NFL Peers Have Their Doubts About Harrison Smith in 2022
Josh Frey
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Harrison Smith is entering his 11th season in the NFL, all with the Minnesota Vikings, who selected him with the 29th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. Throughout the past decade, Smith has largely been the gold standard of NFL safeties as he’s made Pro Bowls in five of the last six years and was an All-Pro in 2017.
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That said, 2022 will be his age-33 season, and while Father Time has struggled to contain Tom Brady, he has eventually caught up with everyone else who isn’t half-alien. Smith has showed some signs of slowing down in recent years, recording PFF grades in the 70s rather than his typical 80s and 90s. That said, he still had the 12th-best grade among safeties in 2021 with a 77.9.
Despite continued success in the Vikings secondary, NFL executives are not as high on Smith ahead of the 2022 season as they have been in years past. ESPN‘s Jeremy Fowler polled 50 NFL executives, coaches, and players to create a ranking of the top 10 safeties in the league.
Smith still lands on the list at No. 7, but he is down a couple spots from his fifth-place ranking in 2021. One NFC front office member stated it this way when addressing concerns with Smith:
“Smith no doubt was [the standard] and the prototype for a long time. Age gets us all.”
However, there are those that still think his experience and intelligence on the football field make him one of the toughest players to gameplan against. Here is what an NFL offensive coach had to say about the wily veteran:
“You absolutely must account for [Smith] on every snap, and the list of safeties that do that is pretty short. Guys like him are still hard to find.”
Smith certainly doesn’t have the same speed and athletic prowess that he brought to the field early on in his career, but it’s hard to deny he’s still an effective safety in the NFL. Just in 2021, he set career highs in total tackles (114), solo tackles (83), and tied a career high in sacks (3.0). Even if he may not be a step ahead of everyone else physically, but it’s clear he has an edge on most players mentally.
Fortunately for Minnesota and Harrison Smith, the Vikings may not need to rely on Smith for extended periods in 2022. They have a pair of young, talented safeties in Cam Bynum and Lewis Cine, the linebacker group should be much improved with additions of Za’Darius Smith and Jordan Hicks, and .Cam Dantzler and Andrew Booth should provide help for the cornerbacks. Some help on the defensive side of the ball will allow Smith to pick his spots to make plays, and it should go a long way towards elongating his Hall of Fame career.
