Louisville star Marcus Smith readies for NFL Draft

The former Louisville defensive end has two phones ready this weekend for the call that Spencer Long Jersey will change his life. And his mom and dad each have their phones nearby, too.

They don't want to miss the call from an NFL redskinsnflofficialauthentic.com/authentic-morgan-moses-jersey.html team after it drafts Smith the call that he's been waiting for since he began playing football.

"If they can't reach this one, they can reach the other one," Smith said with a grin. tonight on ESPN and the NFL Network from New York City. It's more likely that Smith, who finished second in the nation in sacks last season, will go somewhere in the second round. A seven round mock draft by Fox Sports on Thursday projected that Smith would be selected with the 37th pick by the Atlanta Falcons.

When the Draft process started, the 6 foot 3, 251 pound Smith was thought to be a third or fourth round player, a tweener who produced at the college level but needed time to work on his pass rush http://www.redskinsnflofficialauthentic.com/authentic-morgan-moses-jersey.html skills. Five months of solid workouts have improved his stock, and Smith said his versatility was the difference.

The Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots worked Smith out at defensive end, but most teams, he said, worked him out as an outside linebacker and pass rusher in a 3 4 system. The former high school quarterback joked that he even impressed the Patriots with his arm during Calvin Pryor's workout, but he knows he's likely working toward an NFL career as an edge rusher and linebacker, a position he regularly played in Charlie Strong's multi faceted defense at Louisville.

"Most teams . come in and say, 'You're not a defensive end. Let's go ahead and put that straight right now,'" Smith said. Washington and Tennessee have two of the first 10 picks in the second round, The other teams have picks in the 50s and late in the first round.

"It depends on how the Draft goes," Smith said, who will be paying close attention to where the other defensive ends and outside linebackers go in the Draft.

His whirlwind tour of the Draft process is finally over, and the relief was obvious in Smith's face. After Louisville's 36 9 Russell Athletic Bowl win over Miami, the Georgia native trained in Arizona, played in the Senior Bowl, worked out at the the NFL Draft Combine and Louisville's Pro Day, redskinsnflofficialauthentic.com/authentic-spencer-long-jersey.html then traveled to individual workouts for teams.

"It's been a grueling process," Smith said. "I feel like today or tomorrow, my name will be getting called."

Oh, and Smith is dead certain his former teammate, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, will be selected in the first round, even though "Teddy knows he made a mistake" not wearing a glove on his throwing hand at Louisville's Pro Day, Smith said.