I'd peg Reggie Ball as more a Seneca Wallace type player... Seneca was more of a running/option type QB in college, while Smith is a pass-first/pocket passer... Two whole different games..
Troy Smith is the FAR superior player compared to Seneca.. No other college QB has an arm like Troy Smith, no one... And usually when someone says a QB has a cannon, you automatically associate that with poor accuracy... But, unlike the stereotype, Troy is 14th in the nation, completing 67.9% of his passes.. Ahead of guys like Chris Leak, Brady Quinn, Erik Ainge, and Drew Stanton... All of whom are very good QBs, respectively... With that accuracy that Troy posseses, this year, he has only 2 INT's... Because of the low INT's and high completion percentage, he has 176 QB rating..
Now you may wonder why am I bringing up statistics, but they prove a huge difference in the two... For one, Seneca had 9 INT's in 2001 and 18 INT's in 2002 (more than his 14 TD's).. So that already tells me that Troy is the superior decision maker and is a more accurate passer... One other thing, Smith only has 9 INT's in his entire college career..
Second, Troy Smith is a complete player.. He can run the ball all day long, but with maturity he has learned to use his legs as his last threat.. Troy Smith was twice the runner Seneca is/was... Seneca was a option QB at Iowa State and his best season was 475 yards and 7 TD's.. While Troy last year posted 600+ yards and 10+ TD's... Even though that Troy is a tremendous runner, he no longer uses it as an escape option when the pocket breaks down.. His eyes are always downfield looking for that open guy... Not sure you could really say that for Seneca.. His escape ability was his best assest, unlike Troy..
Third, Troy Smith has been in the big games, been under pressure and been in the difficult situations.. And every time, he comes out on top, and seems to surprise you with is resillency (?)... Troy has been on the road and had his biggest games agaisnt teams like Iowa, Michigan and Texas... Those were games that defined his career and showed that he thrives in the big games and under pressure... Seneca hadn't been in anything bigger than an Independence Bowl.. He had no clue how to handle pressure or diversity.. Sure he was in the Big 12, but what did he learn by playing the Colorados', Kansas States' and Missouris' of the world.. One of the things that scouts look for when scouting QB's is the ability to lead your team in big games... And when you look at Troy Smith's career, he's done that.. with consistency.
Fourth, when you take a look at a guy like Troy, you'll see the maturity and leadership that he brings to a team.. The whole Ohio State team responds to his play and attitude.. That is why OSU is on top of the college world like now.. Just like how Vince Young was last year with Texas.. You could say Seneca was a leader, but he wasn't anything more than average..
Fifth, you can harp on Troys' height all you want... It won't affect his game at the NFL level at all... Just look at guys like Michael Vick, Drew Breese, Rex Grossman, and Mark Brunell... All of those guys have proved to be successful QB's in the NFL, despite being under 6'2.. And if you look at those three guys they all have 3 things in common: scrambling/escape ability, a strong arm and a willingness to win... When you take a look at Troy Smith, he has all those 3 things..
If you wanted to take it a step further guys like Brett Favre, Kurt Warner, Donovan McNabb, Jake Delhomme and Steve McNair, all of them are under 6'3... And yet, they have still proven to be successful, despite being a bit undersized.. So when you take a look at it, undersized QB's can be successful in the NFL..
You can hate on Troy Smith all you want.. But whatever team drafts him will be lucky to get a damn good football player and an even better person.. Because, whatever team that does in fact give him a chance to play QB, will be set at the QB spot for years to come...