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khiladi;1683104 said:Kevin Smith shut down Jerry Rice in his prime consistently, playing man-on-man all day long...
I think Kevin Smith was greatly underrated as a corner prior to his injury. HOWEVER Kevin Smith was the beneficiary of perhaps the deepest defensive line rotation in NFL history. Newman has never had the pass rush that Kevin Smith experienced. Kevin Smith was a fine corner with better play making skills than Newman. But as a physical talent Newman was superior to Smith and probably a little better in coverage. I doubt that Kevin Smith could have kept all opponents from scoring a TD against him in '05 like Newman did-- not with the pass rush (or lack there of) that Newman had to put up with.