Harrison Smith (American football)

Harrison Smith (born February 2, 1989) is an American football safety who plays in the National Football League for the Minnesota Vikings. He was drafted in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft (29th overall). He played college football for Notre Dame.

Harrison Smith
Smith with the Minnesota Vikings in 2015
No. 22 – Minnesota Vikings
Position:Safety
Personal information
Born: (1989-02-02) February 2, 1989
Augusta, Georgia
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:214 lb (97 kg)
Career information
High school:Knoxville Catholic
(Knoxville, Tennessee)
College:Notre Dame
NFL Draft:2012 / Round: 1 / Pick: 29
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2019
Total tackles:658
Sacks:13.0
Interceptions:24
Pass deflections:57
Forced fumbles:7
Defensive touchdowns:4
Player stats at NFL.com

In 2017, Smith was graded the third-best player in the NFL by Pro Football Focus.[1] His season grade of 98.8 was also the highest among safeties in Pro Football Focus history.[2] He was named to his third straight Pro Bowl on January 22, 2018 and was named first team All-Pro.[3][4] He followed with a 4th consecutive Pro Bowl in 2019 and second team All-Pro.

High school career

Smith attended Knoxville Catholic High School in Knoxville, Tennessee. In his senior season, he gained 1,340 yards rushing to go with 19 touchdowns, caught 23 passes for 453 yards and six touchdowns, and also made 61 tackles, two tackles for loss, two interceptions, and caused two fumbles on defense. He was named Gatorade Football Player of the Year in Tennessee in 2006.

In addition to football, Smith also played basketball and ran track. In track, he competed primarily as a jumper. He won the state meet in the high jump 1.98 meters (6.5 ft) and the decathlon, scoring 6,230 points. He had a career-best leap of 2.03 meters (6.8 ft) in the high jump.[5] He also had personal-best jumps of 6.54 metres (21 ft 5 in) in long jump and 14.15 metres (46 ft 5 in) in triple jump.

Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, he was listed as the No. 25 athlete in the nation.[6] Many scouts believed he could play offense or defense in college. He chose Notre Dame over offers from Tennessee, Auburn, and Alabama.

College career

After red-shirting as a freshman in 2007, he emerged as a star in 2008. He began his career at linebacker. In his first year, he started 9 games and recorded 57 tackles, which included 8.5 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks. As a junior in 2009, he started 6 games at strong safety, then strongside linebacker for the final 6 games. He recorded 69 tackles including 6.5 tackles for loss. In 2010, as a senior, he played strong safety where he recorded 93 tackles including a team-high 7 interceptions. In 2011, he was accepted to a graduate program at Notre Dame allowing him to play another season.[7] In his final year in 2011, serving as team captain, he played in and started in all 13 games. He recorded 90 tackles including 3 tackles for loss.

College statistics
Regular season statistics Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
SeasonTeamGPGSCombTotalAstSckSftyPDefIntYdsAvgLngTDsFFFRFR yds
2008Notre Dame 1395739183.5--7000.000000
2009Notre Dame 12126939300.0--4000.000100
2010Notre Dame 13139356370.0--77547.7230000
2011Notre Dame 13139053370.0--10000.000100
Totals 51473091871223.5--287547.72302.000

Professional career

Coming out of Notre Dame, Harrison was projected by the majority of analysts to be a first round draft selection. He was ranked the second best strong safety, behind Alabama's Mark Barron, and the 46th best prospect by NFLDraftScout.com. He was invited to attend the 2012 NFL Combine as a free safety and completed the entire workout and every positional drill. Smith was satisfied enough with his combine performance that he chose to only partake in positional drills at Notre Dame's Pro Day.[8] He received positive reviews from analysts and scouts for his size, athletic ability, play recognition, intelligence, tackling ability, reaction time, consistency, and production. He mainly received negative reviews on his man to man coverage ability.[9]

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand size 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 1 7⁄8 in
(1.88 m)		 213 lb
(97 kg)		 32 5⁄8 in
(0.83 m)		 10 1⁄4 in
(0.26 m)		 4.57 s 1.56 s 2.66 s 4.12 s 6.63 s 34 in
(0.86 m)		 10 ft 2 in
(3.10 m)		 19 reps
All values from NFL Combine[9][10]

2012

On April 26, 2012, the Minnesota Vikings drafted Smith in the first round (29th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft after trading up with the Baltimore Ravens.[11] On May 31, 2012, the Minnesota Vikings signed Smith to a four-year, $7.13 million contract with $5.78 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $3.63 million.[12]

He entered training camp competing with Jamarca Sanford and Andrew Sendejo to be the Minnesota Vikings' free safety. Smith was named the starting free safety to begin the regular season.[13] He made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the Vikings' season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He finished the 26–23 victory with seven combined tackles. During the Week 5 matchup against the Tennessee Titans, Smith was ejected for moving an official out of the way; the Vikings still won, 30–7. On October 21, 2012, Smith made six combined tackles and a pass deflection, and made his first career interception off of John Skelton for a 31-yard touchdown. It was his first career touchdown and sealed the 21–14 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.[14] The following game, he made a season-high 13 combined tackles in a 36–17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. On December 9, 2012, he recorded seven total tackles and intercepted Jay Cutler's pass and returned it for a 52-yard touchdown in a 21–14 victory over the Chicago Bears. The next game, Smith had a season-high nine solo tackles and an assisted tackle during a 36–22 win over the St. Louis Rams. In a Week 16 matchup against the Houston Texans, he decided seven solo tackles and made his first career sack on Matt Schaub, as the Vikings routed the Texans, 23–6.[15]

He finished his rookie season with 104 combined tackles, one sack, three interceptions, and two touchdowns.[16]

2013

He returned as the starting free safety the following season. In the season-opener against the Detroit Lions, Smith made a season-high ten combined tackles and deflected a pass as the Vikings lost 34-24. The following week, he recorded eight solo tackles and intercepted Jay Cutler for his first of the season. The Minnesota Vikings went on to lose to the Chicago Bears 31-30.[17] In a Week 3 contest against the Cleveland Browns, Smith racked up five solo tackles and intercepted Brian Hoyer in a 31-27 loss to the Browns.[18] On October 18, 2013, Smith was placed on injured-reserve after suffering an injury to his left foot during a Week 6 loss to the Carolina Panthers.[19] On December 14, 2013, after missing 8 games, Smith was activated to the 53-man roster.[20] The next day, he played in his first game since returning and made eight combined tackles in a 48-30 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Smith started only seven games in the 2013 season due to his foot injury and made 58 combined tackles and two interceptions.[16]

2014

He resumed as the starting free safety under new head coach Mike Zimmer. In the season-opener against the St. Louis Rams, Smith made two solo tackles, a pass deflection, a sack, and scored an 81-yard touchdown after intercepting Shaun Hill in the 34-6 victory.[21] On November 2, 2014, he recorded a season-high ten solo tackles in a 29-26 win over the Washington Redskins. In a Week 11 contest, Smith recorded three solo tackles, a pass deflection, and intercepted Jay Cutler during a 21-13 loss to the Chicago Bears. The next game, he deflected a pass, made five solo tackles, and assisted on five tackles, tying his season-high of ten combined tackles in a 24-21 loss to the Green Bay Packers. He started all 16 games and finished his first year under head coach Mike Zimmer with 92 combined tackles, nine deflected passes, three sacks, five interceptions, and a touchdown.[16]

2015

On May 3, 2015, the Minnesota Vikings picked up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract that paid him $5.28 million for 2016.[12][22]

In the seasons opener, he recorded a season-high nine combined tackles in a 20-3 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. The next game, Smith made a season-high six solo tackles in a 26-16 win over the Detroit Lions. On October 4, 2015, he made three combines tackles and made his first interception of the season off of Peyton Manning in a 23-20 loss to the Denver Broncos.[23] On December 27, 2015, Smith racked up five combined tackles, intercepted Eli Manning, and returned it for a 35-yard touchdown, as the Vikings routed the New York Giants, 49-17.[24] He set a Minnesota Vikings' franchise record with four interceptions returned for touchdowns in a career.[25] Smith started 13 games for the Vikings in the 2015 season and missed Weeks 12, 14, and 15 due to a knee injury. He finished the season with 66 combined tackles, 1.5 sacks, two interceptions, and a touchdown.[16]

On January 31, 2016, Smith played in his first Pro Bowl, as an alternate for the injured Earl Thomas.[26] He was ranked 73rd on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.[27]

2016

On June 6, 2016, Smith signed a five-year, $51.25 million contract extension with the Vikings that included $28.57 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $10 million.[12][28]

In the Vikings' season-opener against the Tennessee Titans, he made eight total tackles in a 25–16 victory. On September 25, 2016, Smith recorded seven combined tackles and sacked Cam Newton for his first of the season, in a 22–10 win against the Carolina Panthers. In a Week 11 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, Smith recorded a season-high ten combined tackles and sacked Carson Palmer in a 30–24 victory.[16] Smith missed Weeks 14 and 15 with a high ankle sprain that was initially thought to possibly be a season-ending injury that required surgery.[29] On December 24, 2016, he returned in a 38–25 loss to the Green Bay Packers and made four solo tackles. He finished the season with 91 tackles, two sacks, and two deflected passes in 14 starts. This was the first season in his career he did not record an interception.[16]

On December 20, 2016, the NFL announced that Smith and fellow Vikings Xavier Rhodes and Cordarrelle Patterson had been voted to the 2017 NFL Pro Bowl. This was his second consecutive Pro Bowl but first as a first-team member.[30] He was ranked 74th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.[31]

2017

In Week 16, Smith recorded two interceptions against Brett Hundley in a 16-0 shutout win over the Packers, earning him NFC Defensive Player of the Week.[32]

Smith was graded the third-best player in the NFL by Pro Football Focus.[1] His season grade of 98.8 was also the highest among safeties in Pro Football Focus history.[2] He was named to his third straight Pro Bowl on January 22, 2018 and was named first team All-Pro. He was also nominated for NFL Defensive Player of the Year.[3][4] He was ranked 46th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.[33]

2018

In Week 1, Smith recorded one interception, a sack, and a touchdown saving fumble recovery to go along with 7 tackles in dominant 24-16 win over the San Francisco 49ers, earning him NFC Defensive Player of the Week.[34] In week 5, Smith helped the Vikings to victory against the Philadelphia Eagles with 4 tackles and a big hit late in the 4th quarter to prevent a third-down conversion by the Eagles. Week 7 saw the Vikings travel to New York to take on the Jets, Smith had an interception returned for 52 yards to go along with 2 passes defended and 4 tackles, to lead the Vikings to a 37-17 win. Smith was selected to a 4th straight Pro Bowl as well as being selected 2nd team All-Pro after another stellar season for the Minnesota Vikings.

2019

In Week 3 against the Oakland Raiders, Smith recorded his first interception of the season off Derek Carr in the 34–14 win.[35] In Week 14 against the Detroit Lions, Smith intercepted a pass thrown by rookie quarterback David Blough that was intended for wide receiver Kenny Golladay in the 20–7 win.[36] In Week 15 against the Los Angeles Chargers, Smith intercepted a pass thrown by Philip Rivers and recovered a fumble forced by Danielle Hunter on Melvin Gordon during the 39–10 win.[37] In Week 16 against the Green Bay Packers, Smith forced a fumble on wide receiver Davante Adams that was recovered by teammate Eric Kendricks during a 23-10 loss.[38] He finished the year being selected to his 5th straight Pro Bowl.

Career statistics
Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
GPGSCombTotalAstSckSftyPDefIntYdsAvgLngTDsFFFRFR yds
2012MIN 161610474301.0--1138729.056T2110
2013MIN 875847110.0--3242.040010
2014MIN 16169271213.0--9515030.081T1100
2015MIN 13136649151.5--323517.535T1100
2016MIN 14149169222.0--2----------010
2017MIN 16167861171.5--125428.4190000
2018MIN 16168467173.0--636622.0520120
2019MIN 15158565201.0--113134.3130320
Career 11411365850315513.0--572339717.381T4780

[39]

References
  1. https://www.pff.com/news/pro-top-101-players-from-the-2017-nfl-season
  2. "No Matter How Good You Think Harrison Smith Is, He's Better Than You Think He Is". January 2, 2018.
  3. "Linval Joseph, Kyle Rudolph, Harrison Smith Named to 2018 Pro Bowl". Vikings.com. January 22, 2018. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  4. Patra, Kevin (January 5, 2018). "All-Pro Team: Antonio Brown is unanimous selection". NFL.com. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  5. Press, Pioneer. "Vikings draft pick Harrison Smith talks, Bob Sansevere listens – Twin Cities". Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 8, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "SPORTSCRACK: NOTRE DAME RELEASES OFFICIAL FIFTH-YEAR SENIOR LIST". Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  8. "Harrison Smith, DS #2 SS, Notre Dame: 2012 NFL draft". nfldraftscout.com. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  9. "NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles – Harrison Smith". nfl.com. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  10. http://www.draftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=71840&draftyear=2012&genpos=ss
  11. "Vikings Move Up, Select Notre Dame S Harrison Smith". www.vikings.com. April 26, 2012. Archived from the original on May 1, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  12. "Sportrac.com: Harrison Smith contract". sportrac.com. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  13. "Ourlads.com: Minnesota Viking's Depth Chart: 08/29/2012". ourlads.com. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  14. "NFL Game Center: Week 7-2012: Arizona Cardinals @ Minnesota Vikings". NFL.com. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  15. "NFL Game Center: Week 16-2012: Minnesota Vikings @ Houston Texans". NFL.com. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  16. "NFL Player Profile: Harrison Smith". NFL.com. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  17. "NFL Game Center: Week 2-2013: Minnesota Vikings @ Chicago Bears". NFL.com. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  18. "NFL Game Center: Week 3-2013: Cleveland Browns @ Minnesota Vikings". NFL.com. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  19. Gates, Christopher (October 18, 2013). "Harrison Smith Placed On Injured Reserve-Recall List". Daily Norseman. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  20. CCNorseman (December 14, 2013). "Report: Josh Robinson to IR, Harrison Smith Activated". Daily Norseman. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  21. "NFL Game Center: Week 1-2013: Minnesota Vikings @ St. Louis Rams". NFL.com. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  22. Goessling, Ben (May 4, 2015). "Vikings pick up fifth-year options on Matt Kalil, Harrison Smith". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  23. "NFL Game Center: Week 4-2015: Minnesota Vikings @ Denver Broncos". NFL.com. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  24. "NFL Game Center: Week 16-2015: New York Giants @ Minnesota Vikings". NFL.com. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  25. "Can't Miss: Harrison Smith's Pick-Six vs. NYG". www.vikings.com. Archived from the original on August 4, 2017. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  26. Young, Lindsey (January 25, 2016). "Harrison Smith Headed to 1st Career Pro Bowl". www.vikings.com. Archived from the original on March 30, 2016. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  27. NFL Top 100 Players of 2016 – No. 73 Harrison Smith
  28. Orr, Conor (June 6, 2016). "Harrison Smith signs $51.25M extension with Vikings". NFL.com. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  29. Patra, Kevin (November 7, 2016). "Report: Harrison Smith could possibly miss the rest of the season with ankle injury". NFL.com. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  30. "NFL announces 2017 Pro Bowl rosters". NFL.com. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  31. NFL Top 100 Players of 2017 - No. 74 Harrison Smith
  32. Maya, Adam (December 27, 2017). "Todd Gurley, Dion Lewis among NFL Players of Week". NFL.com.
  33. "Harrison Smith Makes NFL's Top 100 at No. 46". vikings.com. Archived from the original on June 1, 2018. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
  34. Teope, Herbie (September 12, 2018). "Mahomes, Fitzpatrick among Players of the Week". NFL.com.
  35. "NFL rushing leader Cook leads Vikes romp past Raiders 34-14". www.espn.com. September 22, 2019. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  36. "Defense delivers as Vikings sail past Lions 20-7". www.espn.com. December 8, 2019. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  37. "Minnesota takes advantage of 7 Chargers turnovers in victory". www.espn.com. December 15, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  38. "Packers clinch NFC North with 23-10 win over Vikings". www.espn.com. December 23, 2019. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  39. "Harrison Smith Stats". NFL.com. National Football League. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
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