sbk92
2
- Messages
- 12,134
- Reaction score
- 6
Weighting Game
Nick Eatman
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
Smith played most of last season around 280 pounds, but says he expects to be around 310 next year.
IRVING, Texas - This is the time of year when many football players are doing their best to lose weight and shed those extra pounds before the start of the next season.
For Southern Cal offensive tackle Tyron Smith, a projected Top-10 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft later this month, he's got a different approach. Seeing that he's only 20 years of age and still has eight months before his 21st birthday, Smith is actually going the other way.
While teams are drooling over Smith's 6-6 size and quick feet combined with his upper-body strength, his 280-pound playing weight has raised a few questions regarding his ability to hold up against some of the NFL's beefy defensive linemen.
But in the last few months, Smith has obliged, moving up to 310 pounds, a destination he said teams are more than happy with. In fact, it's likely allowed many teams to cross off that concern, potentially paving the way for him to become the first offensive lineman taken on April 28.
And if many draft gurus are correct in their latest mocks, Smith's destination could be right here with the Cowboys at Valley Ranch, where he visited this week among 29 other players in the annual pre-draft visits.
If that happens, even the mild-mannered Smith said it would be an exciting event.
"I'd be really happy. I'd be very blessed and will just thank God for everything he's given to me," Smith said. "I keep hearing (the Cowboys) need offensive linemen. I know they've got a high pick in the draft. If I fall in that category right now, I'm looking forward to wherever I fall into. I'm not really paying attention to it - just trying to keep working hard and whatever happens will happen."
But Smith has done his part to make sure positive things will happen to his future. Coupled with his age, and playing just two years at USC, Smith said gaining about 30 pounds in the last few months should only help his cause.
Smith added that he's gained "good weight" in this process, thanks in large part to simply changing his eating habits and gaining some direction while working out this spring at Athletes Performance training center in Phoenix.
"I could never gain weight at USC," Smith explained. "I stayed off campus and barely had enough money to pay for my place. I had a meal plan to eat once a day. I only had a couple of bucks in my pocket, so I'd eat at like Jack-in-the Box or McDonalds. I was only eating once or twice a day. It was hard to keep that weight on, since I was working out all the time and always running.
"Once I did go to API in Arizona, they got me on a nutrition system and I was eating three meals a day and a shake after my workout. I was just having the proper calories each day and I think everything is just working out for the best. The weight I have now feels more natural. I can still move around quickly as I was at 285. I'm at 310, I'll play there or 315. The weight I'm at right now, teams feel like is perfect. Right now, I'm just trying to maintain it."
Now that Smith has developed into the prototype size of an NFL tackle, he also adds some versatility that all teams covet. While he played the last two years at right tackle, Smith said he's not only more familiar with the left side, but it's a better fit.
"The left side feels more comfortable to me," he said. "I played the left side from high school to my freshman year in college. I played right side - sophomore and junior season. But I'll play either side."
While right tackles are typically the better run blockers, Smith said he aims to be a more complete tackle, but admits his pass-blocking is stronger at this point.
"I see myself more of a pass blocker. I want to have a good combination," Smith said. "But teams have always been more impressed with the pass blocking. I feel like that's the strength of my game right now."
How that potentially fits into the Cowboys' plans would be unknown. If drafted, Smith would ideally stay on the right side, assuming the team re-signs potential free-agent Doug Free after the lockout is resolved. However, many pundits would argue that taking any offensive lineman in the Top 10 would ideally warrant a move to the left side.
Don't forget that the Cowboys still have Marc Colombo on the roster. He is scheduled to count $4.2 million on a new salary cap, including a $1.9 million base salary.
Which is what the Cowboys will have to figure out, although it seems rather clear Smith is the last person worried about that.
"I think everything will just work out how it's supposed to," Smith said. "You can't control where you go, so I don't really worry about that."
And really doesn't have time to. He's too busy eating and working out.
Nick Eatman
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
Smith played most of last season around 280 pounds, but says he expects to be around 310 next year.
IRVING, Texas - This is the time of year when many football players are doing their best to lose weight and shed those extra pounds before the start of the next season.
For Southern Cal offensive tackle Tyron Smith, a projected Top-10 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft later this month, he's got a different approach. Seeing that he's only 20 years of age and still has eight months before his 21st birthday, Smith is actually going the other way.
While teams are drooling over Smith's 6-6 size and quick feet combined with his upper-body strength, his 280-pound playing weight has raised a few questions regarding his ability to hold up against some of the NFL's beefy defensive linemen.
But in the last few months, Smith has obliged, moving up to 310 pounds, a destination he said teams are more than happy with. In fact, it's likely allowed many teams to cross off that concern, potentially paving the way for him to become the first offensive lineman taken on April 28.
And if many draft gurus are correct in their latest mocks, Smith's destination could be right here with the Cowboys at Valley Ranch, where he visited this week among 29 other players in the annual pre-draft visits.
If that happens, even the mild-mannered Smith said it would be an exciting event.
"I'd be really happy. I'd be very blessed and will just thank God for everything he's given to me," Smith said. "I keep hearing (the Cowboys) need offensive linemen. I know they've got a high pick in the draft. If I fall in that category right now, I'm looking forward to wherever I fall into. I'm not really paying attention to it - just trying to keep working hard and whatever happens will happen."
But Smith has done his part to make sure positive things will happen to his future. Coupled with his age, and playing just two years at USC, Smith said gaining about 30 pounds in the last few months should only help his cause.
Smith added that he's gained "good weight" in this process, thanks in large part to simply changing his eating habits and gaining some direction while working out this spring at Athletes Performance training center in Phoenix.
"I could never gain weight at USC," Smith explained. "I stayed off campus and barely had enough money to pay for my place. I had a meal plan to eat once a day. I only had a couple of bucks in my pocket, so I'd eat at like Jack-in-the Box or McDonalds. I was only eating once or twice a day. It was hard to keep that weight on, since I was working out all the time and always running.
"Once I did go to API in Arizona, they got me on a nutrition system and I was eating three meals a day and a shake after my workout. I was just having the proper calories each day and I think everything is just working out for the best. The weight I have now feels more natural. I can still move around quickly as I was at 285. I'm at 310, I'll play there or 315. The weight I'm at right now, teams feel like is perfect. Right now, I'm just trying to maintain it."
Now that Smith has developed into the prototype size of an NFL tackle, he also adds some versatility that all teams covet. While he played the last two years at right tackle, Smith said he's not only more familiar with the left side, but it's a better fit.
"The left side feels more comfortable to me," he said. "I played the left side from high school to my freshman year in college. I played right side - sophomore and junior season. But I'll play either side."
While right tackles are typically the better run blockers, Smith said he aims to be a more complete tackle, but admits his pass-blocking is stronger at this point.
"I see myself more of a pass blocker. I want to have a good combination," Smith said. "But teams have always been more impressed with the pass blocking. I feel like that's the strength of my game right now."
How that potentially fits into the Cowboys' plans would be unknown. If drafted, Smith would ideally stay on the right side, assuming the team re-signs potential free-agent Doug Free after the lockout is resolved. However, many pundits would argue that taking any offensive lineman in the Top 10 would ideally warrant a move to the left side.
Don't forget that the Cowboys still have Marc Colombo on the roster. He is scheduled to count $4.2 million on a new salary cap, including a $1.9 million base salary.
Which is what the Cowboys will have to figure out, although it seems rather clear Smith is the last person worried about that.
"I think everything will just work out how it's supposed to," Smith said. "You can't control where you go, so I don't really worry about that."
And really doesn't have time to. He's too busy eating and working out.
