“Not even close” - NFL fans react to DeVonta Smith’s claim of being best WR in college football history

DeVonta Smith had a legendary career with the Alabama Crimson Tide, recording 3,965 receiving yards and 46 touchdowns on 235 receptions. The former five-star prospect in the 2017 recruiting class helped the program win two national championships in four seasons before being selected tenth overall in the 2021 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Smith recently said that he believes he is the greatest wide receiver in college football history. Speaking on the "7PM in Brooklyn" podcast on Friday, Smith said:

"That's tough. I'll say yeah, but then again, the receiver in me that kind of watched the other receivers like guys that didn't get the opportunities I had. Like, you had Julio [Jones], run-first offense, was the only option in the pass game doing the things that he did. You had [Cooper Kupp] who was just like cooking everybody. Justin Blackmon, he won the [Fred Biletnikoff Award] back-to-back.

It's guys like that, you were just like, I know I was cooking, but they was cooking too. You got to have respect for them. You know, those guys kind of made me want to do what I did - take my receiver stuff to another level ... Out of [the four Heisman Trophy winning wide receivers], I'm number one."

Fans on X reacted to Smith's claim in the comments.

"He was good not the best ever to do in college football. I remember players like Larry Fitzgerald putting teams on the map like Pittsburgh. Smith didn’t do that," one tweeted.

"Hard for me to put him there when he was on such a loaded team. It’s Randy Moss for me," another tweeted.

"Somebody is lying to him," one tweeted.

"If that were true, he’d be a top 5 WR in the NFL. He is not," another tweeted.

DeVonta Smith is one of just four wide receivers to win the Heisman Trophy

While there will be plenty of debates about DeVonta Smith's claim that he is the greatest wide receiver in college football history, it is difficult to deny that he had one of the greatest individual seasons at the position. The former Alabama Crimson Tide star had a legendary year in 2020.

He helped lead the program to a perfect 13-0 record, winning the national championship. Smith recorded 1,856 receiving yards and 23 touchdowns on 117 receptions. He added six rushing yards and one touchdown on four carries, 237 punt return yards, one touchdown on 11 punt returns, and 52 kick return yards on four kick returns.

Smith became just the third wide receiver to win the Heisman Trophy, joining Tim Brown and Desmond Howard. Travis Hunter recently became the fourth wideout to win the award.