DeVonta Smith on His Relationship With Jalen Hurts
The Philadelphia Eagles moved up two spots from No. 12 to No. 10 to select the 2020 Heisman trophy winner DeVonta Smith, reuniting him with former Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts. Smith was third wide receiver selected behind LSU's Ja'Marr Chase and Alabama teammate Jaylen Waddle.
As a senior, Smith led all FBS wide receivers in receptions (117), receiving yards (1,856) and touchdowns (23). He broke the SEC record for receiving yards and touchdowns in a season.
On Thursday, Smith talked about his relationship with his former teammate. "Jalen, that's my guy," Smith said. "Even when I was a recruit, he was the guy trying to get me to come to Alabama. That's my guy. I have a great relationship [with him], and I'm ready to work.
He talked about the mentorship he provided to himself and his other Alabama teammates. "Jalen taught everybody the game," Smith said. "He was just one of those guys that was a student of the game and taught everybody the game. When you got reps with him, he was always telling you about coverages and rotations. The connection is there, the chemistry is there. Overall, he's just always helped everybody else be better on the field."
"Really excited to get DeVonta Smith," Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said. "He was really highly rated on our board, someone who we feel like is not only a great player but a great person and will come in and be ready to roll. We talked about it through this draft process, about getting guys in here who could help us build the type of culture we want. We had a plan that we talked about, and we had a list of guys that we were really targeting in this draft. And with the amount of picks that we had, the flexibility we had because of the picks, we felt like it was important to get one of those guys, and that's why we made the trade up to go get him."
Smith will enter his rookie season with some chemistry with his new quarterback.
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