Today, Baltimore Ravens wide receiver and former Carolina Panther, Steve Smith, announced this will be his final season. The dude has been around almost the entire time this league has existed. He was never quite an elite player (never getting drafted in round one), but he did manage to have elite seasons from time to time. He earned a first-team All-Robio award back in 2005, plus a second-team (2011) and third-team (2008). However, he also failed to crack the top-50 three times.
He had good success in this league, leading over half-a-dozen teams to the playoffs (and was only cut one when a season-ending injury was not involved). Sadly, he never won a championship as a starter (he was the backup to one championship team). His worst partnership was with Calderon, as the pair produced his worst two non-rookie years, but Smith and Colby had good times back in 2005-06. His one title game appearance as a starter was with Colby, although he came up very small in the defeat. While plenty of teams had Smith for multiple seasons, myself, Don, Burrier and Molly never had him on our team. Anyhow…
Here is a brief history of Steve Smith.
2001 – Position Rank: N/A His rookie year. He went undrafted and was never picked up by anyone as he caught just 10 balls on the season.
2002 – Position Rank: #40 Smith again went undrafted. However, he showed some signs towards the end of the season. he caught 54 balls for 872 yards and was eventually picked up by GRIFF. He sat on the bench of a 8-win team that reached the semifinals.
2003 – Position Rank: #15 CALDERON pulled off one of the best round 15 steals in league history when he grabbed Smith with the 178th pick in the draft (out of 180). The tiny receiver had a breakout season, delivering 1,110 yards and seven scores. Rich inserted him into his starting lineup and he helped turn Rich’s 1-5 team into a playoff team. In the post-season, he contributed 180 fantasy points in his upset over top-seeded me in the quarterfinals.
2004 – Position Rank: #146 Although 2004 was the beginning of keepers in this league, CALDERON did not keep Smith. The reason being, in that first year we had yet established categories, so keeping Smith would have cost Calderon a third-round pick. He obviously decided that was a bit pricey and passed. Instead, he ended up drafting him in round four and it turned ugly real quick, as Smith was knocked out for the year in week one (after just six receptions). Calderon would survive, going on to win nine game, reaching the semifinals. The footnote to this was when Smith went down, Muhsin Muhammad stepped up. Colby ended up grabbing him and the other Carolina receiver finished first among all receivers.
2005 – Position Rank: #1 For the second straight year, COLBY would end up with the league’s top receiver (from Carolina no less) when JEFF drafted Steve Smith in round three. Smith proved to be a golden ticket delivering 1,563 yards and 12 scores, as the 44th, 50th, 52nd, 55th, 56th and 97th ranked receivers were also drafted in that round. Colby would eventually install Smith into a three wide receiver system. He won six game that year and reached the finals, but lost, as Smith contributed just 34 fantasy points (one catch, 18 yards) in the title game.
2006 – Position Rank: #7 For the first time ever, Smith became a keeper, as team JEFF/COLBY kept him in round three. Despite having no quarterback worthy of throwing him the ball, Smith caught 83 balls in 14 games for 1,166 yards and eight scores. If he hadn’t miss a pair of games, he would have easily earned another All-Robio award. With Smith and Tiki Barber leading the way, Colby won nine games, before losing to Bob in the quarterfinals.
2007 – Position Rank: #17 In 2007, Jeff/Colby decided to pass on Smith as a keeper for Donovan McNabb in round five. This allowed MASTERSON to grab him. This would be the highest Smith would ever be drafted. This proved to be a tough year for Rob, as he lost first-round pick Marvin Harrison for the year early, killing his dream of the most lethal 3-wide ever. Smith only missed one game, but again struggled because of quarterback issues. He caught 78 balls, but for only 1,002 yards…good enough for a mid-level WR2. Rob ended up winning just five games and for the first time ever, a team starting Steve Smith missed the playoffs.
2008 – Position Rank: #5 Heading into the season, folks were scared off by a two-game suspension, so Smith fell into the lap of ERIC in the fourth round. As a starter in a 3-wide system (his third career 3-wide), he led Eric to six wins and a trip to the quarterfinals. He finished 5th among receivers (despite missing two games) and actually led all WR’s in points per game average.
2009 – Position Rank: #27 For the second time, Smith was kept, this time by ERIC. However, his numbers dipped (he failed to reach 1,000 yards). Again, the culprit was the quarterback (no Cam Newton yet). He continued to start for Eric and helped him win six games and reach the quarterfinals. They ended up losing to Matt, but don’t blame Smith, as he scored 232 points in that playoff defeat.
2010 – Position Rank: #69 After six long years, Smith returned to CALDERON, who grabbed him up in the third\-round despite the fact the quarterback spot remained a huge issue in Carolina. With Brady Quinn throwing him the ball, Smith had his worst non-injury/non-rookie year ever, catching just 46 balls for 554 yards and two scores. He quickly ended up on the bench of a good Calderon team that won nine games, earning the two-seed. Luckily for Smith, he avoided the quarterfinals upset to Don, as Calderon cut his WR prior to week thirteen…the only time Smith had been cut (for a non-injury).
2011 – Position Rank: #4 Steve Smith’s shine had finally worn off and he slipped to MASTERSON in the 8th round of the draft. However, with Cam Newton in Carolina, Smith was re-born, as he finished 4th among all receivers. However, Smith is most famous in 2011 for what he didn’t do or rather what he could have done if Rob didn’t trade him to Eric. Here is what I wrote in my draft rewind back then…
Coming off a rough year and stuck with a rookie quarterback known for running, no one can be blamed for skipping on Steve Smith. Masterson grabbed him and it paid off big time. Smith had one of his best seasons ever, earning second-team All-Robio. Of course Rob made a huge decision when he shipped Smith off to one-win Eric for Chris Johnson, along with some other junk parts. Fact is, with Bradshaw hurt, Rob could continue to go three-wide or get a running back who appeared to be heating up. He went with the latter. In the long run, we will never know if Rob could have won a title if he didn’t do the trade (Steve Smith only had one catch for nine yards in week 16), but I do know if Masterson had Smith and not Johnson the quarterfinals, he would have won. Smith scored 238, while Johnson scored 100. That 138-point difference would have been the difference in Rob’s two-point defeat to Bob in the quarterfinals.
2002 – Position Rank: #20 Having acquired him in a dump trade from Masterson the previous year, ERIC kept Smith for the second time in his career. He looked like a solid keeper in round eight, but as Cam Newton struggled in his sophomore campaign, so did Smith. Eric eventually benched him for Reggie Wayne and the pine is where he remained as Eric made it all the way to the title game. For the record, Smith scored less than Wayne in week sixteen, so starting him would not have changed Eric’s fortune.
2013 – Position Rank: #38 Despite putting up nearly 1,200 yards, Eric decided to not keep Smith again, so MATT drafted him in round five. He kept him for three weeks, never starting him, before shipping him to Eric in a four-person trade that neither helped or hurt either of them. Smith sat on Eric’s bench for most of the remainder of the year, going 3-7 on the season, missing the playoffs.
2014 – Position Rank: #18
Leaving Carolina for Baltimore, Smith was basically forgotten about, going undrafted for the first time since 2002. However, after delivering 118 yards and a TD in week one, Colby spent $27 to get him. He continued to put up solid digits and COLBY did what he does best, trading him away to Jeff in week six for the Colts’ Ahmad Bradshaw. While the latter would get knocked out for the year right after the trade, Smith would end up on Jeff’s bench until week 11 when he was shipped off to Bob as part of that infamous Le’Veon Bell trade. Smith would never start for Bob, but oddly enough, he technically got his first and only championship in Robioland, sitting on Bob’s pine during his title run.
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