Shi Smith drafted, joins Jaycee Horn in staying close to home
Former South Carolina receiver Shi Smith was picked in the sixth round of the NFL Draft, No. 204 overall, on Saturday by the Carolina Panthers.
Here are five things to know about Smith.
He played at South Carolina in college
Smith arrived at the University of South Carolina as a four-star prospect and one of the top players in USC’s 2017 recruiting class, and he wasted no time in making an impact. As a freshman, he appeared in 12 games and made seven starts, finishing third on the team with 409 receiving yards and not dropping a single pass along the way.
Smith would go on to start in 35 games and play in 43 total over his career, finishing his career with 174 catches, 2,204 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Standout senior in the SEC
No one was more integral to South Carolina’s passing attack this year than Smith, who led the team with 57 catches, 633 yards and four touchdowns — more than every other wide receiver on the roster combined in all three categories. And he did it even while missing one game with a concussion.
Simply put, Smith was far and away the go-to target all season long, and he turned in a number of standout performances, going for more than 10 receptions and 100 yards against both Tennessee and Ole Miss. He also made not one but two highlight reel grabs in South Carolina’s biggest game of the year, a home upset of ranked Auburn.
In the Gamecock record books
Smith leaves South Carolina fourth in program history in total catches and eighth in receiving yards. He also is tied for 13th in the record books for career touchdowns.
As a senior, Smith also became the first player in program history to record back-to-back games with 10 or more receptions.
Shi Smith 40 time, NFL measurables
Smith has long been known to be one of the fastest Gamecocks in recent memory, regularly topping teammates’ list when asked who the quickest player on the offense was. He backed that up at South Carolina’s pro day this spring, posting a 40-yard dash time of 4.43 seconds — and that was actually a touch slower than he thought he could go.
Smith’s draft stock also got a bump during the Senior Bowl week, when he impressed scouts from NFL.com who projected him as a Day 1 starter at the slot position.
Carrying on Wide Receiver U?
Smith’s most productive season at South Carolina in terms of yardage came in 2018, tallying 673 yards on 45 catches. That season, he also happened to be playing third option to other receivers — Deebo Samuel and Bryan Edwards.
Both Samuel and Edwards would go on to become high-level NFL draft picks. Samuel was selected in the second round of the 2018 draft by the San Francisco 49ers, while Edwards went in the third round of the 2019 draft to the Las Vegas Raiders.
The last time South Carolina had wide receivers taken in three consecutive drafts was 2012-14, when the run of Alshon Jeffery, Ace Sanders and Bruce Ellington were selected. All told, Smith is the 19th receiver out of South Carolina taken in the draft.
This story was originally published May 1, 2021 at 4:36 PM.
