Vikings Star Has Yet to Return to the Starting Lineup
It’s been quite strange to see number 22 trot off and on the field various times throughout a game. For the first 13 seasons of his career, Vikings safety Harrison Smith had pretty much always played when the defense was asked to get the ball back. This season, however, has been a different story.
Vikings Star Has Yet to Return to the Starting Lineup
Smith, 36, is one of the league’s oldest non-quarterbacks, and it’s not too surprising to see his snaps reduced a little. Perhaps more astonishing is that he’s not just getting occasional breaks; he’s basically a rotational player now.
The career Viking missed the final weeks of training camp due to an unspecified and mysterious illness. He was then forced to sit out the season opener against the Chicago Bears and the Week 2 game against the Atlanta Falcons.
Smith returned in Week 3 and played in the last three games, logging a total of 68 defensive snaps. He has yet to record a start. The only other time he participated in a game he didn’t start was in 2013 when he, too, returned from an injury. Currently, his stats show 195 career games with 191 starts. Three of those non-starts came in 2025.
In his first game back, Smith played 22 defensive snaps, followed by 17 and 29. The percentages of defensive snaps with Smith on the field have developed from 39% to 32% and 41%.
Kevin O’Connell said last week, “I think he’s going to get pretty close to that normal workload and that will allow us to be a little more versatile with Josh [Metellus], kind of some of the ways we’ve played historically personnel wise, and allow guys to really fit into roles that are pretty powerful for us.”
Ultimately, Smith remained in an on-off role. Instead, it’s Joshua Metellus and Theo Jackson playing the entire slate of snaps in the secondary. Last year’s other starting safety, Cam Bynum, departed for Indianapolis in free agency.
One thing is sure: rotational or full-time player, Smith is still a baller. He’s flying around and making plays, as if the age of 36 is a typo rather than the harsh reality. The veteran is just coming off a game with five tackles. He has eight in 2025.
Just this week, after the triumph over the Cleveland Browns, Star Tribune‘s Mark Craig noted, “[Browns QB Dillon] Gabriel was on his way upfield with little but green grass ahead when 36-year-old Harrison Smith showed us he’s still got plenty left to give this team. Back from an illness for only his third game, Smith made his best play of the season: an open-field tackle that forced a three-and-out 2 yards short of the first down.”
Smith could be a key to improving the shaky run defense. He’s one of the league’s best box safeties, and he’s this generation’s premier safety when it comes to disguising defenses. Without taking anything away from Theo Jackson, he’s no Harrison Smith.
Still, it’s worth acknowledging that the career-Vikings is 36 years old and missed a ton of preseason preparation. At some point, it’s fair to accept that 30 snaps are better than none, and it might just be the new reality going forward.
Smith returned for a 14th season after everyone expected him to call it a career following the disappointing playoff loss that concluded with some emotional words from the experienced player in the locker room.
It remains to be seen whether his snap numbers will rise. His next chance will come versus the Philadelphia Eagles after the bye week, in which he can rebuild some conditioning.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.