Tennessee football wide receiver Josh Smith was already in danger of losing his starting job as the Volunteers’ slot guy. His arrest could seal his fate.
Josh Smith already had to watch younger and faster Tennessee football wide receivers take reps in his place this past spring in front of a new receivers coach while he recovered from injury. Now, on top of needing to hold onto his starting job, he got arrested.
The Knoxville News Sentinel reported over the weekend that Smith was arrested on a domestic assault charge after an altercation with his roommate. Now, before we go any further, the details of the report suggest he could be innocent.
Here are some of its details.
"In the report, Smith stated that he and Foster had started drinking around 10 p.m. Friday and admitted to kicking down the door out of concern for Foster’s well-being. Smith claimed in the report that he was then tackled by Foster and a fight between the two began. According to the report, Smith claims to have left the room afterward."
Smith’s attorney later states that following a full investigation, Smith will be cleared of any crime.
When you read the report, this does sound just like a drunk college night where Smith acted in self defense.
And in most cases, that shouldn’t harm him at all. But it easily could in Knoxville.
Think about it for a minute. New Tennessee football wide receivers coach Kevin Beard has only gotten to see Latrell Williams and Tyler Byrd in the slot during practices so far.
And both players impressed the coaches this past spring.
So Smith was already in trouble of losing his starting job. He had an underwhelming season in 2016 and then missed the spring. It was going to take a great August for him to hold onto that spot as the no. 1 slot guy.
But we have no idea how long this investigation could take. And if he is innocent, we have no way of knowing how long it will take for police to reach that conclusion.
Imagine if this carries into August, and Byrd and Williams get even more reps. Smith, a senior who has demonstrated reliability in the past but hasn’t made any recent impressions, could fall to the bench.
Remember what happened with Alexis Johnson last year? His legal issues went away, but the distraction from them kept him out of football shape all season.
Smith is likely to not face as serious of a distraction as Johnson did. But given the fact that he was already on thin ice with his starting job, this arrest could seal his fate.