Utah’s Smith Opts to Leave for NFL

Alex Smith already has his degree and a perfect season, and was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.

There’s not much more for the Utah quarterback to accomplish, so he’s leaving school with one year of eligibility remaining and making himself available for the NFL draft.

“I just felt like this was the right opportunity for me to make the jump,” Smith said Tuesday in Salt Lake City.

The 20-year-old Smith, who has yet to hire an agent, wasn’t sure two years ago whether he wanted to keep playing football, let alone have a future in the NFL. But he has had a 21-1 run since taking over the Utes’ starting job early in the 2003 season.

He led Utah to a 12-0 season this fall, capped by a 35-7 win over Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl behind four touchdowns from Smith, who finished the year with 32 and only four interceptions.

“I couldn’t picture this two months ago,” Smith said. “It’s been quite a ride.”

Smith knows his profile can’t get much higher than it did this season. He was the first Utah player to be a Heisman Trophy finalist and was a second-team Associated Press All-American selection.

Utah doesn’t generally have players leave early for the NFL. But Smith gained invaluable exposure as a Heisman finalist and during Utah’s run to becoming the first team to make a bowl championship series game from a conference without a guaranteed spot.

“Where do you go from here? There’s not much place left in college football for me, so I just kind of felt it was time to move on,” Smith said.

The move leaves new Utah Coach Kyle Whittingham in a bit of a jam. He’s replacing Urban Meyer, who was hired by Florida and set an impossible standard with Utah’s first unbeaten, untied season since 1930.

Now, Whittingham is without an experienced quarterback. Freshman Brian Johnson, who played sparingly behind Smith this season, is the only scholarship quarterback and he’s still 17.

Whittingham said he would try to bring in some experience with a junior college quarterback and holds nothing against Smith.

“The selfish part of me certainly would have loved to have Alex back for his senior season. He’s a winner -- improves our chances of winning dramatically if he is here,” said Whittingham, who appeared with Smith at Tuesday’s announcement. “Love to have him back, but if he were my son I’d probably tell him to do the same thing. We wish him the best.”

Smith, who received his economics degree last spring, will not attend graduate classes this semester. He plans to work out and try to bulk up his 6-foot-4, 210-pound frame as much as he can while preparing to test for NFL teams.

Gil Brandt, the NFL’s chief draft consultant, said he generally recommends that quarterbacks stay in school the full four years. Even with Smith’s stellar season, Brandt said he probably could guarantee himself a better spot by playing his senior year.

“I’m not sure that if he stayed that he wouldn’t have dominated the college landscape,” Brandt said. “He could have been one of the two or three quarterbacks that would’ve been first-round picks. And he may still be a first-round pick.”

Brandt said he thought Smith was a “first-day” pick, meaning he could go anywhere from the first to third rounds.

Brandt said Smith’s performance in the upcoming NFL combine will be crucial, especially because Smith is coming from the Mountain West Conference and not one of the power leagues.

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Louisiana Tech running back Ryan Moats will skip his final college season and make himself available for the NFL draft.

Moats rushed for 1,774 yards and 18 touchdowns on the way to being the Western Athletic Conference player of the year this season.

“Ryan Moats was a great running back for us and obviously a huge part of our success the past three years,” Louisiana Tech Coach Jack Bicknell said. “We’re sorry to see him go, but we wish him the best of luck with his professional career.”

After opening the season with consecutive 257-yard rushing efforts in wins over Nevada and Louisiana Lafayette, Moats rushed for 236 yards and a career-high four touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ 28-21 win over then-No. 17 Fresno State.

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Georgia All-American junior free safety Thomas Davis is leaving for the NFL, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Davis’ high school coach, Jim McFather, told the newspaper that Davis called him and said “Coach, I’m gone.”

Davis, who could not be reached Tuesday, reportedly signed with Atlanta-based agent Todd France.

The 6-foot-1, 225-pound Davis is regarded as an aggressive, physical safety who could become an outside linebacker in the NFL. He led the Bulldogs in tackles the last two seasons.