Roquan Smith Trending Upward

With a contract extension due, Roquan Smith also seems to be winning league-wide acclaim for the first time if an ESPN poll means anything.

USA Today

After years of being snubbed by analysts and a 2021 season when Pro Bowl voters ignored him, Bears linebacker Roquan Smith finally seems to be making in-roads toward winning actual respect.

First it was Pro Football Focus reversing course on him and naming him the second-best linebacker for IDP fantasy leagues behind only Bobby Wagner, after they graded him 64th among linebackers last year and graded him 80th best out of 87 against the run.

Now, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler has Smith ranked No. 5 among off-ball linebackers for 2022 based on a poll of 50 NFL people, including players, league executives, scouts and coaches, as well as several other factors.

In an ESPN-plus story, Fowler said they polled the 50 people and ranked candidates based on number of their top-10 votes, film study from ESPN analyst Matt Bowen, interviews and research.
So, it wasn't simply a poll of NFL people but a combination of various resources and then ESPN came up with the conclusion.

Darius Leonard of the Colts was No. 1, Micah Parsons of the Cowboys No. 2, 49ers middle linebacker Fred Warner No. 3 and Tampa Bay's Devin White No. 4.

A Pro Bowl player polled took a dim view of the downtrodden Bears and blamed Smith's previous lack of recognition for not being ranked higher.

"If he was in somewhere like Dallas, he'd be celebrated as maybe the best," the player told Fowler.

An NFL coordinator called Smith "Best overall LB in football in my opinion."

He said other players could be better in one particular skill set but Smith has every skill set.

Age of some players might be helping Smith right now as he ascends. 

He was ranked tied for sixth in this same article/poll when it was done last year but moved past 33-year-old Demario Davis, who is sixth this year again. He also managed to climb past Wagner of the Rams, who continues to win Pro Bowl spots even though he is now 32 years old. Wagner dropped in this poll from third last year to eighth for 2022. Another aging linebacker Smith climbed past was Tampa Bay's 32-year-old Lavonte David, who was ranked fifth last year and is now ninth.

Wagner last year was a Pro Bowl player and couldn't play in  that "game," but White was named a replacement.

Within the division, Smith wound up second team All-Pro last year for the se second straight year  and Green Bay's De'Vondre Campbell made first team last year. In this poll/article, Campbell merely received a top-10 honorable mention, as did Eric Kendricks of the Vikings.

Smith is awaiting a contract extension this year, unless the Bears want to tempt fate and risk losing a player who now finally seems to be receiving overdue league-wide recognition.

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