Pittsburgh Steelers: Meet the pick, LB Sutton Smith
The outside linebacker corps has gone through a lot in recent years from the bust of Jarvis Jones to losing Steelers great James Harrison. The group has undergone somewhat of a youth movement and that continued in this draft.
With the exception of last year’s draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers have spent at least one draft pick on an outside linebacker in each draft since 2013. They clearly have spent time trying to build through the draft at the position.
This year was no different when they took Sutton Smith in round six. Smith played for three years at Northern Illinois before coming out for the draft in his red shirt junior year.
While in college, Smith did not get a huge opportunity to start until his third season in 2017 where he totaled 63 total tackles and 30 for a loss to go with 14 sacks. His 2018 season was just as good as he tallied 61 more tackles, 26.5 for loss and another 15 sacks.
Smith ended his career with 30 sacks and 58.5 tackles for loss in just two years of consistent play time and starting. This alone shot his name into the conversation as a potential draft pick in the NFL.
His size likely played a key role in forcing him into the sixth round. Despite his eye-popping numbers off the edge in college, he stands at just 6-foot even and only 233 pounds. This likely did not sit well with teams and couple that with his struggles at the senior bowl and teams worried about his ability to handle NFL-sized tackles.
Smith had rumblings about being moved to an off ball linebacker due to being smaller but they should at least give him a chance on the edge before writing him off there. If he struggles outside, then you can try him off the ball or as a sub package blitzing linebacker.
Sutton Smith has the tools to make the roster immediately as a special teams presence. If he can prove he can handle battling against the bigger NFL tackles, this pick could prove key down the road to the build and depth of this outside linebacker room.