Jaylon Smith: Breaking Down His Much Anticipated Return

Weaknesses

I’ll start off by being completely honest. There are very few weaknesses to Jaylon Smith’s game. He checks nearly every size, weight, speed, and athleticism box. That is why he was regarded as arguably the best player, regardless of position, in the entire 2016 NFL Draft class.

Smith might just be the best linebacker I have ever studied. Having said that, there are a few areas of concern that I saw on tape that could give him a little bit of trouble at the NFL level.

Let’s take a look at this first clip, because this might be my biggest concern with him playing middle linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys next season.

In the clip above you can see one of my main concerns with Jaylon Smith playing middle linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys.

Smith sometimes has trouble disengaging from an offensive lineman when they are able to get into his frame. When this happens it throws off his balance and positioning, thus creating a running lane for the ballcarrier to run through.

Fortunately, I believe this is fixable. For Smith to improve at the point of attack, he needs to add strength and a little bit more muscle mass to his frame. This is something that he might have already accomplished in his redshirt year with the Cowboys.

Smith was listed at 6’1″, 223 pounds at Notre Dame. The Dallas Cowboys now have him listed at 245 pounds. At this weight, he should be able to be much more physical at the point of attack and with added strength, he should be much more effective at disengaging with opposing offensive lineman.

Although this might be my biggest area of concern, it could have already been fixed with the work Smith is put in so far with the Cowboys.

Let’s take a look at another one of my concerns in the next clip.

I may be nitpicking, but another concern, although slight, is that Smith sometimes waits for the ballcarrier to reach him before attempting to make the tackle instead of being the aggressor.

In this clip, you see Smith lining up as a defensive end and spying the Longhorns QB, Tyrone Swoopes.

Smith’s responsibility on the play is to keep Swoopes from tucking the ball and scrambling for a big gain. To his credit, he does his job, but instead of being the aggressor and tackling Swoopes for a negative gain, he waits and makes the tackle for a 2 yard gain.

This passive approach may get him in trouble at times in the NFL, because the talent level is so much better than what he saw in college. This is especially true in short yardage situations.

Again, this may be nitpicking, but it is an area of his game that I would like to see him improve.