With the 2026 NFL Draft now within the historical past books, we’re creating scouting studies for a number of the gamers the Dallas Cowboys drafted that we haven’t coated, together with the undrafted free agent class. Right this moment we’re taking a look at vast receiver Anthony Smith from East Carolina.
WREast Carolina PiratesSenior3-star rating6’2”192 lbs
Anthony Smith is from Huntingtown, Maryland and got here up as a late-blooming soccer participant with elite monitor velocity. In 2020 at N.C. State, he performed eight video games and flashed as a deep risk in a small position. He registered 5 catches for 69 yards and one landing,
In 2021, Smith appeared in all 12 video games and stayed a low-volume explosive-play specialist with 4 catches, 97 yards, one landing, with a 42-yard landing versus Furman. In 2022, his season was lower brief by harm and missed the final eight video games, and in 2023, he performed 10 video games in a reserve position and completed with two catches for 19 yards.
He transferred to East Carolina and instantly grew to become a featured vertical goal in 2024. He began all 13 video games and produced 41 catches, 799 yards, and 6 touchdowns with a number of 100-yard video games. Then in 2025, he made the total leap to go-to receiver for East Carolina with 65 catches, 1,053 yards, seven touchdowns, plus a 45-yard dashing landing at Temple. His signature second was the 2025 Navy Bowl, the place he gained Navy Bowl MVP after a bowl-record 156 receiving yards and two touchdowns on 4 catches.
786 Offensive Snaps100 Targets64 Receptions1,053 Receiving Yards81 Rec YPG8 Complete TDs376 YAC6 Dropped Passes6 Missed Tackles Forced40 First Downs110.1 Passer RTG When Targeted4 Penalties
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2025: First-Workforce All-American Athletic ConferenceMilitary Bowl MVP
Total- 51.8Speed- 93Acceleration- 96Agility- 80Strength- 56Catching- 69Route Working- 69Ball Monitoring- 80YAC Expertise- 76Blocking- 56Discipline- 90
Elite vertical speedAcceleration and burst is off the chartsExplosive-play productionTrue chunk-play specialistBall monitoring is excellent on deep shotsUseful dimension for a deep threatCompetitive toughness and performs by contactWilling particular groups contributor Inconsistent handsUnfinished route treeNeeds extra separation craft on the prime of routesStruggles towards bodily press man defensive backsLate breakout participant with little manufacturing at N.C. StateSpecial groups position is projection, not provenPlayed six years of school and already 24 years of age
Smith’s finest match is as a situational vertical field-stretcher and core particular teamer. He’s the man you gown on sport day to filter protection, run takeoff routes, deep overs, and punish single-high seems to be when defenses tilt to CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. Smith will compete for the WR4/WR5 place.
Anthony Smith is a straight-line burner and vertical weapon whose NFL worth begins with velocity and ends with spacing. He stresses safeties, forces corners to show and run, and opens room beneath for a major goal whereas additionally offering one-play explosive upside on go routes.
His ECU tape exhibits he can monitor the ball properly downfield, stack defenders when he will get a clear launch, end huge performs, and his background as an elite sprinter exhibits up in how shortly he eats cushion. The constraints are typical for late-round velocity receivers. He’s not a refined route technician but, could be disrupted by bodily press and re-routes, and the day-to-day consistency is what determines whether or not he turns into greater than a situational field-stretcher.
The projection is a WR4/5 kind who earns his game-day helmet through particular groups and velocity packages, with the upside to develop right into a rotational deep risk if his route craft and play power develop.
CONSENSUS OVERALL RANKING
313th(Consensus rating primarily based on the common rating from 90 main scoring companies, together with BTB)
