The first “weakness” listed on Roquan Smith’s draft profile on NFL.com is that he’s “a little undersized” standing at 6-foot-1, 236 pounds. But if he’s undersized, then so are plenty of the best inside linebackers in the NFL today.
“You hear that a lot here and there, but if you look at the top linebackers in the NFL right now, the guys that around a height of 6-1 which I am and around a weight of 235,” Smith said. “I don’t view myself as undersized. I know what I bring to the table.”
Smith has clearly done his research. Among Bleacher Report’s NFL 1000 rankings of the top 10 inside linebackers from 2017, only three — Carolina’s Luke Kuechly, Baltimore’s C.J. Mosley and Cleveland’s Jamie Collins — are both taller and heavier than Smith. Guys like Minnesota’s Eric Kendricks (6-foot, 232 pounds) and Atlanta’s Deion Jones (6-foot-1, 222 pounds) provide tantalizing profiles, at least in terms of build, for Smith.
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And Danny Trevathan, who Smith will presumably be playing alongside in 2018, is 6-foot-1, 239 pounds. The point: Being “undersized” isn’t a deterrent to success in today’s NFL — especially when a player has the sideline-to-sideline speed possessed by Smith.
“He’s a thick, muscular, sturdy build, so he plays strong,” general manager Ryan Pace said. “I think his size is fine for us. We don’t want to sacrifice any of that speed he has.”
Smith’s speed and instincts stand out on tape, and his leadership qualities were widely praised during his time at Georgia. He said he’s tried to mold his game to be like Patrick Willis, who starred for the San Francisco 49ers and has an uncanny resemblance to Smith (both are 6-foot-1, both weigh around 240 pounds and both ran a 4.51 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine).
Those comparisons to Willis, combined with being expected to be a Day 1 starter for a franchise with a rich linebacking tradition, could put quite a bit of pressure on Smith. But the way he talks, that won’t be the case.
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“There's no pressure to that,” Smith said. “I know my skill set but I just want to come here and be the best possible teammate I can be whether it's special teams, defense or however the coaches feel that I can best serve the team I'm just here for that.”
Smith still has to refine his game to successfully transition from college to the NFL. But perhaps it’s a good sign that one of the dings to his game — his size — may not be a problem at all.
“It’s never stopped him from being the No. 8 drafted player in the 2018 Draft,” former Bears linebacker Lance Briggs said. “Whatever anybody has ever said about him hasn’t dictated the success he’s had. He’s the one that dictated the success that he’s had. Carry that on to his rookie season with the Chicago Bears. Continue to do that play after play.”