Highly recruited linebacker likes idea of following his brother to AuburnBy Scott Cameron, Staff WriterPosted Jul 8, 2008Copyright © 2008 AuburnUndercover.comPetey Smith, one of the nation’s top linebacker prospects, isn’t ready to put an end to the recruiting process just yet, but he knows who he likes.“Auburn is probably on top right now,” said Smith, 6-0 and 230 pounds from Armwood High School in Seffner, Fla. “I like their defense. They always have a good defense. I like that Auburn is in the SEC, because I want to play against the best competition.”Auburn has another advantage. Smith’s brother, Eric, is a freshman running back who signed with the Tigers last February and has been on-campus working out in preparation for preseason practice.“He calls me once every two days or so,” Petey Smith said. “He always tells me about his workouts and gives me advice on what I need to do while I am preparing for college.”Smith, on the ESPN 150 Watch List, says he has more than 40 scholarship offers, but no school is recruiting him harder than Auburn. Among others who have offered are Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Clemson, Miami, North Carolina, Ohio State, Michigan and Illinois.“Auburn is recruiting me the hardest right now,” he said. “They send me a lot of motivational speeches and stuff like that, pretty much just letting me know that I am on their minds.”As a junior, Smith was in on 80 tackles and had three sacks. He says there is plenty of room for improvement as he heads into his senior season.“The best part of my game is my reading ability,” Smith said. “I have a nose for the football. Also, I’d say that my power and explosiveness are very good parts of my game. If there is anything that I feel like I need to work on, it would be my agility. Also, sometimes when I get tired on the field, I tend to dive more. Better endurance is something to work on before I get to the next level.”Smith said he will weigh numerous factors before making a final decision.“Academics are a big thing and also location, because I don’t want to be too far from home," he said. "I want to go somewhere where I can get on the field.”ESPN, Scouts Inc. evaluation: Simply put, Smith is a dominant inside run stopper at the high school level. He possesses superior size and strength to most of his opposition and steps down fast when filling his inside rush lane. Very explosive at the point of attack: fills with a wide base and knocks blockers upright with great force. The pile consistently goes backward when this kid is in on the play. Excels at blowing up the fullback iso and other two-back power-running schemes. Shows a good short-area burst for his size shooting the backside gap and making plays on or behind the line of scrimmage. Can lumber a bit when chasing sideline-to-sideline but flashes good chase speed, range and a relentless motor often masking a marginal 40 time on paper. Our main issue when projecting for the next level is fluidity. Shows some deceptive athleticism in space but we have yet to see him slip the cutoff block and sift laterally through the fast moving traffic. Needs to work on shedding and keeping blockers off his body. Stiffness and marginal change-of-direction quickness could be exposed against spread offenses in space. We would like to see him become more consistent in his depth as a pass dropper in zone coverage; could struggle if matched up in man-to-man as well. Bottom line, Smith is a great prospect for a team struggling to stop the run. He plays fast and physical on every snap and is ready to make the jump to the next level. If he can add a bit of finesse and flexibility to his game, production should be huge as a college middle linebacker.
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