Former Missouri football star Brad Smith has always been a dynamic weapon on offense who can hurt a defense in a number of ways. However, his versatility has also possibly kept him from cementing himself on any one place on the roster with any single team. Now with the Buffalo Bills, Smith is still learning to play quarterback at the NFL level and is getting solid time at the position with this team -- perhaps more than any other stop in his NFL journey.
"I've never had this opportunity that I've got with [quarterbacks] coach [David] Lee and get the extensive work to work on this kind of stuff," Smith told Buffalobills.com. "I'm just glad I can see improvement and see things getting better and see things coming back a little bit from a few years ago. So it's pretty cool.
"My footwork has improved a great deal," he continued. "Just some things I did in college and now I'm getting back to doing it and correcting those things. My stride steps, my balance, that's all improved a great deal. Now it's just about carrying it over to the team periods and going through my reads. It's all about rhythm playing the quarterback position. Once you get in a rhythm then you can be successful."
The Bills already have Ryan Fitzpatrick, former Chiefs quarterback Tyler Thigpen and Vince Young newly signed to the roster. The slate could be full which might kick Smith back to wide receiver or special teams.
"From every meeting I've had he's been in all my meetings," said Lee. "He's a quarterback who happens to be a great special teams player and he plays a lot of receiver also, which is where he was used last year. But he still has a role at quarterback in this offense."
It will be interesting to see how Smith is utilized this year as the Bills offense continues to mature under Chan Gailey with other diverse weapons like C.J. Spiller.