Harrison Smith honored by the NFL after Week 1 performance

The Minnesota Vikings All-Pro safety was named this week’s NFC Defensive Player of the Week after making life difficult for the San Francisco 49ers offense.

When asking who the best player on their defense is, many members of the Minnesota Vikings will give the same answer. That guy who plays safety named Harrison Smith.

Now in his seventh NFL season, Smith has been the anchor of a Vikings defense that has evolved into one of the league’s top units under head coach Mike Zimmer. The safety’s ability to line up at multiple positions makes him such a dangerous weapon for Zimmer to use each week.

During Minnesota’s first game of the 2018 season last Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, Smith’s performance had a lot to do with the Vikings coming away with a win. When the clock struck zero, the Minnesota safety had a total of eight tackles, one sack, one pass breakup, one fumble recovery, and one game-sealing interception.

Minnesota Vikings

Without Smith on the field, there’s a good chance that the Vikings could have opened this year with a loss to the 49ers. But thanks to his impressive play, Minnesota was able to hang on for the Week 1 victory.

For his efforts last Sunday, the NFL has announced that Smith has been named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week. This is the second time in the safety’s career that he has earned this award.

This is also the third season in a row that a player from the Vikings’ roster has earned the award after the team’s first game of the year.

Former Minnesota quarterback Sam Bradford was the NFC Offensive Player of the Week after Week 1 in 2017 and Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week after the team’s season-opening win in 2016.

Coming off his first career First-Team All-Pro selection last season, Smith appears to have picked up right where he left off in 2017.