If Davis is low, rumbling thunder, Smith is an electric-blue bolt of lightning. Number 89 is the Panther whom defenses fear most because of his game-breaking ability. TV analyst John Madden says that Smith is the "home-run hitter" that today's NFL offenses must have and likens him to Randy Moss. During training camp, Smith said he felt a step slower than he was while starring for Carolina during the Panthers' Super Bowl season of 2003. He attributed that to returning from the broken left fibula that sidelined him for all but the season opener in 2004.
It sure hasn't looked that way. Smith later confessed it hasn't really felt that way, either.
"I just say that to mess up you guys and the fantasy [football] people," he would later admit to reporters.
Smith torched the Miami Dolphins for three TDs in one game this season and Arizona for two more. One of Carolina's best plays this season is simply letting QB Jake Delhomme throw the ball immediately to Smith -- almost a long lateral -- and letting Smith juke. He scored on a 65-yard touchdown against the Cardinals that way.
