Once upon a time, Cam Smith seemed like a lock to go in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

There was an expectation that he’d follow in the footsteps of former South Carolina teammate Jaycee Horn and hear his name called on Thursday night. The breakdown of the pick would be a simple one.

“Rangy, physical corner that you can stick on the outside who loves to blow up plays in space. You can have him starting in the NFL tomorrow.”

When Smith declared for the NFL Draft instead of returning for a 5th season in Columbia, you saw tweets like this that hyped him up as one of the top prospects on the board:

But somewhere in the pre-draft process, Smith’s stock fell. At least that’s what the mock drafts would suggest. Mel Kiper Jr. had him at 54, Todd McShay had him at No. 64 while Matt Miller had him at No. 70. Maybe that perceived slip had something to do with Smith not participating in agility drills at the NFL Combine or at South Carolina’s Pro Day (he still ran a 4.4-second 40-yard dash with a 1.49-second 10-yard split and he had a 38-inch vertical). Perhaps this is just a classic example of overthinking a prospect who checks all the boxes to be an immediate NFL starter, but had his best college season a year too early.

If Smith is still available on Day 2, someone is getting a Day 1 guy.

That’s not meant as a slight to any of the corners who come off the board before him like Devon Witherspoon, Christian Gonzalez, Joey Porter Jr. or anybody else. But anyone who watched Smith at South Carolina saw someone who screamed “NFL-ready corner,” and not just because of the numbers (19 pass break-ups, 6 interceptions).

If you look at his draft profile on NFL.com, you saw some of the criticism:

“Smith lacks fluidity and acceleration to consistently press and run with speedy downfield targets. Also, he gives ground in his lateral transitions.”

Needless to say, Smith disagreed with that assessment.

“It don’t stir up nothin’ in me,” Smith told SDS on a recent episode of The Saturday Down South Podcast. “Most of the people making that never played football in their life. I really don’t care what everybody else says. The only thing that really matters to me is what my coaches and what other coaches are saying about me.”

He has a reason not to take that criticism to heart.

If you recall, it was Smith who put the clamps on Jalin Hyatt, AKA the guy who won the Biletnikoff Award and had 3 more catches of 40 yards (11) than any Power 5 player. There was no better deep threat in America than Hyatt, yet with Smith almost exclusively lined up on him, Hyatt’s day ended with 6 catches for 65 yards. It was 1 of 2 games all season in which Hyatt failed to record a catch of 20 yards.

Mind you, Hyatt primarily lined up in the slot while Smith entered that game having only guarded the slot on 19.7% of his defensive snaps. Smith wanted to line up opposite of Hyatt. Heading into that stunning upset of Tennessee, he and his teammates told the South Carolina defensive staff that they wanted to follow the Georgia defensive model of sticking with man coverage on the outside. That meant a 1-on-1 matchup with Hyatt.

“Him not getting any (yards after catch), it was kinda getting in his head because he’s not used to that type of thing,” Smith said. “Coming in, I was just trying to make sure I make every tackle after the catch. I know I’m not gonna be breaking every ball up the way I was playing it, so it was just every tackle, making sure I was being aggressive and making sure he feels me on every one of them … yeah, I do feel like I got the better of (Hyatt) in that situation.”

The prevailing thought from that night was that Smith made himself some money. He lined up in press coverage, he played Hyatt with a cushion and when he needed to prevent a ball-carrier from getting to the edge, he did that, as well.

But it’s not just a 1-night showing that makes Smith a Day 1 guy. In 2021, he was set to take over the spot left by the aforementioned Horn. With a new coaching staff in town, Smith’s confidence in himself allowed him to avoid any wavering about transferring.

“I didn’t feel like anybody they brought in was gonna be able to beat me out,” Smith said.

And to be fair, he was right.

Only twice in 11 games did Smith allow multiple catches. He had 3 interceptions and 11 pass breakups as the No. 1 corner for a defense who finished No. 1 in the SEC against the pass. PFF had him with the lowest opposing passer rating (14.1) among all Power 5 corners in press coverage. That year earned him second-team All-SEC honors by the AP. In 2 years as a starter, Smith was targeted 70 times. Of those 70 passes thrown at him, he broke up 15 of them and he picked off 4 (via PFF). Ball skills? Ball skills.

Smith has been criticized for perhaps being a bit too physical. He picked up some ticky tacky pass interference penalties this year that might’ve been a bit reputation-based. You’ll never have to tell Smith to be more aggressive. It’s why his skill set lends itself to handling all types of coverage on the outside. But if that’s not what the defense needs, “then throw me inside and watch me work,” he said.

If you didn’t know any better, you’d say that’s the complete package at corner.

Yet here we are, the week of the NFL Draft and Smith, who hasn’t had any off-field issues, was the subject of this realization:

Strange.

Maybe the Draft experts will be wrong and Smith will indeed hear his name called in Round 1 on Thursday night. He would hardly be the first prospect or the last to watch his own evaluation come full circle.

Alternatively, that perceived pre-Draft fall could be confirmed and Smith will have to wait until Friday night to hear his name called.

Whatever the case, one bet is as good as any.

Smith will show up on Day 1 with some bad intentions.