S, Georgia
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 195 lbs
Class: Senior
Smith was listed as a four-star cornerback prospect coming out of high school and earned 31 scholarship offers. A Georgia native, he committed to the Bulldogs over the likes of Alabama and Michigan. Upon arriving in Athens, Smith was converted to safety and spent most of his first two seasons on special teams.
His opportunity as a starter arrived in the abbreviated 2020 season, where he played alongside future first rounder Lewis Cine. In the following season, Smith was a key part of a historic, national championship winning defense. He decided to return for a fifth season in 2022 and the move paid dividends. He finished the year as a Unanimous All-American and a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Award.
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Strengths
You won’t find many safeties who read the game better than Smith. His combination of vision and processing speed showed up time and time again throughout his college career and allowed him to make a handful of outstanding plays. He is excellent at reading the game from a deep alignment, whether it be a run or a pass, and has the confidence in his own eyes to trigger quickly. He showcases a good understanding of route concepts and combinations and looked comfortable when asked to pass off routes in match coverage.
This innate understanding of the game leads to another of Smith’s biggest strengths – ball skills. He produced an impressive six interceptions off his 72 career targets, whilst also contributing seven pass breakups. His 18% forced incompletion rate is amongst the best in this year’s safety class. Smith is at his best when asked to read the quarterback as a deep safety, with the range and tracking ability to close on the football and complete the catch process.
Smith isn’t just a great coverage defender. He also projects as one of the better run defending safeties in this year’s class. His processing speed is key here too and he is incredibly quick to read the backfield and identify the play. He showcases good burst when triggering out of his backpedal and has a good understanding of pursuit angles to put himself in the best position to make a play on the ball carrier. When he does make contact, Smith displays good physicality and aggression to finish.
Last but not least is Smith’s athletic profile. Whilst he might never be the fastest safety, he is a noticeably smooth and fluid mover in space. He also displays good short area quickness, which allows him to react quickly to the plays in front of him. His range as a deep safety is more than sufficient and there were a number of occasions where he made plays down the sideline working from the middle of the field. This gives him the versatility to play as either a split field safety or as the lone free safety in a single-high scheme.
Weaknesses
There are no glaring weaknesses to Smith’s game, but there are definitely some areas of concern. The most notable is his ability in man coverage. Whilst he generally looked comfortable on single coverage assignments, he doesn’t have the long speed to consistently contain quicker receivers on full speed routes. There were also a number of occasions where he was left flat footed at the top of routes by shiftier receivers. This seems to stem mainly from issues with his footwork as opposed to athletic limitations.
Smith could also improve his tackling technique. Whilst his approach angles are consistently excellent and he often displays good form, he does have a habit of sometimes stopping his feet on contact. When this happened it would hinder his ability to wrap up the ball carrier alone. It also resulted in him missing 15.7% of his tackle attempts in 2022. Whilst this is not a major worry, it is something he will need to improve on.
Bottom Line
Smith is a well-rounded safety prospect who can be a difference maker against both the run and the pass. Whilst he isn’t the most dynamic player in single coverage, his processing speed and ball skills mean he should be an immediate impact player at the next level.
Ideal role: Scheme-versatile free safety
Round projection: Late 1st/early 2nd round
