Roquan Smith makes first All Pro team voted on by NFL Players
The NFLPA introduced its first ever All-Pro team as voted on by players this season. A Georgia legend is on the team and two more former UGA standouts came up just short. Roquan Smith, who was traded from Chicago to Baltimore during the season, was the Bulldogs lone representative.
Cleveland running back Nick Chubb and New York Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas were among the top five at their respective positions. Chubb came in second behind Josh Jacobs (Las Vegas) and Thomas was behind Trent Williams (San Francisco) and Laremy Tunsil (Houston).
The 2022 season was Smith’s fifth in the National Football League and it was his best yet. Despite having to change teams during the year, the Montezuma, Ga. native racked up 169 total tackles, 4.5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, three interceptions, four hits on the quarterback and six passes defended. The transition from Baltimore to Chicago did little to slow him down as he started all 17 games.
Over the course of his career Smith has played in 78 games with 76 starts. He has 693 total tackles, 18.5 sacks, 54 tackles for loss and eight interceptions through five seasons.
Baltimore has already signed Smith to a five-year extension worth nine digits, largely because of how he impacted that defense once added to the roster.
“Smith’s arrival also coincided with a major turnaround for the Ravens defense. Through the first eight weeks of the season, Baltimore ranked 15th in the league with a 1.3% defensive DVOA. From Smith’s first game in Week 9 through Week 18, the Ravens posted a third-best -16.5% defensive DVOA. Baltimore also jumped from 22nd in defensive rush defense (-0.4%) through the first eight weeks to second-best in the league (-30.6%).” — FootballOutsiders.com
Chubb and Thomas also had their best NFL seasons. Chubb piled up 1,525 rushing yards on 301 carries and tied a career high with 12 rushing touchdowns. His 13 total touchdowns on the year is set a career high and it’s the fourth time in five seasons that he has reached the 1,000-yard benchmark.
The Cedartown, Ga. native now has 6,341 yards and 48 touchdowns through five NFL seasons. He ‘s also averaging an impressive 5.1 yards per carry.
Thomas played a career-high 1,050 snaps in 2022. He appeared in 16 games, all starts, for the Giants as they took a large step forward as a franchise in Brian Daboll’s first season. New York went 9-7-1 on the year and made the playoffs. It took down Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs before falling to Philadelphia the following week.
