A look at Deshawn Capers-Smith

New Orleans (LA) Warren Easton athlete Deshawn Capers-Smith plays a variety of positions in high school including quarterback and defensive back. However, the four star rated athlete (per Rivals.com) is being recruited by most schools on the defensive side of the ball and worked out Saturday at the Rivals Camp Series in New Orleans at cornerback. He proved to be one of the better performers at the position during the camp due to his height (6 foot 1) and athleticism which is on display via his Hudl highlights which are evenly divided between offense and defense.

As an athlete, Capers Smith's biggest attributes appear to be his coordination, ability to change direction, and acceleration. On his first clip, he has a long touchdown run working as the quarterback out of the gun. He starts off by cutting inside of a defensive end who has outside responsibility on Capers Smith and accelerating up the field. He manages to outdistance defenders from the line of scrimmage up the middle of the hashes and then makes a another cut back inside of a back defender near the opposite hash. Even though he's already run about 30 yards by the time he makes the second cut, he still is able to beat everyone else to the end zone because he doesn't lose any speed on the second cut. On his second offensive clip, he lines up at the slot and catches a pass on a post route. He takes a couple of shots as soon as he catches the ball (one from a teammate) but has the coordination to never break stride and hit the end zone. Those clips alone display what kind of skills he has to play corner…the hips to quickly change direction and the ability to accelerate and break on the ball.

As a corner, he lines up in an outside shade on a split receiver in the first clip which is a long pass. He doesn't really turn as much he just recognizes the route and runs with the receiver at the beginning of the route. Capers Smith stays with the route and adjusts to the ball very naturally in making an interception inside the ten yard line. However, the fun is just beginning: Capers Smith starts back up the field, makes a cut about 20 yards into the return, and takes a hit. He stumbles, keeps going, and then has a mismatch with the quarterback who tries to make the tackle on the left hash. He makes him miss completely and although pretty winded after running almost 100 yards nearly scores a touchdown on it.

On his second clip at corner, he is playing outside and adjusts the inside receiver on that side on a wheel route. Again, because he recognizes the route quickly, he gets downfield quickly, has inside position, and makes the interception. On the third clip, he's playing off the outside receiver again and the offense throws a screen to that receiver. He accelerates so quickly that the slot can't get over in nearly enough time to make a block and he makes the tackle almost as soon as the receiver catches the ball.

One thing that jumps out at you watching him is his excellent vision. He sees things develop quickly, especially in terms of passing routes down the field regardless of whether he's playing quarterback or receiver. That enables him to hit open receivers when moving around on offense but as a corner he's able to get a head start and jump routes quickly. Between that and his acceleration, he's got a great ability to break on the ball. With his hand/eye coordination, he can make big plays out of bad situations, like handling bad snaps, going down to the ground for low throws, or adjust to long throws.

There was some concern at the Rivals Camp Series about his size because he's not a big person physically. However, because of his acceleration, he's able to come up, stick people, and play bigger than his size in that regard. Otherwise, his length and long arms come in handy in coverage and he looks like he has the frame to add pretty good weight.

Overall, you have to rate Capers Smith as a Southeastern Conference caliber corner prospect due to his size and skill set. He's not a big, physical destroyer corner that plays like a safety. Rather, he strikes me as a bigger version of Nick Harvey, someone with good size, the ability to break on the ball, and the coordination/change of direction/hands to be a factor in the return game. Also, his vision plays a big role in his ability as a defender and combines with his acceleration to make him a much more effective defender than you would assume at first glance. A&M continues to add length and become a bigger team not just up front but at the skill positions as well and not lose significant athletic ability in the process.