Eli Smucker: The Draft’s Most Intriguing Prospect

Eli Smucker grew up in the small town of southeastern Pennsylvania known as Strasburg. He’s the youngest of seven brothers and by far the most athletically gifted. His 6’3”, 210-pound frame is genetically sculptured. He doesn’t belong to a gym. He has never played organized sports up until the age of 19, and even then, he only practiced with other players. His next competitive game will be his first. That’s because Eli grew up in an Amish family.

The Amish culture shuns the mainstream. Home, school, the farm, and workplace are in lockstep, tied together through the family. In many ways, it functions as its own economy with blood relatives working in harmony as a unit within the confines of its supportive Amish community. This creates strong bonds and gives its members a distinct and vital role. But there’s little time for sports; little money to spend on extracurriculars.

Like mainstream society, inflation affects the Amish. Farming equipment and the costs of operation have begun to spiral upward, significantly outpacing the returns on their laborious farm work. The turnaround time from farm to table fell behind competing farmers who adopted modern technology. However, the relatively primitive tools used by the Amish for plowing, excavating, and harvesting do strengthen the farm hands, and for the Smucker’s, no one physically benefitted more than Eli.

The fledgling of the family could effortlessly double the output of any of his older siblings. He could run a plow through the fields like a hot knife through butter, propelled by muscular legs that acted like high horsepower pistons. He could throw a 150-pound bag of horse feed over his shoulder as if it were a springtime jacket. The accomplishments of the gifted Eli escaped the notice of no one in the Strasburg Amish community. Some view him as a legend in the making.

Economic Burdens

As costs of the Smucker’s domestic operation began to exceed proceeds, Mervin Smucker, the family’s patriarch, knew that their diamond in the rough was Eli. What could Eli do to help see them through this burgeoning financial crisis? Like an answer to Mervin’s prayers, the solution to the Smucker’s economic riddle would soon arrive from an unlikely source.

The Amish are deeply religious. Their faith is heavily rooted in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount which stressed the values and importance of pacifism. The Amish believe that they should reject defense of self and country, even at the risk of being conquered. That places them at a crossroads when faced with economic hardships that threaten the family.

Financial commitments to the farm, building, loans, mortgages, and interest can seem like insurmountable obstacles. The Smucker’s felt the collective and highly uncomfortable grip of such obstacles. Many Amish folks looked for ways outside the family to supplement their income. Men might join a carpentry crew. Women looked to clean the homes of the non-Amish in Lancaster County. Some sought jobs in factories but concerns about work that involved going outside the family and community for economic survival, threatened to drive a wedge into the strong family ties and disrupt its coveted balance.

But Mervin Smucker and his wife Lavina knew that their son Eli was not meant for any of these less than desirable options.

Within the tight-night Amish commonwealth and in their modest town centers, word of Eli’s uncommon skill set began to spread. Many took notice of Eli in the fields. They recalled his prowess on the Mennonite playgrounds and how he dominated even the older children when competing in the Amish games. And as more Amish people began to infiltrate mainstream society out of economic necessity, those closest to Eli wondered if he could plunge into the general populous, albeit in a way unrelated to carpentry and manufacturing.

One day, Michael Phelan, the defensive coordinator for the Franklin & Marshall Diplomats, a Lancaster-based college that competes in the Centennial Conference, visited a local Amish village with his family. And as he combed through the many crafts and unique items, Phelan overheard Mervin talking to another Amish farmer about Eli. What he heard was riveting and piqued his curiosity.

Phelan was all too familiar with formal Amish education and their way of life which was to stay on the periphery of the mainstream and live a relatively stealth existence. He understood that the Amish education only lasts through the eighth grade. There is no option to attend modern public schools, nor a higher education institution. Bringing Eli in for a tryout to potentially join his squad at Franklin & Marshall was not an option for Phelan. But that didn’t tame Phelan’s curiosity.

Scouting Eli

On his way home from summer afternoon practices, Phelan, who is also responsible for recruiting for the Diplomats, would drive by the Smucker’s farm to see Eli in action. The scout in him just couldn’t resist. Eli’s broad shoulders, narrow waist and V-shaped build were innate gifts. Phelan thought that with the proper conditioning regimen, Eli’s frame could support more weight to round him into an edge rusher. Conversely, with the right nutrition, lean muscle development was also an option if the goal was to create a unicorn-like boundary defender in the defensive backfield.

But these were just pipedreams for the ambitious coach. He knew that becoming a college student-athlete wasn’t an option for this Mennonite. So instead, Phelan reached out to area scouts that he knew who were employed by the Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers, respectively. With nothing to gain personally, Phelan invited the three scouts to Franklin & Marshall to attend what would essentially be Eli Smucker’s Pro Day.

Phelan, for all intents and purposes, set up a mini-Combine for Eli, complete with a 40-yard dash, bench press, vertical jump, broad jump, 20-yard shuttle, three-cone drill and 60-yard shuttle. Scouts could not believe what they witnessed.

In the 40-yard dash, Eli ran a 4.23, narrowly missing John Ross’ record of 4.22. He bench-pressed 225 pounds 37 times. His vertical leap of 44.5 inches tied the impressive feat of Donovan Peoples-Jones in 2020. The best-ever three cone test score was delivered by Jordan Thomas in 2018 – a 4.28. Smucker timed in at 4.30. In 2015, Byron Jones broad jumped a record 12’3”. No one else had ever exceeded 12’. Eli’s best effort came in at 12’1”. In 1999, Champ Bailey posted a 3.79 in the 20-yard shuttle. Smucker nailed a 3.75. In the 60-yard shuttle, Eli came in at an eye-opening 10.73.

And lastly, the Wonderlic test. Only one player, Pat McInally, has ever had a perfect score of 50. Eli came in at 49, tying Mike Mamula for the second-best score and one point better than notable Harvard grad Ryan Fitzpatrick.

The scouts were astonished.

What To Do Next

Each scout, choosing to remain anonymous for purposes of this article, met with Eli and his parents Mervin and Lavina. All walked away from those conversation with absolute certainty that if drafted, Eli Smucker would never be the player to keep team officials up at night, wondering what he might be doing in the offseason or during the downtime between the last mandatory OTA’s and training camp.

The Ravens’ area scout brought Eli into team headquarters in Owings Mills to test him against a variety of receivers, tight ends, fullbacks, and offensive linemen in football related drills. Pass catchers failed to gain separation even during drills that are heavily slanted towards offensive success. When going head-to-head against blockers, Eli won far more than he lost.

When all was said and done, no one doubted whether Eli Smucker was worthy of a draft pick. The remaining question was no less than a puzzling conundrum.

“What round?”

Replacing Clowney

Initially, some from the Ravens player personnel group thought that Eli could be among the teams undrafted free agents. But when Phelan invited scouts from the Eagles and Steelers, the UDFA route was ruled out. To earn the rights to Eli, it would require some draft capital. And since the Ravens recently lost Jadeveon Clowney to the Carolina Panthers, edge has become a top priority in the draft. Might Eli Smucker, whose frame could withstand added weight and strength, help fill the ample shoes left behind by Clowney?

Meanwhile, back in Strasburg, the Smucker’s nervously anticipated what might be next. They shared concerns about Eli and how he might immerse himself into the mainstream without the comfort of his family to lean on and provide support.

But Eli calmed his parents, convincing them that he is ready for the challenge and by accepting it, he could help his sacred family get through some difficult times by signing an NFL contract.

Eli Smucker vowed to his parents that he could adapt – that he would be no one’s fool.

But the story of Eli Smucker, could be your April Fool.

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