Mel Kiper sees teams falling in love with Nolan Smith during NFL Draft process
Former Georgia linebacker Nolan Smith has shot up draft boards since his impressive performance in Indianapolis earlier this month at the NFL Scouting Combine. Reminding folks what he’s capable of, Smith ran the fastest and jumped the highest of players at his position, becoming the heaviest player to record sub-4.4 and over 40 inches in Combine history.
With that in mind, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. projected Smith to be picked No. 12 overall in his most recent mock draft by the Houston Texans. He thinks new head coach DeMecco Ryans could see some of himself in Smith and be enticed by that. If he gets past the Texans though, there’s another team Kiper has in mind as a perfect fit.
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“You’ve got a fast rising player in Nolan Smith, the linebacker from Georgia who I have going No. 12 to Houston, he’s a guy I think DeMecco Ryans will look at him and say, ‘I see myself in Nolan Smith,’ as a foundation piece on defense as a linebacker for the Houston Texans,” Kiper said. “I think Nolan Smith is a guy Bill Belichick will love. He’s so smart. He’s 6-foot-2, 238 pounds, he ran 4.39 at the Combine, he had a 41.5-inch vertical. Those are incredible numbers, then you say, ‘What does he do on the field?’ Well he impacts the game in a variety of ways. That’s what’s impressive to me. He’s a good tackler in the open field in space. He gets after the quarterback. He had 8 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks. Now, that sack number’s not great, but he showed he could do it. He forced three fumbles, he gets interceptions, and like I said, he’s so smart. I thought for Houston at 12, remember Nick Caserio formerly of New England, DeMecco Ryans will see a lot of himself in Nolan Smith, I think that would be a guy at No. 12 to Houston or No. 14 to New England, that would be a guy they would consider in Nolan Smith.”
Smith was the No. 1 overall player in the Class of 2019 when he signed with Georgia. Sharing the outside linebacker room his first two seasons with the likes of Azeez Ojulari, Jermaine Johnson and Adam Anderson, Smith totaled a combined 40 tackles. However, in 2021, he finished top five on the team with 56 stops including nine for loss on the way to the National Championship, the Bulldogs’ first in 41 years. Smith got off to a great start in 2022 too, recording seven tackles for loss including three sacks in the first eight games. He suffered a torn right pectoral muscle though in that eighth game and missed the rest of the season.
