Giants Country

New York Giants Draft Prospect: Edge Nolan Smith

Edge rusher is a sneaky need for the New York Giants. Could Georgia's Nolan Smith help fill that need?

Nick Falato

In this story:

Nolan Smith, EDGE

  • Height: 6’2 
  • Weight: 238 lbs. 
  • Class: Senior 
  • School: Georgia
  • Age: 22 years old (born 01/18/2001)

Combine Measurements

  • Arm length: 32 ⅝”
  • Hand size: 9”
  • 40-yard-dash: 4:39
  • 10-yard-split: 1.52
  • Vertical jump: 41.5”
  • Broad jump: 10’8”

A former five-star recruit out of the revered IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, who was the number-one ranked player during the 2019 recruiting cycle; he was the only player ranked higher than Kayvon Thibodeaux that year. According to 247 Sports, Smith was their database's 20th All-Time ranked player. Smith was named to the USA Today’s All-USA High School Football Team during his senior season. He won the Anthony Munoz Award in his senior season, given to the country's best high school linemen (either side of the ball).

Notables

Nolan Smith’s 2022 season was cut short by a pectoral injury suffered against Florida in Week 9. The growth in technique from 2021 to 2022 was evident in his film. His final statistics at Georgia don’t necessarily portray a successful former number-one overall recruit. He finished his time at Georgia playing 1,154 snaps through four seasons, with 84 pressures, 20 tackles for a loss, and 12.5 sacks. The apparent lackluster statistics aren’t indicative of Smith as a player.

He started slowly at Georgia, but that’s because Georgia had the luxury to rely on other five-star upper-classmen. Smith’s fantastic combine performance reminded the nation of his upside:

Smith also caught the media's attention at the combine by speaking on the importance of loyalty, character, and hard work. Confidence emanated out of Smith while speaking at the podium. On a team filled with alpha-male personalities, Smith was known as the leader of the Georgia Bulldog defense. His presence and transparency while speaking were admirable.

When discussing Georgia’s prospects, it’s important to note their usage for context. Smith never played more than 500 snaps in his four seasons at Georgia, but it’s not an indictment on the player. Georgia has one of the deepest defensive line rotations in college football; couple that with Georgia’s propensity to blow teams out, and that’s one of the variables as to why Smith’s usage was down.

The two-time champion isn’t discussed as highly as some of the other EDGE prospects in the class because the totality of production isn’t as high. However, relative statistics paint a different picture of the impact Smith can have on the football field. Nolan Smith finished his college career with only 12.5 sacks. However, he only rushed the passer 621 times.

In his college career, Smith averaged a sack every 49 pass-rushing reps; that’s better than LSU’s B.J. Ojulari and Texas Tech’s Tyree Wilson. Here are Pro Football Focus’ pass-rush win rate statistics from the 2022 season:

  • Nolan Smith: 25.5%
  • Tyree Wilson: 22.3%
  • Will Anderson: 20.4%
  • B.J. Ojulari: 18.9%
  • Lukas Van Ness: 18.8%
  • Myles Murphy: 14.3%

Smith is undersized, but his oddly good ability against the run, combined with his explosive athletic traits, leads to a high-floor player that should have paths to overcome his lack of desired size.

Strengths

  • Excellent athlete with elite quickness and lateral agility
  • Explosive short-area-quickness - very smooth & fluid
  • Athletic enough to operate in space as a coverage defender
  • Very sudden - quick first three steps up the arc
  • Excellent bend around the edge to get his hips oriented into the pocket
  • Can & does win high-side with burst/athletic ability
  • Great lower body flexion - stresses on his ankle join and bends through contact, low to the ground
  • Plays with excellent leverage and a low center of gravity
  • Elite gap penetration skills when slanting inside - gets low and skinny
  • Showed progress as a technician with his hands in 2022
  • Reduces surface area of his chest when attacking half-man to the outside
  • Was used freely in Georgia’s defense: sliced inside often - leveraged quickness
  • Surprisingly good as a run defender - low, tight, excellent technique
  • Locked bigger OL out - won the game of peek-a-boo
  • Solid ability to discard blockers at the point of attack
  • Lack of size wasn’t an issue as a run defender
  • Elite violence taking on pulling linemen with the squeeze technique
  • Embraces contact with elite physicality
  • Heavy hitter who is good in pursuit
  • Insanely tough competitor
  • When Georgia needed him, he played a high complement of plays

Weaknesses

  • Size and mass will concern teams at the next level
  • Very speed oriented - relies a lot on quickness
  • Hands aren’t very powerful
  • Still can improve stringing moves together, albeit he displayed this in 2022 before suffering his pectoral injury
  • Can he play an entire season at his size? Will he be relegated to a situational role?
  • Never played more than 500 snaps in a season (discussed above)
  • Never had more than 4.5 sacks in a year
  • Coming off a pectoral injury

Summary

Smith can potentially be one of the rare defenders who can dangerously bend the edge and flatten to the quarterback. Smith’s body control, flexibility, explosive nature, and developing pass-rushing repertoire make him dangerous as a rushing threat on the edge. 

His immense upside hasn’t necessarily been consistently unlocked due to many variables covered throughout this report. However, at his worst, he would be a pass-rushing specialist who is a threat in obvious pass-rushing situations.

His profile screams, “don’t play me on running downs,” but the tape would disagree with that screech. Smith was a very sound and talented run defender who embraced contact and set a physical tone for Georgia’s defense. 

There will likely be times when bigger OL impose their might on Smith, but it won’t be an every-down issue for Smith. I understand the size concerns, but Smith has the upside to earn back-end round one consideration, despite the lack of elite production.

GRADE: 6.38 

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Nick Falato
Published
Nick Falato
NICK FALATO

Nick Falato is co-host of the Big Blue Banter podcast. In addition to Giants Country, his work has appeared on SB Nation.

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