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When former Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith explained why he was skipping workouts at the NFL combine, he said he did so because "the evaluation of a player is far beyond one day."
Undoubtedly, though, some days are more important than others. And by missing a chance to post workout numbers at the RCA Dome, he made the day that NFL scouts came to Columbus all that more important.

Pro Day was March 10th at the Woody Hayes Center on Ohio State's campus. Representatives from almost every NFL team put former Buckeyes through their paces, gauging their readiness for football Sundays.
The scouts Smith most hoped to impress came from just up the road at the north end of Interstate 71. Even Cleveland coach Romeo Crennel had heard that Smith was lobbying for the Browns to take him in the upcoming draft.
"We are excited [he] wants to play for the Browns, and hope that [he] has the opportunity to. But you gotta go where you get drafted. That's the nature of this business," said Crennel.
So will Smith have to go elsewhere or did he do enough to impress General Manager Phil Savage?
Savage met with a group of reporters after drills were done, and the size of the media contingent startled him somewhat. Chuckling that he was ready for his press conference, he offered this assessment of Smith's performance: "Troy did what you expect him to do. He does have a strong arm. He's obviously been working on his drops, and he went through his routine. So, yeah, he was impressive."
Smith was admittedly in less than peak condition at the combine, blaming it on a long tour of the awards circuit. But on Pro Day, Crennel believed Smith was in shape. "You can see he's a smooth athlete," he said.
Savage added that Smith was certainly, "fast enough for a quarterback."
Still Cleveland has the third overall pick in the draft, and draft analysts do not have Smith rated highly enough to be selected there. If Smith is still around when the Browns are ready to make their second or third round selections, it might be a different story.
"He throws the ball nice, has a nice touch on it and some velocity," Crennel observed. While Savage said he usually likes the idea of taking a local player.
Certainly the popular local sentiment is on the side of the Browns taking Troy. A website has even been created to urge Brown's ownership to draft the signal caller.
But in the end, the deciding factor is almost always what the scouts see on game film, and it does sound like Savage has some Troy Smith tape in his VCR.
"For me, to be honest, these workouts are for the coaches who have not seen a lot of these players. Myself and our scouts have seen all of these [Buckeye] players, so we're familiar with them."

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