Big Board ranking: #9
Positional ranking: #2
Overview
Position: EDGE
College: Georgia
Class: Senior
Age: 22
Measurables
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 238 lbs.
Arm length: 32 5/8″
Hand size: 9″
Athletic testing
40-yard dash: 4.39 sec.
10-yard split: 1.52 sec.
Vertical jump: 41.5″
Broad jump: 128.0″
Bench press: N/A
3-cone drill: N/A
Short shuttle: N/A
Strengths
Outstanding instincts and play recognition. Light and athletic on his feet. Superb athleticism in general. Excellent shoulder dip around the corner as a rusher. Very quick reaction time and awareness. Great balance. Exceptional first-step quickness. Impressive overall play strength. Creates leverage with hand placement on the shoulders of blockers. Physical taking on blocks. Takes on pullers with force when setting the edge. Able to brush off blocks despite not being the biggest edge defender. Aggressive in pursuit. Will weave and dip to get to the ball-carrier. Great breaking down after getting backfield penetration to bring down opponents. Consistently wins with inside moves defending the run. Works hard positioning himself to play the run by dipping around or crashing inside blocks. Doesn’t guess on zone reads and does an excellent job finding the ball. Quite a bit of experience dropping in short zone coverage. Has played some man coverage. Will line up over the slot and jam opponents. High-end intangibles and was said to be like a coach while injured during final CFB Playoff run (2022).
Weaknesses
Average twitch/bend as a pass rusher. Might be considered “undersized” for his play style at the next level. Flashes upside as a pass rusher but want to see him play faster and expand his arsenal. Often off the field on third downs in final season. Recovering from a torn pectoral suffered in late October.
NFL comparison
Haason Reddick
Conclusion
Overall, Smith is an instinctive and unique edge defender that will need to develop as a pass rusher to reach his full potential at the next level. The flashes shown and natural dip combined with the versatility and intangibles makes him someone worth investing in early.