'07 TN S Harrison Smith (Signed LOI to Notre Dame)

[dublinirish]

called up to the Pro Bowl there a few days ago as an alternate, well deserved

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Voted #73 best player in the NFL by his peers in 2016. He has come a long way.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ThePiombino]

New contract:

5yr/$51.3M -- Now the highest paid safety in the league!!!



Source: Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (as per BR)

 

[BobbyMac]

New contract:

5yr/$51.3M -- Now the highest paid safety in the league!!!

Source: Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (as per BR)

Per Adam Schefter: (Tweet not embedding)

Vikings gave Harrison Smith 5-year, $51.25 million extension that includes a $10 million signing bonus and $15.27 fully gtd, per source.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Vikings gave Harrison Smith 5-year, $51.25 million extension that includes a $10 million signing bonus and $15.27 fully gtd, per source.</p>— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/739804503470313473">June 6, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Congrats to Harrison.

I bagged on this kid day after day when he was forced to play out of position at LB. So thankful BK came in to save this kid's career.

Now, why in God's name can't we get another great safety at ND? Smith and Motta have been the last two good ones, imo, based on consistency.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

"Best in America!"

Harrison Smith - Summer Camp, Senior Year at Notre Dame.

 

[NorthDakota]

Up here Vikings country...lot of folks ragged on him here when they took him. He's a fan favorite now. Good for him and a good alum for players/recruits to look up to.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Arnolds Article :

Keith Arnold – Inside the Irish

 

[BobbyMac]

Now, why in God's name can't we get another great safety at ND? Smith and Motta have been the last two good ones, imo, based on consistency.

Since ND is bringing back the greats to help with the program... I know a guy who has 4 days off a week and he's just 120 miles or so from campus. He's been training to get back in the ring, he might not even have a full time job anymore.

I bet he could knockout any problems in the back of the secondary. (I'll see myself out)

Zibby's looking good at 185.

 

[edgesofsanity]

While arguments can be made that Kansas City’s Eric Berry and Seattle’s Earl Thomas are better pure-cover safeties, or that Miami’s Reshad Jones is a better run-defender, Smith is the only safety besides Philadelphia’s Malcolm Jenkins to finish in the top-10 in both run defense and coverage last year. He is also the only safety with positive grades in all three major categories (coverage, run defense, and pass rush) in both 2014 and 2015.

ProFootballFocus

 

[NDinBoston]

Harrison Smith: Vikings star safety prefers low profile | SI.com

From the article:
Back in his office the GM picks up a silver Vikings pen, the same kind he gives to every rookie who signs a contract with Minnesota. This off-season, after Smith agreed to a new five-year, $51.3 million deal (which made him the NFL’s highest paid safety), Spielman proffered a new pen—but Smith declined. Then Smith took out the same pen he’d been given four years earlier and used that. “He’s the only player ever to do that,” Spielman says. A month later, as the Vikings’ veterans drove to training camp in Mankato, Smith instead rode the bus with the rookies. That was another first for Spielman.

 

[Irish#1]

Saw the article on SI.com this morning. Love the guys work ethic and attitude. Probably would have been consensus AA at ND if they hadn't kept moving him back and forth between LB and safety.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Saw the article on SI.com this morning. Love the guys work ethic and attitude. Probably would have been consensus AA at ND if they hadn't kept moving him back and forth between LB and safety.

It's a good thing Kelly and his staff don't know how to develop players...shame they made sure he stayed at safety.


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[Still Irish.ca]

Great article on Hayseed. Gives me the feeling he'd be a good coach down the road. I wonder if he'll pursue coaching after the NFL.

 

[Shamrock Theories]

Go Hayseed go

 

[Shamrock Theories]

I know it's game week and this is random, but this video did a better job getting me hyped than any actual ND ones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1BbhZjKU4Q

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

I know it's game week and this is random, but this video did a better job getting me hyped than any actual ND ones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1BbhZjKU4Q

Great post. That got me pumped up. Now if only we had 1/4 of that play on Saturdays

 

[nsisk157]

Great video. Likes playing against Cutler. 4:05 mark, smiled a bit.

 

[Old Man Mike]

His teammates call him "Gangsta White Boy." He kinda likes it and kinda doesn't.

 

[BGIF]

With the Gangsta INT against da Bears.

 

[irishtrain]

Harrison Smith: Vikings star safety prefers low profile | SI.com

From the article:
Back in his office the GM picks up a silver Vikings pen, the same kind he gives to every rookie who signs a contract with Minnesota. This off-season, after Smith agreed to a new five-year, $51.3 million deal (which made him the NFL’s highest paid safety), Spielman proffered a new pen—but Smith declined. Then Smith took out the same pen he’d been given four years earlier and used that. “He’s the only player ever to do that,” Spielman says. A month later, as the Vikings’ veterans drove to training camp in Mankato, Smith instead rode the bus with the rookies. That was another first for Spielman.

Hayseed you the best-way to go man.

 

[greyhammer90]

Click on the link if you want to see the gifs.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/7nn3xp/oc_harrison_smith_is_good_at_football_gifs_and/

Very few serious NFL fans need to be reminded that Harrison Smith is underrated—although he was a pro bowl snub, by this point, even most casual fans probably know that Harrison Smith is one of the best safeties in football.

But it is hard to overstate just how underrated Harrison Smith is. He’s not just one of the better safeties in football right now — he is the best. Full stop. He’s not just an elite safety; he’s arguably the best player in football right now.

Sounds absolutely absurd, right? Well, consider the following:

Harrison Smith was the highest-graded player in football in 2017.

Harrison Smith outgraded Aaron Donald, Bobby Wagner, Tom Brady, Antonio Brown, Rob Gronkowski, Von Miller, and every other player in the league this year.

What’s more, Harrison Smith ended the 2017 season as the highest-graded safety in Pro Football Focus’s history. And even that understates it--Harrison Smith ended the 2017 season with a final PFF grade of 98.8. The next best season by a safety ever is Eric Weddle's 2012, which graded out to 93.4. The very best seasons from Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, Earl Thomas, Eric Weddle or Landon Collins don't even come close to how Harrison Smith's season graded out.

But maybe you don't put much stock into PFF grades. Fair enough--then consider this next point:

Harrison Smith had a passer rating allowed of just 22.0 this season, the lowest mark from any safety OR cornerback in 2017.

Just to be clear, that's not normal. Earl Thomas, arguably the best coverage safety in the NFL, had a passer rating allowed of 80.9 this season. Smith was four-times better than that. Throwing the ball into the dirt on every snap would grant a quarterback a passer rating of 39.6. And yet that would still be nearly twice as good as throwing the ball at Harrison Smith. Last season, Xavier Rhodes had the best passer rating allowed of any cornerback in the NFL, with a passer rating allowed of 47.0. Harrison Smith's 2017 passer rating allowed is less than half of that. A.J. Bouye just completed a historic season where he surrendered a passer rating allowed of just 31.6, the lowest figure among cornerbacks. Harrison Smith beat that figure by nearly ten points.

Smith didn't give up a touchdown in coverage all season, and he had five interceptions and 17 pass deflections. Smith was targeted 42 times on the season, giving up just 23 receptions for 140 yards. For comparison, Earl Thomas gave up more yards (160) on less than half the amount of targets. Smith's 0.25 yards allowed per coverage snap is among the lowest of any player at any position in the NFL, and his passer rating allowed is absolutely unprecedented.

But Harrison Smith is so much more than an elite coverage safety:

Harrison Smith is one of the best run-stuffing defensive backs in football AND is the most productive pass-rushing defensive back in football

Harrison Smith had 17 run stops this season, and had a run stop percentage of 7.4% when playing in the box--good for top ten among all safeties. Smith sets the edge in run defense like he's Khalil Mack, and he makes nearly every tackle. Smith had just two missed tackles in the run game all year--more than three times less than other elite run defending safeties like Reshad Jones, Landon Collins or Keanu Neal.

As a pass rusher, Harrison Smith is one of six defensive backs in the entire NFL to have a total number of sacks, hits and hurries in the double digits. He blitzes with an insane level of burst and bend for a defensive back. And no defensive back was as productive on as few snaps as Smith. Tyrann Mathieu, one of the best pass-rushing defensive backs in football, had one sack, one hit, and ten hurries on the season over 55 pass rushing snaps. Harrison Smith was more effective as a pass rusher, with two sacks, one hit, and seven hurries on the season on literally half as many pass rushing snaps.

Which underscores just how versatile Harrison Smith is:

Harrison Smith is arguably the most versatile defender in the football

Here is a chart covering just how many positions Harrison Smith plays on defense.

Smith plays about a third of his snaps (35%) as an off-ball linebacker. He plays about a quarter of his snaps (24%) as a slot cornerback. 18% of his snaps come as a free safety, and 16% of his snaps come as an edge rusher, typically lined up in a 7-technique or wide-9 (like a 3-4 OLB). His remaining snaps come as an outside cornerback and as a strong safety.

Smith plays a lot of man coverage, especially for a safety. And he's equally as good in zone as he is in man.

Man or zone, Cover-1 or Cover-6, edge rusher or outside cornerback, Harrison Smith can truly do it all. And he's the only player that does it all at an elite level. He's a more productive pass rusher than Tyrann Mathieu, a better coverage defender than Earl Thomas, and a better run defender than Landon Collins.

That versatility allows Smith to be arguably the best pre-snap defensive player in football.

Mike Zimmer recently said that when he first arrived in Minnesota, Harrison Smith knew how to play safety. But now he knows every position on the defense--not just because he plays them, but because he tells everyone else how to play them as well.

On this play, as soon as Smith sees the man in motion, Smith runs over to the slot cornerback, Mackenzie Alexander, to let him know that (based on the revised pass protection and pass rush) he'll have a free lane to the QB and that he should blitz. Smith hops back into coverage on the other side of the field, and Alexander gets immediate pressure on the QB. This goes down on the stat sheet as a pressure from Alexander, but it's Harrison Smith that made it happen.

On this play, Harrison Smith knows where the ball is going based on the pre-snap look. He knows there's a crossing route, so he lurks in coverage underneath until Hundley targets Nelson. Smith makes a diving, one-handed interception, all because he knew where the ball was going before even the offense did.

Harrison Smith read this play immediately--as soon as the man is put in motion, Smith recognizes the look and comes crashing down pre-snap, eluding a blocker and making the stop.

So not only is Smith the Vikings' pre-snap field general, he's also a quarterback mind reader. Good quarterbacks know not to throw the ball at a shutdown cornerback or ballhawking safety. The only problem is that with Smith, they can never tell where he's going to be.

They'd avoid him if they could, but they can't.

That leads me to my last point:

Harrison Smith is irreplaceable.

Von Miller, Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey and Luke Kuechly are all absolutely elite players. If one of them goes down, their team is significantly worse off. And yet, there are backups who can still play their position if they go down.

There is no backup who can play Harrison Smith's position.

No one else can play man coverage in the slot, blitz off the edge and play single-high coverage, each on the same playcall depending on the pre-snap look.

Harrison Smith missed two games for the Vikings last year. Before he went down, they were averaging 17.4 points allowed per game--second best in the NFL. When Smith went down, that shot up to 25 points per game--good for 8th worst in the NFL on the season.

Harrison Smith played all 16 games this season, and directly as a result, the 2017 Minnesota Vikings lead the league in points allowed and yards allowed, and they have the best third down defense in NFL history. None of that is remotely possible without Harrison Smith.

Harrison Smith might just be the best player in football. He's the highest-graded player in football. His passer rating allowed this year of 22.0 is historically low. He is the best run defender among all defensive backs. And he is the best pass rusher among defensive backs. He's not just an elite safety--he's an elite cornerback, an elite linebacker, and maybe even an elite edge defender.

No matter how good you think Harrison Smith is, he's better than you think he is.

 

[IrishLax]

Click on the link if you want to see the gifs.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/7nn3xp/oc_harrison_smith_is_good_at_football_gifs_and/

It's insane how he's playing at a hall of fame level but not even making pro bowls. What gives? Why aren't people voting for him? Minnesota is good this year too.

 

[Luckylucci]

Great read, thanks for posting. I knew he was playing well, but I didn’t know the stats were that impressive.

 

[BeauBenken]

To think that he looked completely lost until his junior year and he has just been exceedingly impressive since. Way to go Harrison.

Also, he is underrated among Notre Dame fans. Has anyone tried to give him the "Notre Dame Man" tag yet?

 

[Southside Sully]

It's insane how he's playing at a hall of fame level but not even making pro bowls. What gives? Why aren't people voting for him? Minnesota is good this year too.

Its almost like its out of sight out of mind.. He goes about his business, is always making plays, and doesn't need to do a dance or any look at me after he does his job. I think a lot of people outside of ND fans and Vikings fans don't pay attention to how good he really is.

 

[IrishLax]

Its almost like its out of sight out of mind.. He goes about his business, is always making plays, and doesn't need to do a dance or any look at me after he does his job. I think a lot of people outside of ND fans and Vikings fans don't pay attention to how good he really is.

Yeah, and he doesn't talk trash or have endorsements and such.

 

[CanadalovesND]

He will probably make an All-Pro. They usually don't follow hand-in-hand with pro bowl selections.

 

[Old Man Mike]

.... uhhh .... just WOW!!!!

I've always loved watching our great safety play --- often watching him rather than the ball. This atrocity of not being voted to the pro-bowl shows the shallowness of our culture --- a guy who doesn't act out or talk trash or play dirty is ignored.

Canton: one of these years (hopefully not too soon) a "gangsta white boy" who doesn't act like one is heading your way.

Harrison Smith: Notre Dame MAN.

 

[ACamp1900]

I've been quietly watching for some years now thinking, "This dude MIGHT put a HOF career together if he keeps going like this..." at least others are starting to take some notice now.... you never know.