Quick Question on L.J. Smith (1 Viewer)

[vacaver1]

Unless I've completely missed an injury to TE L.J. Smith, I'm seeing him drop to the 16th round if not undrafted. FBGs has him ranked as the 9-10 TE this year which I find about right; however, I'm not sure why he is being undervalued.

Any insights?

 

[Winning IS Everything]

LJ Smith had a recent hernia surgery and will likely not be ready to go until the start of training camp. That may cause a slow start to the season for him. That may be one reason for him being undervalued.

Edit to add from the blogger:

June 1, 2007, 10:56

Eagles :: TE

TE Smith May Miss Part Of Training Camp

Les Bowen, Philadelphia Inquirer - [Full Article]

Eagles TE L.J. Smith may not be ready for training camp, which is now just eight weeks away. "When we get to that point, we'll see if it's a good decision to go on to camp, or, if I need more time, we'll take more time," said Smith. Sports hernia surgeries usually require 8-10 weeks of recovery.

 

[vacaver1]

Ah, thanks for that. I did a search in the forums for info, but I forgot the blogger. (By the way, searching for a guy with a short name is hard to do with the limitations of the search function.)

 

[Jason Wood]

Objectively, the Eagles have been hellbent on re-signing their young core players to long term extensions before they get the chance to hit free agency. The fact that, to my knowledge, the Eagles haven't even entertained such discussions with Smith heading into his FA year, tells you what the team thinks of his long-term future with the team.

 

[vacaver1]

Objectively, the Eagles have been hellbent on re-signing their young core players to long term extensions before they get the chance to hit free agency. The fact that, to my knowledge, the Eagles haven't even entertained such discussions with Smith heading into his FA year, tells you what the team thinks of his long-term future with the team.

Very

 

[Carter_Can_Fly]

LJ Smith is an intriguing player.

Last season for TE's he was 10th in receptions, 12th in yards, 5th in TD's.

In 2005 he was 9th in receptions, 8th in yards, and tied for 6th in TD's.

The reason I find him intriguing is he can be had for cheap in dynasty and redraft yet he has been fairly consistent the last 2 seasons. Now, he is not going to put up Gates, Crumpler numbers, but he has been consistent enough the last 2 years that he could be a great pick up as he can be had for late.

In 2005 he finished as a top 10 fantasy TE (8th in standard scoring league), and in 2006 he finished as TE 11. With the Eagles not having a lot of red zone recievers outside of R. Brown (career high of 8), Smith could be a nice play this season, especially with no real threat playing behind him.

Also, in dynasty he is only 27 and he has some descent years behind him and some descent years ahead of him.

 

[Jeff Pasquino]

LJ Smith is an intriguing player.Last season for TE's he was 10th in receptions, 12th in yards, 5th in TD's.In 2005 he was 9th in receptions, 8th in yards, and tied for 6th in TD's.The reason I find him intriguing is he can be had for cheap in dynasty and redraft yet he has been fairly consistent the last 2 seasons. Now, he is not going to put up Gates, Crumpler numbers, but he has been consistent enough the last 2 years that he could be a great pick up as he can be had for late. In 2005 he finished as a top 10 fantasy TE (8th in standard scoring league), and in 2006 he finished as TE 11. With the Eagles not having a lot of red zone recievers outside of R. Brown (career high of 8), Smith could be a nice play this season, especially with no real threat playing behind him.Also, in dynasty he is only 27 and he has some descent years behind him and some descent years ahead of him.

The Eagles are a big-play team. I believe they lead the league in 20+ and 40+ yard plays. LJ helped out there some with 9 catches for 20+ yards last year.They aren't much of a goal line team - but when they are in the red zone, yes he becomes a factor. All of LJ's TDs were from 10 yards or less (including 2 1-yard catches).I like LJ, but I don't believe that his every-week numbers are the type of consistent performance you want to rely on. That's part of the issue with Philly receivers (other than Westy) - a variety of players are "the man" each week. Certain matchups are $ for him, for sure. That's probably true for many TEs, so as far as a 2nd tier TE that can start for you, he's about the bottom of that 2nd tier of guys not playing for the Chargers.His injury is also a concern - plus they drafted a rookie (Celek - Univ. of Cinn.) late who did OK, not great, in OTAs IIRC. He got a lot of reps because LJ was out and so was the #2, former Bengal Matt Schobel out with an injury.The Dynasty comments about LJ are interesting but if he doesn't re-sign with Philly I wonder how he'll do elsewhere. I like him as a player, but 50% of his fate will be where he ends up. There are always teams looking for good TEs, so he should be fine, but he needs a solid WCO to produce.As long as he heals well (and I don't know if he got the standard surgery or the European sports hernia procedure that heals 2-3x faster) he should be fine.