Taj Mahaulin' His Way Outta Here

by Sean Keeley on Jan 3, 2008 5:28 PM EST

When they're not busy doing investigative journalism targeted solely at ruining college football, Yahoo! Sports is becoming quite the news gatherer. Today they unearthed Taj Smith's intention to skip his fifth year of eligibility and enter the NFL draft.

Taj is coming off a season where he caught 44 passes for 822 yards and five touchdowns, numbers that are solid but not the kind that make me jump up and down screaming "First round pick!" Taj wasn't even the best receiver on the team, although that may have been part of the decision-making process.

Donnie Webb seems to agree:

Smith's decision on the surface appears to have more to do with personal needs and a desire to move on with his life. The young man with the flowing dreadlocks and big smile turns 25 this year. He was scheduled to earn his degree from SU this past semester. While Smith has proven to be a play-maker at times at Syracuse, he had bouts of inconsistency, especially with dropped passes. Clearly, Smith has the speed, desire, motor and knack for making big plays that will be in his court when scouts evaluate his workouts.

All the best to Smith. We will miss his senior leadership and remember those memorable catches along the way but I'm not exactly crying inside. Too many memories of too many dropped passes (and TDs at that). With the return of Mike "All He Does Is Score Touchdowns" Williams, ~~the emergence of Rice Moss~~ and the arrival of heralded recruit Marcus Sales, there's not a strong reason to worry about the WR position at the moment.

BallHype - Taj Mahaulin' His Way Outta Here

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"the emergence of Rice Moss" = false hope

by far from l33t0 on Jan 3, 2008 6:41 PM EST reply actions

I agree with the sentiment, between the new kids coming in, like Trey Fairchild and the kids they have now, like Williams, Damon Merkerson, and maybe if ever gets his act together Lavar Lobdell they will be fine.

Rice Moss is a senior, so he's gone, but that's OK too.

Good luck Taj

by Russianator on Jan 3, 2008 7:51 PM EST reply actions