One of the problems with smokes to me is that if I have the time to pull out and aim a grenade to block LoS, I’d probably prefer to just peg a bleed nade or two a bit further down to where the enemies are.
Here’s what would genuinely make me consider smokes as offering some unique utility and application:
If you double tap the grenade button with smokes you quickly throw a smoke nade in front of you which goes off almost instantly. Bonus points if the grenade is also given a brief, light stun on initial explosion. That was it can also act as a decent sort of panic button when you’re pinned by overwhelming ranged fire.