Falcons TE Jonnu Smith Looking to 'Rekindle' Career After Patriots Trade

Tight end Jonnu Smith has been reunited with his Atlanta Falcons coach Arthur Smith, with whom he worked during their tenure with the Tennessee Titans.

Despite being an ill-fated fit with the New England Patriots, tight end Jonnu Smith is primed to rekindle his career with the Atlanta Falcons.

As the start of the 2023 year rapidly approaches, the Falcons acquired the 27-year-old from the Patriots in exchange for a 2023 seventh-round draft selection.

The move reunites Smith with his former Tennessee Titans tight ends coach – and current Falcons head coach – Arthur Smith. The latter Smith was the former’s coach when he was drafted by the Titans in the third round (100th overall) in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Most importantly, it is going to allow Jonnu Smith to be … Jonnu Smith.

Conceptually, Smith was expected to provide exactly what the Pats lacked in their post-Rob Gronkowski reality: productivity and a reliable scorer at the tight end position. However, he fell short of expectations in his two seasons with the Patriots, since joining the team as a free agent in 2021.

He was only periodically phased into the passing game, while being used primarily as a blocker. As a Patriot, Smith totaled 55 catches for 539 yards and just one touchdown over 30 games in both seasons.

Smith’s less-than-stellar stat sheet may be explained by his more prevalent usage in run protection schemes in 2021. Although he is a more than capable blocker, one would think his talents would be better utilized as an offensive scoring weapon. Yet, the Pats and quarterback Mac Jones provided fellow free-agent tight end acquisition Hunter Henry with those opportunities.

Pairing Smith with Henry was to have offered the Pats to utilize 12-personnel more effectively. Unfortunately, that was seldom the case. The duo only shared the field for 18.6 percent of New England’s offensive snaps in 2021, and a mere 18 percent in 2022.

Still, Smith earned the trust and respect of his coaches and teammates. Though his offensive numbers may have fallen short of expectations, Smith still led all tight ends in yards gained after catch per reception.

As Smith develops a renewed comfort in coach Arthur Smith’s offense, the Falcons should incorporate more two tight-end sets into their offense with top option Kyle Pitts. A greater understanding of the Falcons’ system should allow both Smith and Pitts to complement each other in a manner which escaped his fit with Henry in New England. It should also increase the number of targets he sees in scoring situations. He may also be in line for some carries out of the backfield via the jet sweep, or as a fullback/H-Back.

At his best, Smith is a prototypical ‘move’ tight end, best utilized as an effective target in the red zone. In his final season with the Tennessee Titans in 2020, he totaled 41 receptions for 448 yards and eight touchdowns. All eight of those scores came in the red zone.

Similar production in Atlanta may not be a far-fetched concept. As such, Smith has the potential to be a solid addition to the Falcons’ young offensive core.

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Follow Mike D’Abate on Twitter @mdabateNFL

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