Philadelphia Eagles select Nolan Smith with the 30th pick. Grade: A+
Nolan Smith #NolanSmith
(Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)
We may have to investigate how Eagles general manager Howie Roseman keeps getting away with this. Not only did Roseman get Jalen Carter, the best defensive player in this class, with his first first-round pick, he then doubled down with Nolan Smith, who was a nearly equivalent difference-maker in Georgia’s defense when he was healthy. Smith reminds me a ton of Haason Reddick, who blew up the rest of the league in Philly’s five-man fronts last season. Now, the Eagles have TWO of those guys. As we said, the NFL might have to see how Roseman keeps doing this stuff.
Height: 6′ 2⅛” (15th percentile) Weight: 238 (2nd)
40-Yard Dash: 4.39 (99nd)
10-Yard Split: 1.52 (99th)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: 41½” (98th)
Broad Jump: 128″ (95th)
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 32⅝” (17th)
Hand Size: 9″ (5th)
Bio: Smith was a consensus five-star recruit out of the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, and he was Georgia’s co-winner of the Defensive Newcomer of the Year Award in 2019. Over four seasons with the Bulldogs (his 2022 campaign ended after eight games due to a torn pectoral muscle), Smith totaled 17 sacks, 16 quarterback hits, 51 quarterback hurries, one batted pass, 65 tackles, 65 stops, and one interception on 14 targets. Smith had 1,068 snaps outside the tackles, 28 in the slot, 23 in the box, 16 at cornerback, 15 over the tackles, and 10 in the B-gaps.
Stat to Know: In his abbreviated 2022 season, Smith had two sacks and 19 total pressures… in just 102 pass-rushing snaps.
Strengths: Smith’s speed off the snap is real, and it is spectacular. Those historic 40-yard and 10-yard times at the combine show up on the field. Whether he’s chasing quarterbacks outside the pocket to futile results…
…or embarrassing enemy blockers with ridiculous inside counters and multi-gap switches (the stanky leg move here is just preposterous)…
…he’s a constant problem with that functional speed.
Smith also has great bend and lean around the edge, which just accentuate his inside moves.
Weaknesses: While Smith occasionally shows more strength and power for his size than you’d expect, it’s not his alpha trait — he can be easily enveloped if his speed isn’t first-featured.
Conclusion: You can set the injury aside when evaluating Smith’s NFL potential; he showed as much as he needed to at the combine from a recovery sense. The question is, will all NFL teams value him in the same way when it comes to his size? His speed and athleticism are such valuable assets, the last thing you want to do is to beef him up to 260 and lose that. As an “edgebacker” in any of the five-man fronts the NFL is working with more frequently these days, Smith has all the tools you’d want. Just keep him on the edge, let him be freaky, and he’ll help to define your defense.
NFL Comparison: Haason Reddick. The Cardinals selected the 6-foot-1, 240-pound Reddick out of Temple with the 13th pick in the 2017 draft, tried to make him an off-ball linebacker for whatever reason, and finally reaped the benefits of his skill set when they made him a true edge-rusher in 2020. With the Panthers in 2021, and especially with the Eagles in 2022, when he amassed 21 sacks and 87 total pressures, Reddick has been one of the most consistently productive outside rushers in the NFL in recent years. Hopefully, Smith’s NFL team will take the latter Reddick plan, and will just let him work his athletic magic where he’s best-suited.
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