Raiders' Second-Year Safety Ready For Bigger Role in 2024

During the 2023 NFL Draft, the Las Vegas Raiders used their fifth round selection on Chris Smith II, an exciting safety prospect out of the University of Georgia.

Smith had an excellent collegiate career, and was one of the most important members of an elite defense at Georgia. Despite his success in college though, Smith found it hard to get snaps during his rookie season in Las Vegas.

“I felt like a little bit of last year that I just wasn’t as locked in mentally with the ins and outs of the game, studying the quarterbacks and the offenses and schemes." Smith said after practice on Tuesday.

"Of course it’s something I’ve always done, but I want to take that extra step this year to go out and play a little bit faster.”

Earning his place isn't something that's necessarily new to Smith. He spent five years at Georgia, but he was a non-factor for the first two of those. Smith appeared only as a reserve in 2018 and 2019, making just 11 combined tackles during those two seasons.

However, instead of transferring to a new school with hopes of more playing time, Smith worked as hard as he could, and managed to earn a starting role, where he eventually excelled.

“Obviously the program we had, it’s tough to go in there and start as a freshman, so I had to wait my turn and put in a lot of work," Smith said. “Plus, I had a lot of great vets to look up to there as well, like I do here. You always want to contribute, but I just come in and work hard every day and make sure I’m ready when my opportunity does come.”

Smith has faced similar obstacles during the first part of his professional career. Although he was drafted as a safety, Smith had only 22 snaps on defense throughout the entire 2023 season, with all of them coming in the Raiders 63-21 win over the Los Angeles Chargers .

Most of his reps that year came on special teams, and coming into training camp, Smith wasn't a lock to make the 53-man roster. However, he worked hard throughout camp, and proved himself enough to earn a roster spot, with many of his counterparts being cut on Tuesday .

In order to earn more safety reps, Smith mentioned how helpful veterans like Tre'Von Moehrig and Marcus Epps have been.

“They are super smart guys, and I take the opportunity every day to learn something from them,” Smith said. "Those are guys I look up to."

Smith will have another chance to make an impact in his sophomore season. If his past shows us anything, it's proved that he's not afraid to make his presence on a roster known.

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