Jaylin Smith
Jaylin Smith
Gets targeted often and tackles in space. Jaylin Smith has been at USC through two head coaches in four seasons. His first career honor landed in 2024: All-Big Ten. The receipt: 8 tackles, 1 TFL against Notre Dame — Week 14, 2024.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
- positional archetype classification
- head-coach lineage
- recognition record
- game log
How it ended
Four seasons at USC, 176 tackles — drafted at #97 overall by Houston.
Career Arc
Trophy Case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-CONFERENCE
All-Conf mention (2024)
All-Big Ten
Coaching Lineage · 2021–2024
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Donte Williams → Lincoln Riley. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Where He Ended Up · NFL
HoustonEntering 2nd NFL season
2025 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
Splits & context
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Lincoln Riley
Awards
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 3 · RecognizedR09 · All-Conference HM / 2nd team
All-Conference HM / 2nd team. Conference recognition has started.
Recognition
Production
Trophy Case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-CONFERENCE
All-Conf mention (2024)
All-Big Ten
Career stats
How he plays
Play style
Targeted often and asked to tackle in space on the perimeter.
CFB Index positional classification
DNA match
Player DNA
Perimeter Tackler
Targeted often and asked to tackle in space on the perimeter.
His 2024 production profile sits closest to Jaylin Smith’s 2023 season.
Matches Jaylin on
Differs from Jaylin on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Wrook Brown's senior season at Houston (2025).
Matches Wrook on