OSU football: Jeremy Smith expanding his running style

By Anthony Slater – aslater@opubco.com - @anthonyVslater

He’s always been known as a bruiser, punishing linebackers near the goal line and a terror to bring down in the open field. But as he moves forward, with the NFL in his sights, he wants to be more than that.

“I believe I’ve changed a little bit,” Smith said. “Especially with the cuts I’m making. That’s just one thing I was focusing on in the summer…You should (see some different kind of running).”

In theory, it seems like a positive for Oklahoma State. One of its key weapons is adding additional layers to his game.

But offensive coordinator Todd Monken, unfiltered as always, doesn’t necessarily see it that way.

“Too many moves,” Monken said of Smith. “He just needs to run and go downhill. That is true, Jeremy is working all these moves and he’s not a move guy. He’s a downhill, one cut guy. He needs to just go.  Now do I think he wants to develop as an open-field guy? Of course. That’s what all running backs want to do. What makes Jeremy what he is, ‘I run downhill, I get my pads down, I break tackles and I’m a one-cut guy’…You are who you are. That is what you are, be damn good at that.”