Here's something you may not know about me: I'm a big Tre'Quan Smith truther. Smith was the first player I wrote about following the NFL Draft. His prospect profile excited me and his landing spot was as close to perfect as possible. Catching passes from Drew Brees with just Ted Ginn Jr. standing in front of him for the WR2 spot on the New Orleans Saints? I signed up.
He proceeded to crush the preseason, compiling the fifth-most receiving yards (189). It was also encouraging to see that he caught three passes that went for 20 or more yards. In 2017, only one receiver in college football -- James Washington -- had as many receptions as Smith (59) while averaging higher yards per reception (19.8). Smith excelled at the deep ball in college, and that trait appears to be carrying over. In Week 5, Smith caught 3 passes for 111 yards and 2 touchdowns.
He cooled off in their next game, posting 3 receptions and 44 yards on 6 targets, but that was against the previously mentioned elite Ravens defense. The more important takeaway from that game was Smith's 20% target share. With Ted Ginn Jr. now on the injured reserve, Tre'Quan is the Saints' WR2.
This week, Smith is going to show us those deep-ball chops. He's going to have at least two plays of 30 or more yards in the Saints' Week 8 match against the Minnesota Vikings. It's one of five games this week we project to have a total over 50 points -- remember when those used to be rare? -- and could easily become a quarterback showdown between Brees and Kirk Cousins.
Working in Smith's favor is how hurt the Vikings' defense is. They're expected to get Everson Griffen back, but Xavier Rhodes is currently doubtful and Smith's former UCF teammate Mike Hughes is done for the year with a torn ACL. The Vikings are just the 25th-strongest defense according to Warren Sharp's rankings. More importantly, they're the 30th-ranked explosive pass defense, meaning they are giving up big gains to opposing quarterbacks at a higher rate than almost any team in the league.
That's exactly where Smith thrives. Not to mention that Brees leads the league with an insane 64.52% completion percentage on throws of 15 or more yards. That's a better completion percentage than at least 13 other starting quarterbacks have on all of their throws, let alone the most difficult ones to complete. Smith is going to smash the Vikings' defense for multiple gains of 30 or more yards this weekend.