The entire foundation of the argument I've read here is that different type of players' DE cannot be compared straight away. Taking away where Adams (on the bench when not on-ball, whoever stated he rotates through defence has absolutely no idea) and Smith (partially in forward line, partially on the bench) spend their secondary minutes, they both play the grunt inside midfielder.
Sure you can make exceptions and show contradictory evidences from the back-half, but the same logic doesn't apply for players who are both midfielders. You said disposal efficiency is not a good indicator of kicking quality, but you have to admit despite its flaws its still a whole lot better than Judd2Sewell's opinion/useless personal eye test.
Regardless, my original opinion is that with Smith and Adams both being terrible to poor disposers of the footy, Adams being the superior ball/clearance winner/contested possession winner is clearly the better player. You all need to chill out especially pricey and martin
Except Taylor Adams and Devon Smith's kick to handball ratios aren't similar so Adams DE is lifted by the fact he kicks the ball proportionally less.