Philadelphia Eagles: 5 DeVonta Smith matchups to circle on your calendar
By David Esser
Patrick Surtain II, Broncos, Week 10
Another ‘Bama vs ‘Bama matchup, Week 10 signals the first time that Patrick Surtain II and DeVonta Smith will get to line up across from each other outside of Crimson Tide practice. The WR1 and CB1 on this past year’s National Championship winner, both players went in the top ten of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Similar to the before mentioned Jaycee Horn, Surtain II was another player whom the Philadelphia Eagles had reportedly done a lot of homework on. The general assumption is that Philly would have been content with either corner should one of them had slipped down to pick 12, ultimately making the jump up to pick 10 (in front of New York) for Smith once all the top corners were off the board.
We’ll never know who the Philadelphia Eagles would have drafted if they were presented with the choice of Smith or Surtain II, but Week 10 will give us a first glimpse as to which team got the better Alabama prospect. I personally liked Surtain II a bit more than DeVonta heading into the draft, but I’ve been wrong before. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
A common theme on this list, but Surtain II is yet another CB who will line up across from Smith with a considerable size advantage. He played the 2020 season at 208lbs, which could end up being 40lbs heavier than DeVonta come Week 10.