Georgia safety Christopher Smith accepts Senior Bowl invite
Georgia super-senior safety Christopher Smith accepted his invite to the 2023 Reese’s Senior Bowl this week meaning that the Atlanta, Ga. native will be headed to Mobile ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Smith was an unanimous All-American in 2022, being named to the first-team by the Associated Press, Football Writers Association, Walter Camp, Sporting News and American Football Coaches. Twice did he tie his career-high total for tackles with seven stops against Florida and Kentucky on his way to 50 total tackles, fourth on the team, including five for lost yardage while also leading the team in interceptions with three. Possibly his biggest contribution though came in the SEC Championship Game as he returned a blocked field goal 96 yards for a touchdown, the first of the game in Georgia’s 50-30 win over LSU.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart spoke highly about Smith and the impact he had on the program over the course of his five-year career:
“Well, first off, he was a really good prospect in high school. He played corner, he played safety. He could do it all. He came here. We flirted with him at corner and safety. He kind of played wherever we needed him to play. And he’s done that ever since coming here. He’s taken reps for two to three years at corner, he’s taken the safety, he’s played nickel star. I mean, he’s one of these versatile DBs that can kind of do it all because he understands leverages. He knows where his help is. He’s an instinctive football player. And we’re lucky to have him and really proud of the way he’s — you know, he didn’t have success right away. He’s one of the guys that truly became a better football player through development, practice habits, learning the system. And he had some good players in front of him when he first got here. And he’s been able to work his way into a good football player.”
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Christopher Smith comes in at No. 4 among safeties according to Mel Kiper’s most recent big board and position rankings, but before the Draft is on his mind at all, Smith is going to do whatever he can to try and help Georgia win a second straight National Championship.
The Bulldogs take on the Buckeyes of Ohio State on December 31st in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN. Georgia enters as a 6.5-point favorite in the second-ever matchup between the two historic programs. The only previous meeting came in the 1993 Citrus Bowl, a 21-14 victory for the Bulldogs behind a big day from running back Garrison Heart who was named MVP in the win over the Kirk Herbstreit-quarterbacked Buckeyes.
