The Miami Dolphins added another talented cornerback to an already deep room on Friday, as they selected South Carolina’s Cam Smith with pick No. 51, in the second round.
Smith joins Xavien Howard, Jalen Ramsey, Nik Needham, Kader Kohou, Trill Williams, Keion Crossen and Justin Bethel in a positional group that’s coached by former Dolphins great Sam Madison.
On Friday night, Smith took some time to meet virtually with the South Florida media and answered questions about his collegiate career and future with the Dolphins.
Here’s everything the former Gamecock said:
On communicating with Dolphins before the draft:
“The pre-draft process, I really didn’t have a lot of talks. They just came to a lot of practices. I already knew the general manager’s (Chris Grier) son was on the team. He was kind of giving me the ins and outs of the league already throughout the whole process. Just (keeping) a clean nose and stuff like that. Just coming into the Combine, we had a formal meeting, and then coming into the Top 30 visit, that was my last meeting I took. It got kind of schedule … so I felt like it was given something on that accord right there.”
On playing with Xavien Howard and Jalen Ramsey:
“It’s kind of a blessing. I feel like I was already in that position at South Carolina having Jaycee (Horn) and ‘Izzy’ (Israel Mukuamu) above me when I first came in. Coming in, I just kind of stayed under their wings, learned the ins and outs of what they were doing because they were already successful at that level. Just coming in and doing the same thing with Jalen and Xavien is going to be even better then.”
On defensive coordinator Vic Fangio:
“Very wise dude. A dude that’s going to get on you about every nook and cranny. Even just one of my steps on one of my plays, he keyed it out, and I really didn’t notice it until he said something about it. Just how he pays attention to details, I love a coach that pays attention to details and wants everything smooth, crisp and ironed out.”
On his traits as a cornerback:
“I feel like my hands, my feet, my hips, and being able to get on top of dudes. Playing even to make sure I can hold a route, and make sure I’m on top at all times. Being able to be in those positions, my hands and feet and hips being all together in one. I feel like that’s the best thing that separates me from a lot of dudes.”
On the moment of being drafted:
“It was kind of crazy because I was just calling Landon (Grier) because we were just talking about how if I fell late into the second round, it could be that. I was just going off of what he was saying about the process, and then what Chris Grier was saying when I was on my visit. If they had the chance to get me, they would come and get me, and they stayed true to that. Just being on the phone with Landon right before that and seeing them call me with that 954 number, it’s crazy.”
On practicing against Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle:
“I think about getting better every day. Going against two of the most feared dudes in the league every day in practice, I don’t have no worries when I get on the field. That’s how I’m going to feel.”
On being a second-round pick:
“I kind of felt down. When it ended and the last pick came in, I kind of felt down on myself. I was just kind of wondering what was I doing wrong and stuff like that. I was kind of thinking about it, but then at the same time, I think about what God has in store for me, and it’s not just what I want and what I think, it has to have something behind it, and it has something behind it.”
On his family:
“Really just kind of having that close-knit family – mom, dad, brother, sister, uncles, aunts. Like everybody being close-knit. We’re always coming for Sunday dinner and stuff like that. It was always big so just having them there the whole time and then coming and seeing everybody like in a whole – everybody coming together and like even if they didn’t know me, they didn’t know this person, but they started to meet the whole support system. So just having a whole support system that was way bigger than anything for me, just seeing everybody crying and everybody doing – I wasn’t even crying that much, but I had people crying a lot harder than me. So it just shows how much they cared for me throughout this process.”
On being a father:
“Definitely. There’s a couple of hiccups here and there always, but it’s smooth.”
On SEC football's preparation for the NFL:
“Just feel like – I mean, the SEC is the best ball in college football. I feel like that and I can stand by that. I feel like it’s a lot more dawg in that conference. I feel like a lot more people try to make it. People are not really just playing football just to play football. So I feel like coming from those trenches type of thing. That’s giving me an edge over anybody regardless. I know that edge. I know how to practice, I know where it comes from and what it takes to do those types of things. And every SEC team is basically ran like a pro organization, so I’m already in that doorway.”
On Dolphins' plan for him:
“When we were sitting down in the office, me and (Chris) Grier, we were just kind of wrapping it up about what I wanted to play and how I want to do it. We always know I can play two positions, but just kind of get my feet wet in the league first, getting outside, making sure I can hold it down, do everything I need to do and learn those new techniques that they are going to teach me and stuff like that. And then moving inside a little later, going inside, moving, learning those things and stuff like that. So just kind of gradually going into it.”
On being a physical cornerback:
“Sometimes you’ve just kind of got to watch it, you’ve got to know the receiver that you’re going against. A big stronger dude, you can do a lot more. You’re not really going to do all that flinching and stuff like kind of the little dudes will do and stuff like that where you tug them or pushing and stuff like that. So it’s just kind of just knowing who you’re going against and knowing what you got to do.”
On realizing he'd be an NFL pick one day:
“I didn’t realize it when I was young, like a lot of people and stuff like that. But I realized it really going into my junior year. So finding out – basically I just started spring ball – I was going to have a kid in the summer. And then it kind of just went from there. I kind of was different every day. I don’t know why, I didn’t really hone-in on why I was different or really think about it. I was kind of going in and doing it every day. So practice was easier. I was making a lot of plays and stuff like that. I saw I was just kind of getting in the groove of feeling like a dominant corner and then coming into the season, I continued the same trend. So it was just kind of that whole season. It just kind of solidified.”
On other teams playing him differently:
“Not my 2021 season. A lot more in my 2022 season. I had a lot less targets than my 2021 season, so I feel like I got the respect that I deserve.”
On coming to Miami:
“Always kind of having a little warmth to the weather, no cold fronts and stuff like that. Really just kind of the weather, that’s really the only difference, for real, for me. I don’t really go out like that or get in those type of things, I’m not really that social of a dude.”
On his game against Tennessee:
“It didn’t stand out to me. I knew I was guarding him from the job since he started snapping. So as soon as he – when we knew it was him on the schedule, I told him, this is two or three weeks in advance, I already told him, ‘We’re going.’ Just having that game, I feel like yeah that kind of boosted everything and stuff like that, but I didn’t put it no extra effort for that. I didn’t do anything extra for that.”
On backpedaling:
“A lot of the fast dudes get a lot of people that kind of open up and run a lot, so they’ll already be opened up running, tilted up shoulders and stuff like that. So kind of just being comfortable with my pedal, knowing my speed, knowing what I can do, is going to have me just more comfortable in those situations. If somebody is pressing me hard up the field trying to get run a 15-yard comeback or a 20-yard comeback, if somebody is doing that, for me being able to stay in my pedal and keep my same transition instead of just kind of opening the gate and letting them run and being scared, just having that kind of confidence in my backpedal is going to help me.”
On his relationship with Chris and Landon Grier:
“My relationship with Landon is pretty smooth. We’re not like the best of friends, but every day we’re cracking up, like in the locker room or we’re in the meeting room cracking up. So just something to that extent, but it’s just always kind of been – he was just kind of telling us the ways of the league. He was already – he’s been in it since he’s been little, so he damn near knows more than a lot of people know in the league. So just kind of having that in my back pocket was great. He just kind of led everything the whole time, he always talked good about me every time. They told me about how Landon was telling them about me and stuff like that. He always put in a good word for me, and I’m grateful for him. I’m truly grateful for him. I didn’t really have – my first time meeting Chris Grier was at the Combine at the formal meeting that we had, and the second time when I had my Top 30 visit.”
