 touchdowns. In the

2014 Big Ten Football Championship Game The 2014 Big Ten Football Championship Game was a college football game played on December 6, 2014 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was the fourth annual Big Ten Football Championship Game and it determined the 2014 champion of th ...

, he caught 4 passes for 137 yards and 3 touchdowns, helping the Buckeyes to a 59-0 victory over

. In the

2015 Sugar Bowl The 2015 Sugar Bowl was a college football game that was played on January 1, 2015 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was the 81st Sugar Bowl, and a semifinal game in the College Football Playoff. It was one of the 201 ...

, in which Ohio State upset No. 1

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

42–35, Smith had 2 receptions for 87 yards, including a 47-yard touchdown that put his team ahead for good early in the third quarter. In the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship victory over Oregon, he had one reception for 45 yards. Smith finished his college career with 121 receptions for 2,503 yards and 30 touchdowns. He also spent three spring seasons sprinting and jumping with the Buckeyes track & field team. He finished in a tie for second at the 2014 Big Ten outdoor championships in the high jump by clearing a personal, collegiate-best 7-0.25 (2.18 metres) in his first competition of the season, and qualified him for NCAA regional competition.

Career statistics

Professional career

New York Jets

Smith was selected by the New York Jets in the second round (37th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft. On May 8, 2015, the Jets signed Smith to a four-year, $5.87 million contract with $3.23 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of 2.53 million. On November 29, 2015, Smith caught his first career touchdown against the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

. On December 12, 2015, Smith suffered a knee injury and had to leave the Week 14 matchup against the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

. Two days later, it was revealed that he had suffered a torn ACL, bringing his rookie season to a premature end. In 10 games of his rookie season in 2015, Smith had 115 receiving yards and a touchdown. On December 18, Smith was placed on injured reserve. Smith started the 2016 season on PUP to rehabilitate his right knee suffered the previous season. He was activated off PUP to the active roster on November 9, 2016 prior to Week 10. Smith was limited to four games in 2016, recording only one reception for 20 yards. On April 29, 2017, as the third day the

2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia ...

was in progress, it was revealed that Smith had suffered another torn ACL to the same knee. This was his second torn ACL of his professional career, and he would miss the entire 2017 season. On May 22, 2017, the Jets waived/injured Smith and placed him on injured reserve. On July 16, 2018, Smith was waived by the Jets.

Dallas Cowboys

On January 18, 2019, Smith signed a reserve/future contract with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

. His play was a surprise during the preseason and was able to make the team as a backup wide receiver. In Week 2, he played against the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

because

Tavon Austin Tavon Wesley Austin (born March 15, 1990) is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. He played college football at West Virginia where he received All-American honors twice. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the first ro ...

was out with an injury, catching 3 passes for 74 yards, including his first reception since 2016, which was a 51-yard touchdown to open up five straight scoring drives. In Week 3, he started against the

in place of an injured Michael Gallup, registering 2 receptions for 39 yards. After appearing in the first four contests of the season, he dropped on the depth chart and was declared inactive for 12 straight games, when the Cowboys opted to instead activate wide receiver Ventell Bryant for his

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

play. He finished the season with five receptions for 113 yards and one touchdown. On September 2, 2020, Smith was released by the Cowboys.

Houston Texans

On September 21, 2020, Smith was signed to the Houston Texans practice squad. He was released on November 10.

New England Patriots

On December 9, 2020, Smith was signed to the New England Patriots practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 4, 2021. He was released on July 27, 2021.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On August 28, 2021, Smith signed with the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

. He was waived on August 31, 2021 and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He was released on October 12.

Carolina Panthers

On October 27, 2021, Smith was signed to the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

practice squad. He was released on November 2, 2021.

References

External links

Ohio State Buckeyes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Devin 1992 births Living people American football wide receivers Dallas Cowboys players Houston Texans players Jacksonville Jaguars players New England Patriots players New York Jets players Ohio State Buckeyes football players Ohio State Buckeyes men's track and field athletes Players of American football from Ohio American male high jumpers Track and field athletes from Ohio Sportspeople from Massillon, Ohio Track and field athletes in the National Football League Carolina Panthers players