Interview: Lecitus Smith on Rookie Season, Coaching Search and 2023 Outlook

Arizona Cardinals OL Lecitus Smith sat down for an exclusive interview with All Cardinals.

Stay ready so you don't have to get ready. 

Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman Lecitus Smith is enjoying himself in the Valley after finishing his first season in the NFL. He and his girlfriend are big on a few different places to grub (K-38 and Valley Wings is still on the try list personally) and even bigger on the weather after coming from the east coast. 

As a former tight end, he'll even tell you he's got the best hands along the offensive line - and it isn't even close. 

Smith was the team's sixth-round pick in 2022, a place where sometimes those players don't even make it out of training camp. Yet Smith's story was different: his multiple starts along the offensive line gave him valuable starting experience that could factor into a spot next season. 

Yet that's too far down the road, and Smith is very much a person who stays in the present. 

In an interview with All Cardinals, he was however able to walk us through exactly how different the NFL is from his days at Virginia Tech.

"I would honestly say the game speed, which I heard about beforehand. People just say that the game speed is is faster than it is in college. And I definitely agree with that," said Smith. 

"The level of accountability you have to have at this level, because in college you are somewhat hand-held. You get your handheld when it comes to going to study hall if you have to. When it comes to going to different classes, you got class-checkers or even just speaking on the field. You have meetings and all of this and you have a lot of people calling your phone making sure you're going to be there. In the NFL, it is on you. It's solely on you."

Smith recalls his "welcome to the NFL" moment that most players encounter, though his just so happened to come on the first one-on-one snap of training camp against future Hall of Fame defensive end J.J. Watt. 

It doesn't take many guesses to know how that ended (Watt blew past him), yet Smith was able to learn and quickly adjust, something he and the other slew of Cardinals offensive linemen to receive playing time did out of necessity. He even notched himself as a Hard Knocks feature story last year.

There's a saying in the league that goes "film doesn't lie", something that's been echoed by plenty including Cardinals safety Budda Baker. Smith says he's watched his film from 2022 and was overall pleased with how it went.

"Just looking back at tape and even just thinking back to how the season went for me, I feel like it went well. I feel like when I was called upon to go out there and play well, I feel like for the most part, I definitely did that," said Smith. 

"I showed up and did what I had to do and I did my job. I'm not gonna say every single down and every single snap [was great], I'd be completely biased if I said that. There were times where I got beat when my technique wasn't great and I almost got beat, and I let up a pressure. So those are all things I look at. I even look at the good too and see how I can be better or try to learn from it. I've definitely watched the tape and evaluated myself. I feel like it was a pretty good season personally for me."

The Cardinals have a few key free agents heading into 2023, as the likes of Rodney Hudson, Kelvin Beachum, Will Hernandez and Justin Pugh all could possibly not return for next season. 

Smith said he was blessed to be in a room where so many veterans helped him from day one - something not always done in a competitive environment where families are fed - but he also understands the business side of the game. 

That also stretches into the aspect of the team finding a new head coach, something Arizona has yet to do. Smith said he's not privy to any insider information and ingests news just like you or I, but he does have a player's perspective on what he wants out of the next man in charge:

"Personally, I would say just a go-getter. A guy that's gonna get after it and push us to get after it. A guy that's gonna push us and push us to the max. Push us to the limit and get the best out of every last one of his players, but also know how to take care of us," said Smith. 

"If we get a coach like that, that is big on discipline and accountability, and just hard-driven like you get your hands dirty type of work? I'm all in. Let me just put out that I'm all in regardless of course, but I'm just saying that would be the perfect coach."

It's already been quite the journey for Smith, who has experienced a whirlwind of a professional football season. He's young, with starting experience, has versatility and is ready to make himself a perennial "guy" moving forward here in the desert.

"I'm gonna continue to show up day in and day out to work. And I seriously really, really want to get to a spot where I'm fighting for that center spot. I don't believe in handouts, I'm just speaking personally, I don't believe in it. I believe the best man is going to get the job," said Smith on his goals for next season. 

"So I'm going to show up and I'm gonna work my butt off and I just want a fighting chance for it. Because I do believe I can win a job. Like I said, I just I really want to be a guy this next upcoming season. I want to be that guy at that center spot. And God forbid things happen in the season. You can't predict what's going to happen, it's a long season. So if anything happened, I want them to know I can really play all three interior positions."

The entire football world is here in the Valley for Super Bowl LVII. The Cardinals have yet to hire a coach, and some aren't exactly sure on the path Arizona will take moving forward. 

But - like any true professional - Smith is staying ready so he doesn't have to get ready. 

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