Tanzel

Smart

Smart’s hiring reunites him with Titans head coach Robert Saleh. The two spent three seasons together with the Jets from 2021-2023. Smart won over Hard Knocks viewers in his final NFL season, vying for a roster spot during the Jets’ 2023 training camp. He entered the NFL’s coaching ranks last season, signing on as a defensive quality control assistant with the Cowboys.

Smart rose to prominence as a Hard Knocks darling at the tail-end of his journeyman career. A former sixth-round pick by the Rams in 2017, Smart later spent three seasons with the Jets as a rotational player. He never managed to record a sack but notched 22 solo tackles during his time in the NFL.

Los Angeles’ former sixth-round pick in the 2017 draft, Smart made 31 appearances with the Rams the past three years but failed to record a single sack at any point in that span. It’s still possible the 25-year-old is scooped up for a virtual camp elsewhere given his ability to play special teams.

Smart (6’1/296) made 36 starts on the Green Wave defensive line, amassing 40.5 career tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks and earning first-team All-C-USA as both a junior and senior. Smart was exposed as a sub-par athlete at the Combine, posting 11th-percentile SPARQ results and managing 22 reps on the bench. A stubby three-technique prospect who won with bull rush and quickness against lower-level guards and centers, Smart faces an uphill climb toward NFL relevance.