New Carolina Panthers tight end Desean Smith is a player with a lot of untapped potential, but it will be a challenge for the team to get it out of him.

A four-star recruit by Rivals and the consensus No. 4 tight end in the nation, Smith graduated high school in 2013 and received offers from 17 different programs. He committed to the LSU Tigers later in the winter. He was hailed as an “elite” tight end that could block with his massive frame (6-foot-4, 220 pounds) yet split out wide and challenge the secondary with his speed.

Via Gueax247, then-coach Les Miles was thrilled to have him on the team:

Coach Miles was very excited, and he said I made his day and all that. He couldn’t stop laughing and just kept saying this was very big for me to give him the news. Coach Miles said there really wasn’t much he could say other than that I made his day.

However, things never lined up for the superstar-potential player. Smith only recorded 19 receptions for 325 yards and a single touchdown over the course of his four years at LSU.

There were several reasons for his lack of production: The LSU quarterbacks were some of the worst in the nation, their offense only passed once a quarter (and why wouldn’t you with Leonard Fournette and Derrius Guice in the backfield?), and Smith could not crack the starting lineup. But maybe it’s something else.

With no remaining years of eligibility left to play football, Smith declared for the NFL draft.

He was not invited to the NFL combine and had to take part in LSU’s pro day as his only showing to teams. It went as bad as it possibly could have, as he posted a 4.95 40 yard dash, which, would have been the second-worst by a skill position player at the combine, and a 28.5-inch vertical, which would have been tied with Fournette for the seventh-worst. His broad jump of 111 inches would have been tied with Freddie Stevenson for third-worst and his 14 bench press reps would have been the worst of the tight ends by three reps. I could keep going, but it’s pretty obvious he is not the athlete his high school days showed him to be.

After going all seven rounds without hearing his name selected, he was called by the Chicago Bears but not to be signed as an UDFA. He was invited to the Bears’ rookie minicamp but was not signed by the team afterwards.

The following week he was invited to the Panthers’ rookie minicamp. He was signed a week later.

Smith’s story is not unique. As NFL rosters swell up to the preseason 90 man cap, camp bodies are signed from all areas of the nation with every kind of background you can imagine.

On paper he will be in direct competition with Scott Simonson for the third spot on the tight end depth chart. In reality, he is just another churning of the bottom of the roster, mining for the diamonds in the rough.