The Many Talents of the 2013 NFL Draft Class

West Virginia QB Geno Smith is a frequent topic of rumors, speculation and analysis as a prospect. ?

As a child artist, he was a "visionary," according to Tim Rohan of the New York Times:

A visionary, he was called. After taking an intelligence test, he was labeled gifted. If his mother wished, Smith could have skipped a grade. She decided against it, preferring he mature with his peers ? a notion that did not go as planned, considering Smith often grew bored after finishing his schoolwork faster than most of his classmates.

The quality of his drawings was more advanced than your average 13-, 14-year-old. It was actually on par with a college freshman in art school.

Smith's draft projections are all over the place, just like the smoke signals that will be coming from clubs regarding prospects from now until the NFL draft in April. Players will be scrutinized, have every aspect of their games dissected ad nauseum, and second-guessed by analysts.?

Draft season starts "in earnest" at the Senior Bowl, but the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis symbolizes the first "formal gathering" of the league, and every team wants their best face on?and their story straight?when representing a winning new strategy for 2013 amongst peers and media alike.?

It's in the interviews that take place at the combine that Geno Smith will shine. Both with teams and media. Besides being an escape artist in the pocket who takes very few sacks, he is an actual artist, as well.?

Well, at least he was. ?

In speaking with WVU Sports information director Mike Montoro today, he didn't believe Smith had an art teacher contact at the University, because he doesn't take art anymore, and there probably wouldn't be one at his high school, either. Montoro said much of what the linked article above does, that Smith made a conscious decision to focus all of his efforts to football starting in high school.

Once an artist, always an artist, however. According to USA Today, Geno Smith still draws and even writes poetry in his downtime to decompress.?

Messages and emails to Smith's middle school art teacher regarding whether any of his work is available for public view remain unreturned.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1528196-the-many-talents-of-the-2013-nfl-draft-class

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