Christopher Smith (born December 15, 1999)[1] is an American professional football defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Harvard Crimson and Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
| No. 90 – Detroit Lions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Defensive tackle | ||||
| Personal information | |||||
| Born: | December 15, 1999[1] | ||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||
| Weight: | 316 lb (143 kg) | ||||
| Career information | |||||
| High school: | Cranbrook Kingswood HS (MI) | ||||
| College: | Harvard (2018–2021) Notre Dame (2022) | ||||
| Undrafted: | 2023 | ||||
| Career history | |||||
| |||||
| Roster status: | Practice squad | ||||
| Career NFL statistics as of Week 1, 2024 | |||||
| |||||
Early life
editSmith was born on December 15, 1999.[2] He grew up in Detroit, Michigan, and attended Cranbrook Kingswood High School.[3] In high school, he started all four years for the football team and was a four-time All-Catholic Football selection, two-time all-state selection and two-time team defensive player of the year.[4] He served as team captain as a senior in football and was chosen the team MVP; he also played three years for the basketball team and was team captain in that sport as a senior as well.[4] He committed to play college football for the Harvard Crimson.[4]
College career
editSmith appeared in nine games for Harvard as a freshman in 2018, posting 11 tackles and a half-sack.[5] He then had 21 tackles, two tackles-for-loss (TFLs) and 1.5 sacks while appearing in 10 games in the 2019 season; the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] In 2021, Smith was chosen first-team All-Ivy League after totaling 44 tackles, five TFLs and 3.5 sacks while starting all 10 games.[6]
Smith graduated from Harvard in 2021 with a degree in human evolutionary biology, but opted to remain in college for a final year, entering the NCAA transfer portal after the season.[6] He ended his tenure at Harvard having recorded 72 tackles, 7.5 TFLs and 5.5 sacks in 29 games played.[6] He initially committed to transfer to the Minnesota Golden Gophers, but later flipped his commitment to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.[7][8] With the Fighting Irish, Smith appeared in 13 games, five as a starter, and recorded 17 tackles with 0.5 TFLs and a forced fumble.[9]
Statistics
edit| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Total | Solo | Ast | Sack | PD | Int | Yds | TD | FF | FR | TD | ||
| 2018 | Harvard | 9 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | Harvard | 10 | 4 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2020 | Harvard | 0 | 0 | No team – COVID-19 pandemic | ||||||||||
| 2021 | Harvard | 10 | 10 | 40 | 13 | 27 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | Notre Dame | 13 | 5 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 42 | 19 | 89 | 35 | 54 | 5.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |
Professional career
edit| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 1+1⁄4 in (1.86 m) |
302 lb (137 kg) |
31+1⁄4 in (0.79 m) |
9+7⁄8 in (0.25 m) |
5.08 s | 1.76 s | 2.94 s | 4.60 s | 7.25 s | 31 in (0.79 m) |
9 ft 1 in (2.77 m) |
37 reps | |
| All values from Pro Day[10] | ||||||||||||
After going unselected in the 2023 NFL draft, Smith signed with the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent.[11] He was waived at the final roster cuts, on August 29, and then re-signed to the practice squad the following day.[12][13] He was released from the practice squad on September 20,[14] re-signed on December 13,[15] released on December 29,[16] and re-signed on January 14, 2024.[17] Following the 2023 season, in which he played no games,[2] Smith signed a reserve/future contract on January 30, 2024.[18]
Smith was released at the roster cuts for the 2024 season, on August 27, 2024, and was then re-signed to the practice squad a day later.[19][20] On September 7, he was signed to the active roster, one day prior to the team's Week 1 game against the Los Angeles Rams.[21] He made his NFL debut in the game, recording one tackle while appearing on eight defensive snaps.[2] On September 9, one day after the game, Smith was released by the Lions.[22][23] On September 11, he was re-signed to the practice squad.[24] He was promoted to the active roster on November 2.
NFL career statistics
edit| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Total | Solo | Ast | Sck | Sfty | PD | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR | TD | ||
| 2024 | DET | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
References
edit- ^ a b "Chris Smith". ourlads.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
- ^ a b c "Chris Smith Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ Risdon, Jeff (May 20, 2023). "Lions UDFA profile: Notre Dame DT Chris Smith". USA Today.
- ^ a b c "Chris Smith". Harvard Crimson.
- ^ a b Farmer, Douglas (June 4, 2022). "Notre Dame 99-to-0: No. 65 Chris Smith, defensive tackle, Harvard transfer". NBC Sports.
- ^ a b c Driskell, Bryan (April 6, 2022). "Notre Dame Lands Defensive Tackle Transfer Chris Smith". Sports Illustrated.
- ^ Fortuna, Matt. "Harvard transfer Chris Smith commits to Notre Dame". The Athletic.
- ^ Berardino, Mike (October 15, 2022). "'We're doing this together' — Jon Sot and Chris Smith make successful transition from Harvard to Notre Dame". NDInsider.com.
- ^ "Chris Smith". Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
- ^ "2023 NFL Draft Scout Chris Smith College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
- ^ Twentyman, Tim (May 12, 2023). "A closer look at the Lions' undrafted rookie free agents". Detroit Lions.
- ^ Rogers, Justin (August 29, 2023). "Who is in and who is out? Detroit Lions establish initial 53-man roster for 2023 season". The Detroit News.
- ^ Twentyman, Tim (August 30, 2023). "Breaking down the Lions' initial practice squad". Detroit Lions.
- ^ Twentyman, Tim (September 20, 2023). "NOTEBOOK: Lions hoping Gardner-Johnson can return in 2023". Detroit Lions.
- ^ "NFL news roundup: Latest league updates from Wednesday, Dec. 13". National Football League. December 13, 2023.
- ^ Bianchi, Nolan (December 29, 2023). "Lions waive longtime fullback, sign kicker to active roster". The Detroit News.
- ^ Risdon, Jeff (January 17, 2024). "Lions bring back DL to the practice squad". USA Today.
- ^ Rogers, Justin (January 30, 2024). "Lions announce the signing of 11 players to Reserve/Futures contracts". The Detroit News.
- ^ Lentz, Nick (August 27, 2024). "Detroit Lions trim roster ahead of 53-man roster deadline". CBS News.
- ^ Twentyman, Tim (August 28, 2024). "Breaking down the Lions' initial practice squad". Detroit Lions.
- ^ Maakaron, John (September 7, 2024). "Lions elevate Kennedy, Peko, sign DL Chris Smith to active roster". The Oakland Press.
- ^ Risdon, Jeff (September 10, 2024). "Lions waive defensive lineman they just signed to the active roster". USA Today.
- ^ Raven, Benjamin (September 9, 2024). "Detroit Lions waive defensive tackle they signed for Week 1". MLive.com.
- ^ Birkett, Dave (September 11, 2024). "Detroit Lions sign kicker Greg Joseph to practice squad, add Kyle Peko to 53-man roster". Detroit Free Press.