All-22: Where will Daryl Smith fit next year?

Up until this point in the off-season, Ravens fans have been mostly pleased with the job Ozzie Newsome has done save for two position holes: wide receiver and inside linebacker.  With question marks surrounding Jameel McClain’s health and the brief Rolando McClain experiment, it appears the Ravens have finally addressed their inside linebacker need with former-Jag Daryl Smith.  His longevity and tackle stats (Jacksonville’s franchise leader in tackles) are intriguing but what can Ravens fans realistically expect from Smith this coming season?  I went to the tape to find out.

(Discuss this article at the BSL Board here.)

A Healthy Daryl Smith

Daryl Smith’s groin injury had him watching from the bench for the first 15 weeks of the 2012 season.  So in order to get a feel for how he’ll play for the Ravens in 2013, I turned on his tape from the 2011 season.

The Jaguars liked to play him in all three linebacker spots in their 4-3 defense but based on their available personnel, Smith usually flanked stand-out middle linebacker Paul Posluszny either on the weak or strong side.

Smith’s production as a strong side player…

In my opinion Smith was miscast as a SAM linebacker based on his size and available skill-set.  When aligning outside of the strong-side tight end, he struggled a bit in run support because of the size of the blockers in front of him.  Smith (6’2, 249lbs) is smaller in stature than Courtney Upshaw (6’2, ~280lbs) and used every bit of his strength to stalemate bigger tight ends and offensive tackles. This didn’t allow him to shed the hands of blockers or slip off to make tackles on the edge.  Fortunately, Smith’s role in the Ravens defense will not likely be as an OLB, especially based on the depth at that position, the need for an inside linebacker, and Smith’s strengths.

Smith’s best fit: The weak side linebacker.

Smith didn’t play the majority of his snaps on the weak-side but this is where he played his best football in my opinion.  Although the lines are blurred between outside and inside backers more than ever, the typical WILL linebacker should be able to run horizontally, sift through the trash of second level lineman, and most of all, tackle extremely well.  This describes Daryl Smith almost exactly.  He does his best work when the offense runs laterally (i.e. outside zone, sweep, etc).  His speed allows him to evade rumbling lineman rather than confront them head on, and he rarely misses tackles when in position.

This play comes from the Ravens Monday Night game in 2011.  Smith will fill the B-gap that springs open due to the double-teams drawn by Matt Roth and Tyson Alualu.  Smith excels at moving laterally as shown in caption #3 where he plants his outside foot, springs down the LOS, and makes the tackle on the shifty Ray Rice.

This play is important for two reasons:

1. Along with Arthur Brown‘s mobility, Smith can help solidify the Ravens run defense, which got gashed against zone schemes last year.
2. When Smith is afforded the opportunity to move in space due to a big D-line in front of him (Roth is 272lbs and Alualu is 294lbs), he can utilize his mobility to chase down tacklers and stay away from engaging O-lineman head on.

As a WILL, can he hold up when called upon to cover?

At the age of 31, Daryl Smith has the rare luxury of keeping his impressive speed.  He isn’t a burner out of his stance but he can stick with athletic tight-ends down the seam and can even carry slot receivers down-field when called upon.  His coverage issues arise, however, when he is forced to break with receivers on their routes.

In the above image, the Jaguars are aligned in Cover 1-Robber giving Daryl Smith the unenviable job of playing man coverage on Aaron Hernandez.

Tom Brady likely knows he has an advantageous match-up as evidenced by the clear-out routes run by the two outside receivers Welker and Lloyd.  In this screen cap Hernandez has broken toward the middle of the field with Daryl Smith on his inside hip.

Smith stumbles out of his break to the outside and Hernandez is wide open for one of the easiest first downs of his life.

This is an example of Smith at his worst in coverage.  Smith generally has good balance and will not leave receivers this wide open.  However, he has flexibly issues when breaking with receivers down the field.  This was evidenced by the number of times Ed Dickson (not a burner in his own right) was left open on Out routes when the Ravens met the Jags in 2011.  Smith prefers to be physical with receiving threats off the LOS, as this allows him to control his opponent rather than attempting to mirror them.

Can Daryl Smith get after the quarterback?

With Smith’s small yet stocky frame, he rushes off the edge particularly well.  He was generally aligned behind his defensive line (standard 4-3 linebacker) but when given the opportunity, Smith could bend the edge using a strong dip-and-rip move to get his body around O-tackles.  The majority of Smith’s pass rush plays, though, came from inside blitzes through the B and C gaps.  He excelled in disguising blitzes (i.e. unexpectedly stunting with defensive ends) and rushed with surprising power when his timing was right.  His pass rushing traits on film are supported by ProFootballFocus as they graded him as the 3rd most efficient 4-3 OLB in their Pass Rush Productivity stat (~number of pressures per rush).

Smith’s (lack of a) 2012 season

In a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league, it isn’t surprising that Jacksonville didn’t resign Smith entering his 10th season in the league.  Smith suffered a groin injury that left him watching from the bench for the first 14 games of the 2012 season.  He played in two games (117 total snaps) and did not play very well.

When playing the strong-side, Smith was getting pushed around in the run game by below-average blockers (e.g. Aaron Hernandez) and he didn’t appear to trust his body based on his complete lack of aggression off the edge.  Smith was also below his own standard in pass coverage in 2012 as well.  His hips appeared more stiff than ever and he struggled in the open field.  His struggles were likely a combination of his injury, apparent weight loss, and a season that was lost in termed of post-season hopes.

Conclusion

Even as an aging player, Daryl Smith is a welcome addition to the Ravens linebacking core.  Given his health, he can be a major player in the run-game and will be an improvement in pass coverage over the 2012 players.  He is most comfortable when he has functional space to move because 1) he is a read/react type of player and 2) he can get taken advantage of by bigger players in small quarters.  With the depth and sheer weight that the Ravens have stocked their defensive line unit with, Daryl Smith can look forward to having that functional space he needs to rack up tackle numbers.