FAB 3. “Smooth” Smith Ready For His Next Start

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have an awful lot of faith in second-year cornerback Ryan Smith. So much so that the Bucs didn’t draft a cornerback this year and only signed one veteran free agent, Robert McClain, who plays the nickel position.

With Vernon Hargreaves, the team’s first-round pick from a year ago, on the hot seat after a rough four-game start to the season, is there a chance he could be benched in favor of McClain or Smith? There is a chance, and while McClain replacing Hargreaves makes the most sense from an experience factor, Tampa Bay believes in Smith, evidenced by the fact that he started in place of the injured Brent Grimes in the Week 3 loss at Minnesota. It was Smith’s first NFL start.

Like Hargreaves, Smith struggled in that game as Vikings quarterback Case Keenum and wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen lit up the Bucs’ secondary.

Bucs CB Ryan Smith – Photo by: Getty Images

“The experience will definitely help me,” Smith said. “It’s clearly not the game I wanted to have. That wasn’t who I am, but I learned from it by watching the film. I know why I made those mistakes. I just have to do better.”

I asked what mistakes Smith made against the Vikings.

“Reading my keys better and stumbling out of my back pedal,” Smith said. “I usually do things right, and I don’t know why, but I didn’t do them right in the game. I’m going to fix that and go from there.”

Heading into this season the Bucs thought they had two young cornerbacks for the long haul in Hargreaves and Smith, who could be Grimes’ eventual successor. Head coach Dirk Koetter and general manager Jason Licht might want to get another look at Smith in the starting lineup to see what they have in him if Hargreaves continues to struggle.

“I think Ryan has had a great attitude,” Bucs defensive coordinator Mike Smith said. “He did not play well in the second game. He owned it. He said he was going to learn from it. When you have a guy that says those things, I believe the next time he has an opportunity he’s going to take advantage of it. Ryan has done everything we’ve asked of him.”

Ryan Smith, who starred on special teams last year as a rookie, helping special teams captain Josh Robinson down several of Bryan Anger’s punts inside the 20-yard line. One of those punts against New Orleans brought him instant fame as he looked like Michael Jackson in the video for his hit “Smooth Criminal.”

I even gave Smith the nickname “Smooth Criminal” – or “Smooth” for short – after writing about that special feat last year. He picked where he left off on special teams in Week 1, forcing a fumble on rookie punt returner Tarik Cohen that led to a Tampa Bay touchdown. Smith’s three special team tackles led the punt coverage unit.

Bucs CB Ryan Smith – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Against the New York Giants in Week 4, Smith helped down a punt at the 1-yard line by fielding the ball at the 1-yard line and throwing it back to a teammate to make sure it didn’t go into the end zone.

“It wasn’t as ‘Michael Jackson’ as it was last year, but it was still a good play,” Smith said. “

While he loves his role on special teams, Smith is ready for his next opportunity at cornerback and a chance at redemption for the way he played at Minnesota.

“I don’t want to say I’m itching for it or I’m eager, it’s just going to come when it’s going to come,” Smith said. “I would say that game that I played really was an eye-opener for me. It made me focus more. It made me realize that I’m not as good as I think I am. When I’m out there I’m listening, I’m reading my keys like the coaches always push me to do. I’m doing the simple things that I really wasn’t paying attention to or focusing on in the beginning. It’s really helping me. I don’t want to say I wasn’t paying attention before, I’m just paying extra attention to the things they really want me to do, and what they want from me. That Vikings game was bittersweet for me. I think I’m progressing. We’re going to see.”

After spending part of his rookie season at safety, the Bucs coaching staff moved him to cornerback – he played both positions at North Carolina Central – and the only real reps he’s had at cornerback in the NFL are the ones he had in the preseason and the Vikings game.

“I need all the experience I can get,” Smith said in the preseason. “The more plays I get the more I learn. The more I learn the better I get. I can’t get better on the sideline. You don’t really learn it until you get out there on the field. It’s a blessing that the coaches have given me an opportunity. Yes, this is a learning curve, and yes, I’m not really hurting the team because it’s preseason, but it’s my time I can show what I can do and what I’ve learned. I don’t like losing. If I give up a 5-yard catch I’m going to be mad, but I’m learning.

“I’m never going to back down, I don’t care who you are. I’m going to respect those receivers, but I’m a competitor and I’m going to compete all day long. Every game may not be my best, but it’s part of the game. I don’t care who’s in front of me. I’m going to fight every down.”

After the Vikings game, Smith sought the counsel of Grimes, an 11-year veteran that has 31 career interceptions.

Bucs CB Ryan Smith – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“Basically he said, ‘Just trust yourself. Don’t think so much. Don’t let one bad play mess up the rest of your game.’ Things like that. I ask Brent questions all the time. He has my back and is talking to me the whole time. The big thing is trusting myself so I don’t get in my own head. I get in my head a lot and overthink things. I have to stop that.”

At 5-foot-11, 189 pounds, Smith is built like former Bucs cornerback Brian Kelly, and is currently the tallest corner on Tampa Bay’s roster. He’s got one pass breakup this year in the only game he’s played in, and that ties Hargreaves, who has one pass breakup in five games. Time will tell if Smith gets another chance to start, and that will depend on how Hargreaves continues to play. After having four weeks to digest his lone NFL start and get better in practice, Smith is ready for his next shot.

“When it does come I know what to expect and it’s going to be a better result than the first time,” Smith said. “I’m progressing behind the scenes and doing what I have to do to still have the coaches eyes open on me. Just having them trust me is the big thing.”

If Hargreaves continues to struggle, the Bucs will need to find out if they at least have one cornerback that can start in the NFL and salvage the 2016 draft class.