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Former Lakeland Dreadnaught Arian Smith is headed to the NFL.
Smith, a fifth-year senior out of Georgia, was drafted in the fourth round by the New York Jets on Saturday. He was the 110th player taken in the 2025 NFL Draft.
A 6-0, 179-pound wide receiver, Smith was something of a late bloomer in large part because of injuries. He only played in four games in each of his first two seasons at Georgia then played 11 and 14 games respectively over the next two seasons. He never caught more than eight passes in the regular season and had just 20 catches for 539 yards for an average of 26.9 yards per catch.
Smith had a breakout season in 2024. He caught 48 passes and led the Bulldogs with 817 yards receiving.
Smith clocked at 4.36 in the 40 at the NFL combine, giving the Jets muched-needed speed. In college, he averaged 36.5 yards on his 10 touchdown catches.
His strengths in addition to speed have been listed as the ability to create separation with his feet and his hands. However, he needs to work on his route running, and his hands are questionable as his 10 drops led the SEC last season.
Smith played football and track and field his first three years at Mulberry and first made his mark in track when he won the long jump at the Class 2A state meet. As a sophomore, he faulted on his first three attempts and did not qualify for the finals.
Smith then had a big junior season in which he took gold in the 200, took silver in the 100 and took bronze in the long jump. That summer, Smith won a gold medal at the 2019 Pan American U20 Athletics Championships in the 4×100 relay for the United States with Justin Ofotan, Marcellus Moore and Matthew Boling for the United States.
After his junior…
Source link : https://www.theledger.com/story/sports/nfl/2025/04/26/new-york-jets-draft-georgia-wide-receiver-arian-smith/83296763007/
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Publish date : 2025-04-26 19:16:00
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