I do agree with you that Smith was a pretty solid player, but his lack of assignment discipline was a consistent issue until the last half of his senior season; constant over-pursuit and crashing down to leave gaps. But he was playing really good football by the end of 2010.
Regarding those commits you mentioned: That was definitely true. All were in the fold until that dreadful Sugar Bowl against L.S.U., which ended up costing us big on the recruiting front.