Is Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith still an elite-caliber player?
The Minnesota Vikings selected Harrison Smith out of Notre Dame with the 29th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. This pick in that draft was acquired by the Vikings via trade with the Baltimore Ravens and it was a franchise-altering transaction to the betterment of Minnesota.
The Vikings traded, what would turn out to be, linebacker Courtney Upshaw and offensive guard Gino Gradkowski to Baltimore. Neither man plays in the NFL anymore while Smith has trotted to five consecutive Pro Bowls. The advantage in this trade clearly went to Minnesota.
Smith, however, is aging as he will be 32-years-old this February. This should not indicate his decline is necessarily imminent, but it will probably happen sometime between now and the perhaps the 2024 NFL season.
Notable former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu began a performance descent around the age of 31 while former Ravens safety Ed Reed began his descent closer to age 35.
One little-talked-about facet of Smith’s game is the way he has been able to remain a violent football player in a non-violent era.
15 years ago, vicious hits, everywhere on the body, were championed by fans and pundits. The aforementioned Polamalu and Reed were celebrated for these hits.
Now, savage blows to offensive players have been legislated out of the game. Smith, however, still maintains a knack for delivering impactful hits and he manages to mostly avoid penalties. It’s truly a balancing act and some players are incapable of this ability to mask violence.
Heck, Smith’s nickname is “Hitman”. On the whole, Smith remains an elite NFL safety today and there is plenty of evidence to explain why.
Smith graded as the NFL’s third-best safety in 2019
Pro Football Focus is not the holy grail for all things football, but they do provide accredited metrics for analysis. When used in conglomeration with other statistical metrics, their grades are a valid barometer of performance.
As an apropos side note, Vikings safety Anthony Harris was the NFL’s highest-graded safety in 2019 according to PFF. In this respect, Harris was even better than Smith last season, which is welcomed news for most Minnesota fans.
Harris performed so magnificently last season that PFF classified him as the 12th-best overall player in the entire league. And that’s particularly astonishing because his grade bested players like Christian McCaffrey, Travis Kelce, and DeAndre Hopkins. Who would’ve thought that would ever happen?
As for Smith, PFF was sure to highlight his pass-coverage expertise. His grade of 91.0 was only topped in the NFL by, you guessed it, Harris.
PFF also mentions that other renowned safeties like Smith have seen their performance crater at times. But not Smith, he’s had nearly a decade of stardom with zero lulls. More on that later.
By the numbers, Smith was a pass-coverage tycoon last season
And, he needed to be. In a bizarre twist of events, the Vikings cornerbacks were no longer very good in 2019. Longtime shutdown commodity, Xavier Rhodes, inexplicably digressed. The divergence from Rhodes’ otherwise sensational production was stark.
Rhodes was an All-Pro cornerback in 2017 and then his passer-rating-against was a nauseating 123.8 in 2019. Minnesota recently moved on from the veteran cornerback and drafted two rookie corners in Jeff Gladney and Cameron Dantzler this year. Rhodes is now with the Indianapolis Colts, who decided to take a flyer on the free-agent defensive back.
Just as Rhodes’ passer-rating-against was putrid, Smith’s was equally as sweet. The eighth-year Minnesota safety allowed a stingy 41.7 passer-rating-against in 2019. Of all NFL safeties, this mark was only outdone last season by Ravens veteran Earl Thomas (24.2).
If the argument is made that Pro Football Focus grades are subjective, passer-rating-against is non-interpretive. The metric is a raw, rudimentary one and not debatable.
New England Patriots corner Stephen Gilmore notched a 44.1 passer-rating-against on 101 targets last year. Why do you think he won the Defensive Player of the Year award?
Smith’s NFL peers recognize his greatness
If you’re still on the fence about Pro Football Focus and passer-rating-against, let’s pivot to reputation.
Each summer, the NFL circulates ballots for players to vote on which guys are the best in the league. A list is then devised culminating in an NFL Top 100 show that generally airs on the eve of training camp.
This year, your friendly neighborhood Hitman ranked 64th on that Top 100 list. Among all safeties, Smith was the fourth-best and he was only bettered by Jamal Adams, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Tyrann Mathieu. Smith is the oldest of these four men, so his inclusion in it is considered especially prestigious.
The praise is not limited to players. Two years ago, iconic Patriots coach Bill Belichick gushed over Smith.
“He’s the best weak safety I’ve seen since I’ve been in the National Football League in my career. He’s outstanding at pretty much everything. The list goes on and on with him. It’s just a question of pretty much anything he’s out there for, he’s good at.”
Thank goodness Smith has never been tempted to leave the North Star State because Belichick is always lurking.
Smith is a beacon of consistency
The single-most impressive facet of Harrison Smith’s game is his staying-power. Countless times NFL players have popped up to show excellence for a year or two and then they have either withered away or succumbed to injury. Smith has popped up in eight straight seasons.
Smith has been elected to the Pro Bowl in every season since 2015. That requires a certain type of upper-echelon doggedness. Smith has it and he was even tapped for All-Pro honors in 2017.
Since joining the Vikings in 2012, Smith leads all safeties in sacks with 13. He’s also second in interceptions, third in tackles for loss and fumble recoveries, fourth in touchdowns, and sixth in total tackles.
He’s also the only player in the league to have at least 75 tackles, at least three interceptions, and one or more tackles for loss in each of the last three seasons.
He’s no newcomer to stardom and he has established himself as an all-time Vikings great. It might even startle some that he has already played more games in purple than Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss. Smith has played in 114 games for Minnesota while Moss participated in 113 during his career.