Georgia Tech WR DeAndre Smelter suffers torn ACL
By Peter Smith
“@GeorgiaTechFB: .@GTPaulJohnson announced WR DeAndre Smelter has been diagnosed with torn ACL” @mikebell929 @putemupcdukes
— Tommy Grant 🐝🐊 (@tgrant388) December 1, 2014
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are coming off of a big win against rival Georgia, but it came at a huge cost. Head coach Paul Johnson that the team’s top wide receiver DeAndre Smelter suffered a torn ACL and will obviously miss the rest of the season, including the ACC Championship against Florida State this week. Smelter is also going to be available in the 2015 NFL Draft and this injury has a big impact on his perspective value there.
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The 6’3″ 222lb (listed) Smelter is in a similar vein as former Ramblin’ Wreck receivers as Stephen Hill, DeMaryius Thomas and Calvin Johnson in that he is a big, extremely strong prospect with great speed. Hill and Thomas played for the Jackets in Paul Johnson’s triple option offense and like them, Smelter is somewhat limited in the amount he has been able to do a a receiving prospect, but he has still shown a great deal of talent and potential. Smelter has shown great instincts for the position and while there was development needed, he was a prospect with the arrow pointing upward.
While Smelter should still be drafted, this will obviously have him go much lower than he would have were he healthy as he will likely have to miss all of his rookie season as he rehabs from the ACL injury. If he can recover fully and bounce back effectively, Smelter could be a great pick for a team that can afford to leave him on the shelf for a year, but this is obviously an unfortunate for a promising player that was finishing a good career at Georgia Tech.