2022 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: LB Brandon Smith, Penn State

Brandon Smith has plenty of positive traits to love, but his game is also in need of some refinement, notes Nick Falato.

Brandon Smith, LB

Height: 6’3
Weight: 241 lbs
Class: Junior
School: Penn State

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Smith is a highly recruited five-star prospect out of Mineral, Virginia, attending Louisa County High School. Smith was the number one recruit in Virginia and the number one ILB recruit in the 2018 draft class.

According to 247Sports, he was the 387th all-time recruit coming out of high school. Smith was named the All-USA Virginia Defensive Player of the Year. Before settling into Penn State, Smith had offers from 30 programs, including Alabama, Clemson, and USC.

Smith was a two-year starter at Penn State with impressive athletic capabilities. He reportedly ran a 4.38 40-yard dash in high school; he fits the modern NFL LB criteria.

According to Pro Football Focus, he finished his junior year with 16 pressures, 64 tackles, and 36 STOPS. He also had nine tackles for a loss, and five passes defended. He had 101 tackles, 26 pressures, and 65 STOPS.

Notables

Smith finished third-team All-Big Ten in 2021 with considerably worse PFF grades than in his previous two seasons. His 15.3 percent missed tackle rate did not help him; Smith had 15 missed tackles in 2021.

He finished his college career with a 14.8 percent missed tackle rate, which has been an issue for Smith throughout his collegiate career. Smith opted out of the Outback Bowl to prepare for the 2022 NFL Draft.

Strengths

• Insane athletic ability and speed
• Great movement skills in every direction, very fluid
• Very explosive when moving downhill
• Short area quickness and burst to close are exceptional
• Very long limbs, an ideal modern-day NFL linebacker
• Potential to be great box safety with scrape and positioning
• Long arms give him a large tackle radius
• Good LB in space
• A strong finisher as a tackler
• Switched from SAM to WILL in 2021, experience with both is valuable
• Good eyes in coverage when reading routes in front of him
• Length to disrupt throwing windows in zone coverage
• Has all the athletic traits to play man coverage
• When moving laterally, typically stays square to target and breaks down to tackle well

View all of Nick Falato's draft prospect profiles right here / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Can Improve

• Needs a lot of refinement
• Guesses a bit too much in terms of positioning
• Isn’t great at stacking & shedding blockers who quickly climb
• Play strength against OL has to improve
• Could do a better job anticipating angles laterally in the box
• Tackling is inconsistent, becomes too wild
• Must do a better job when tracking football in man coverage
• Must be more disciplined on the field, took a few penalties for late hits
• Must be more disciplined with his technique as well

Summary

Overall, Brandon Smith has all the physical tools and size to succeed in the NFL. He has a ton of potential and some good tape, but consistency with important linebacking traits isn’t refined. 

He still makes mistakes, but a team will fall in love with what he could be - which is excellent. Coaching and more experience will help Smith unlock his potential, and he could end up being a steal on day two, but he is far from a finished product. He will be an excellent nickel & dime linebacker to start his career with the potential to grow into an every-down star.

GRADE: 6.5 B (for development)

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