Player: Christopher Smith

School: Georgia

Measurables:

• Height: 5’11”(NFL Combine)
• Weight: 192(NFL Combine)
• 40: 4.62(NFL Combine)
• 10 Yard Split: 1.56(NFL Combine)
• Bench: 15(NFL Combine)
• Vertical Jump: 33”(NFL Combine)
• Broad Jump: 9’8”(NFL Combine)
• 3 Cone: DNP
• 20 Yard Shuttle: DNP
• Other Notes: Highly, highly disappointed by Smith’s athletic testing. I wasn’t expecting him to be at the top of the charts, but I certainly was expecting better than what he produced… particularly in the 40. He plays so fast. The 4.62 from Smith may have been the most shocking part of the Combine for me. In the positional drills, he looked okay. He definitely had his ups and downs. 

Graded Position Specific Traits:

• Field Vision: 9/10
• Range: 7.75/10
• In-The-Box Zone Coverage: 6.75/10
• Deep Zone Coverage: 8/10
• Tackling: 7.5/10
• Man Coverage:7.25 /10
• Run Support: 6.25/10

Prospect Grade: 52.5/70; 75%- Multiple pro bowl selections with potential to be perennial pro bowler

Projected Draft Day: Round 2

Player Comparison: Quandre Diggs

Player Summary:

Georgia’s Christopher Smith is a safety prospect who played a huge role for the Bulldogs in their championship run this past season, but was not recognized among guys like Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean, and his counterpart Lewis Cine. Even with Cine gone it still seems like Smith is getting less recognition than his 2022 counterpart Tykee Smith who transferred in the spring of 2021. It’s time for Christopher Smith to get the recognition he deserved. Smith could’ve entered the draft last year with Cine, but chose to return to the Bulldogs to improve his draft stock and take over as the veteran leader of not just the secondary but of the whole defensive unit who lost most of their superstars and leaders. Smith is a man on a mission this year and should be monitored this coming season as a top safety prospect.

Smith is a do-it-all free safety who excels more in coverage, but is not dormant in the run game either. In coverage, he is super well rounded with a strength more so in zone than in man. I think he has above average zone ability both in the box and deep. I think his man technique is slightly above the average of safeties, but could use some work. The issue for a guy like Smith is that with his lack of ideal size at the safety position he is a mismatch against tight ends. Smith can roll down into the box and cover pretty much any low zone, but for me what separates him from the other safeties I’ve watched so far is that he can roam the deep zone better than anyone else. In Cover 3 or even in Cover 1, Smith understands his responsibility and is able to make plays sideline to sideline. His play speed on tape looks top tier. Let him roam and he’ll get the job done.

Like I stated Smith is also fairly active in the run game. He’s not always a part of the tackle, but he seems to have a great understanding of where the play is going and can come downhill to be in a position to make the play if needed. Smith definitely has above average tackling, but I wouldn’t quite call it top tier, he has a few technical things to work on like remembering to break down at times. He is not afraid to pop you though. Against blockers, his goal is to get through you, he will come barreling downhill with a nasty intention. His size makes it hard for him to completely blow up blockers but he is not a player you want to see coming at you. I love his demeanor and his effort against blockers to try to make a play on the ball but I would like to see him be a little more successful getting to the play. That could mean trying to get around the blocker without making contact or just being able to get the blocker off him if contact is made. 

Overall, Smith has that dog mentality. For him it is definitely about the size of the dog in the fight. He stands at 5’11” but plays like he’s 6’3”. He has top tier range and an unbelievable ability to read the field from run to pass concepts at every level of the field. Coming back for his 5th year in this program. Here’s a couple things I will look for from Smith this fall:

~ Will he step up as a leader with the losses from last year’s team

~ Can he prove to be more active in the run?

~ Can he improve his tackling?

~ Can he improve his range from top tier to elite?

I’m super excited that Smith came back for his 5th year of college ball, he is such a fun player to watch. Right now I have Smith as a late first rounder, but with a solid season and some improvement in various areas I could see Smith jumping up draft boards, potentially even to the Safety 1 spot.

Updated on 1/15/23:

After taking a look at Christopher Smith’s 2022 tape I can confidently say I believe he is the #1 safety in this year’s class. Let’s take a look at some of my questions I had for Smith coming into 2022:

Will he step up as a leader with the losses from last year’s team?: Yes, Smith absolutely stepped up as a leader of not just the secondary, not just the young defense, but of the entire Georgia team. He was a Captain for the Bulldogs this season. He no longer lived in the shadow of anyone. Smith is finally being recognized as the player he is.

Can he prove to be more active in the run?: I think Smith could still be more active in the run game. What I did notice this time around however is that Smith plays pretty deep a lot, so he’s not immediately in a position to make a play in the run game; however, he is always coming downhill ready to make a tackle if necessary. He’s always trying to get where he needs to be.

Can he improve his tackling?: Smith improved his tackling and it’s pretty noticeable on tape. He’s not whiffing on nearly as many tackles as he did in 2021. He looks pretty fundamentally sound as a tackler now. Does he still miss tackles every once in a while, yes, but the improvement is impressive.

Can he improve his range from top tier to elite?: I wouldn’t say Smith improved his range to an elite level. I do believe though that he’s got some of the best range to make a play in this class. His speed still looks top tier, and it’s a huge part of why he’s such a great sideline to sideline player. There were a couple plays where I thought he was in a position to make the play on the ball and he came up just shy. What I will say though is Smith’s ability to read the field is absolutely unbelievable, some of the best eyes I’ve seen. 

UPDATE 3/11:

Smith is coming off pretty rough performances in the Senior Bowl and the NFL Combine. Smith to date was the only safety I had projected as a Round 1 player. Based on the Senior Bowl and Combine I have lowered his projected to Round 2. It’s hard to ignore Smith’s electrifying game tape at Georgia, but his stock is definitely trending the wrong direction.