DATE: Sunday, April 27, 1997                TAG: 9704270177

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C9   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: ASHBURN, VA.                      LENGTH:   84 lines

SKINS MAY HAVE DRAFTED A STEAL NEXT QUESTION IS WILL DEREK SMITH BE ABLE TO STEP IN AT MIDDLE LINEBACKER.

Washington Redskins general manager Charley Casserly fielded calls every day last week from fellow GMs - 10 in all - who wanted him to know that they would have drafted Derek Smith in the third round had the Redskins not taken him first.

``I don't know whether it's just talk or on the level,'' Casserly said Saturday from minicamp, ``but I've never had this many teams tell me that we beat them to the punch on a player they really wanted.''

The calls made Casserly feel good because, truth be told, the Redskins aren't completely sure what they've got in Smith. Overshadowed by two more heralded teammates at Arizona State, the 6-foot-2, 240-pound Smith didn't make many of the scouts' or draft experts' manuals. When his name was listed, he was classified as being anything from a third- to seventh-round pick.

``I think this is a guy you had to have a feeling about, not that you didn't do your homework, not that you didn't look at a lot of film, but I think this is one that really tells you something about your scouting staff,'' Casserly said. ``Our people picked him up on film right away and we liked him from the minute we worked him out.''

That was on Feb. 26. New linebackers coach Dale Lindsey, famous for his work with San Diego's Junior Seau, flew to Tempe to watch Smith.

``He could run, he had a good burst of speed, good acceleration,'' Lindsey said. ``And the other thing you got from film and talking to coaches is that he was always looking for somebody to hit. And when he hit them, he got his money's worth.

``He's 240 pounds and he hits you like he weighs 240 pounds.''

With all mini-camp drills non-contact, Smith won't get a chance to show off that aspect of his game this weekend. But he displayed some of the quickness and running ability Lindsey liked so much during Saturday morning's passing drills.

Trent Green's pass was high over the head of the intended receiver; high over Smith's head, too. But Smith leaped into the air, tipped the ball with his left hand and intercepted it with his right.

``Gosh, I don't remember the defense we were in,'' Smith said. ``Someone ran a short crossing route and it's been my experience that when someone runs a short crossing route, there's a longer crossing route behind it. I just dropped into the deep area.

``I've got so much on my mind right now my brain feels like scrambled eggs.''

Lindsey laughed when Smith's remarks were repeated to him. He'd deliberately installed a week's worth of defensive strategies in the 24 hours his unit had been together, deliberately sought to see how many of his young linebackers could think clearly through the haze he'd created.

Smith, whom the Redskins want to play at middle linebacker, had passed his first test.

``It's realistic to say he can compete for the starting job at middle linebacker,'' Lindsey said. ``What he has to do between now and September is show daily improvement in the things we're trying to teach here. Execute as a professional.''

The last time Smith played middle linebacker was in junior college in Utah. When he signed his letter-of-intent at Arizona State, it was with the idea that he'd play weak-side linebacker for the Sun Devils, a glamour spot on the defense.

But Arizona State changed defensive coordinators that year and Smith was placed at strong-side linebacker, right over the tight end. It's a dirty job, one where it's a big accomplishment to force the tight end to run a different route than called for, or force a running back to change gears on a sweep by shoving the tight end back into his face.

``He played his position as well as anyone on the defense,'' linebackers coach Lyle Setencich said. ``It's probably the most unglamorous position on defense. It's probably the most important position on defense.''

Smith credits Setencich with making him into a draftable player, something he says he was not after his junior year at Arizona State.

``I matured a little after my junior year, and I came to learn the defense better,'' he said. ``But coach Setencich really taught me a lot about myself, about the kind of abilities I have, about how to get the most from them.''

If Smith doesn't pan out in the middle, the plan is to move veteran outside linebacker Marvcus Patton there and probably replace him with rookie second-round pick Greg Jones. But the coaches like Smith enough that they're willing to give him until the second or third preseason game this summer before moving Patton inside.

``There's time,'' Lindsey said. ``I've been down that road before. In Green Bay once, we brought in Johnny Holland and we just wanted him to take someone's place at linebacker. We didn't much care who. By the time the season opened, he was in the starting lineup and didn't leave the field for 10 years. It can happen.''

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