2015 NFL Draft Prospect Tye Smith Ready to Earn Spot

For a small school NFL Draft prospect, offseason activities offer major exposure to players who otherwise haven’t really had much. That’s the case for Towson cornerback Tye Smith, a 6-1, 190 pound senior who participated this offseason in the East-West Shrine Game, and made such an impression that he received an invitation to the 2015 Scouting Combine.

“I have to enjoy the moment, but know that the work’s not stopping so it’s only going to get harder from here,” Smith told NFL Mocks editor Sayre Bedinger in an exclusive interview.

Smith knows that coming from a small school — Towson University (MD) — the odds are stacked against him, but that doesn’t change who he is as a football player. That doesn’t alter what he brings to the table — it only makes him work that much harder to prove everyone wrong.

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“I’m a physical corner as far as, I can cover but I can also tackle. I pride myself on tackling. I have a great instinct for the game, and I’m a very situational player. I like to understand the down, distance, and situation of the game because it makes the game easier.”

It’s not often you hear young players pride themselves on being ‘situational’ players but it’s something that is absolutely critical. On a 3rd-and-2, you need to know that your corner is going to do whatever he can to make that tackle on a quick screen thrown to his receiver that, in the open field, he will make the play. For a guy with great length like Smith, an instinct for the game, and excellent tackling ability (nearly 300 tackles the last three seasons), those are assets that stand out to scouts and give you confidence that a player coming from a small school has the chops to play in the NFL.

Smith says the most difficult aspect of moving to the NFL is going to be, as you’d expect, the difference in the speed of the game.

“The college game and the NFL game are two totally different games. It’s still football, but the NFL is probably going to have to be a little bit more detailed stuff that I’m going to have to understand and get used to.”

One thing that NFL teams look for in any prospect, regardless of the level of competition they played in college is scheme versatility. You look at a team like the Denver Broncos, who utilize players like Chris Harris Jr. both inside, outside, and at safety, and it’s clear that NFL teams value players like that. Harris Jr. was just dished out a five-year contract extension by the Broncos after going undrafted in 2011.

Smith feels like he can do it all — play outside corner, nickel, safety — whatever a team asks him to do.

“Coming from my school, we played a variety of different coverages and personnel.”

As I heard him describe the way he plays — physical, fast, using his size and length, good tackler — the NFL comparison that Smith gave himself should have come as no surprise. I asked him if there was any player in the league he models his game after:

“Charles Woodson.”

Smith keeps his answers short, and lets his play do the talking. He told me that he still hasn’t fully been hit by the fact that in just a couple months, he is going to be part of an NFL team. He’s planning a low-key draft party with some family.

After a strong showing at the East-West Shrine week, Smith is firmly on the NFL radar and will have a chance to display his physical skills next month at the Scouting Combine. In the Twitter era, even small school players have pretty great coverage from people who specialize in that area, but NFL Draft fans will soon get to know a lot more about this guy. I asked Smith what he thinks a ‘sleeper’ prospect is, what it means to him.

“That means that people don’t know you as much as the big school players because they see them on TV every weekend. People who really know football watch FCS, 1A — all of that.”

One thing that I have always loved about guys who fly under the radar in the pre-draft process is that they come into the NFL with a chip on their shoulder, and they never really seem to lose it. They are more confident in themselves oftentimes than other players because they have to be. Smith was offered one scholarship out of high school to play football. He’s had to work his tail off to get to the point that he is right now — considered to be a mid-round prospect by most — and he’ll continue to have to do so to set himself apart.

“I’m hoping to show them (NFL Scouts) that I belong there (Combine). That I’ll work just as hard if not harder than all those players there.”

Smith told me his favorite team was his hometown Carolina Panthers, but if he was able to pick his NFL team, it would be the Baltimore Ravens. He spoke with the Ravens at the East-West Shrine week.

So what is Smith looking most forward to about getting to the NFL?

“Earning my spot. Earning a spot.”

Folllow Tye on Twitter @TyeSmithCB as well as his agent Sean Stellato @seanstellato

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