YOUNG STAR: Former West Virginia QB Geno Smith hands off to a child during an NFL Play60 event yesterday at Chelsea Piers. Smith is expected to be taken in the first round of the NFL Draft tonight. (Neil Miller)
Geno Smith has heard the armchair pundits who question whether he ever will amount to anything more than a serviceable NFL quarterback, and he has answered them — via Twitter.
“Just want to thank all those so called ‘experts’ who say I can’t be an NFL QB. Thursday will be a special day but the work has only begun,” the West Virginia quarterback, who is expected to be picked somewhere in the first round of tonight’s NFL Draft, tweeted on Tuesday.
Smith, an unpredictable commodity in the draft because his flashes of brilliance have been muddied by some subpar performances (particularly last season), has taken his share of heat from some draft gurus. And, though it has irked him, he has tried to have fun with it by expressing himself through social media.
Last month, shortly after one draft analyst wrote a report ripping Smith’s work ethic and leadership ability, he tweeted this: “Hate is so familiar to me I’m slowly embracing it, doesn’t come natural bear with me it could take a bit.’’
Smith was among 24 draft prospects who gathered on the West Side of Manhattan yesterday for an NFL Play60 event.
“It’s not even to get back at anyone, because I can’t do that through Twitter,” he said of his detractors. “The only way I can do that is to prove them wrong on the field. Basically, what I just said is, ‘I’d like to thank you for continuing to motivate me and to keeping me motivated.’
“I just wanted to put that out there and let them know all the doubt and that stuff, yeah, I’ve heard it. Some of it is true, some of it untrue. But we’ll see once I get drafted and go into the NFL.’’
Despite the 42 TDs he threw to go with just six INTs last season, Smith knows many of the knocks against him stem from his 19-for-28, 201-yard passing performance in West Virginia’s 38-14 Pinstripe Bowl loss to Syracuse in the cold and snow at Yankee Stadium.
“That’s one game,’’ he said. “I’ve started how many games in my career in three years? I’ve played in terrible conditions. Overall, I just have to get better, and that’s something I’ve always done. So I don’t have a problem with it.’’
Now Smith would like to go somewhere high in the draft. He has been linked as high as No. 3 overall to the Raiders and is also on the Jets’ radar, since they now have two picks in the first round (Nos. 9 and 13) thanks to the Darrelle Revis trade.
Smith said he dined with Jets offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg and senior personnel evaluator Terry Bradway in Morgantown, W.V., the night before his March 14 pro day.
“They came to my pro day and we had a great visit,’’ Smith said. “There’s a level of interest there.’’
Smith was also one of 30 players who took an official visit to the Jets at their Florham Park facility, where he met with head coach Rex Ryan and quarterbacks coach David Lee.
NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock yesterday predicted if Smith does not land in Cleveland with the No. 6 pick, it is possible he could plummet to the bottom of the first round.
“My expectations obviously are to go early, but if I don’t, it’s not going to faze me,’’ Smith said. “Whichever team I’m on, I’ll go in there and try and win the starting job, and once I’m the starter continue to win games and build on my goals.’’
A year after Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III were the talk of the draft, this year’s quarterback class is being viewed as a weak one — something Smith takes umbrage to.
“I don’t believe that talk,’’ he said. “Last year’s class set the bar really high, but now we’ve got to come in this year and answer that. We’ve got to come and respond.’’
mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com