Jason Kyle Smith (born April 30, 1986) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was an

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He serves as the

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

s coach at Abilene Christian, a position he has held since 2024. He was selected by the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

with the second overall pick in the

2009 NFL draft The 2009 NFL draft was the 74th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. The draft c ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Baylor Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only three private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior t ...

. As a professional, he was a member of the Rams, the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

, and the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

Early life

Smith attended W. T. White High School, in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. He was a First-team All-District honors as a sophomore and junior as an offensive tackle. As a senior, he was moved to tight end, catching seven passes for 101 yards and one touchdown. He was rewarded with All-District honors as a senior. At and , Smith did not have ideal size and was only considered a two-star prospect by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com (stylized as ''rivals'') is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was found ...

''. He drew few scholarship offers and committed to Baylor on the same day that he received his offer.

College career

After redshirting his first season at Baylor, Smith played tight end in 2005, appearing in 11 games, starting eight. He caught 6 passes for 70 yards and one touchdown. As a sophomore in 2006, he was moved to the offensive line and started all 12 games of his sophomore season at right tackle. Despite missing several games due to a sprained knee, Smith earned an All-Big 12 honorable mention as he started seven games at left tackle as a junior. Prior to his senior year, Smith graduated a year early from the school in May 2008, having graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Education degree in recreation. As a senior in 2008 he was an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

selection and an All-Big 12 Conference selection as well. Smith was named Baylor's co-Most Valuable Player. He was credited by the school with 96 knockdown blocks, which were the most ever by a Baylor offensive lineman. Smith gave up sacks and was penalized five times. With Baylor running a

spread offense :''"Spread offense" may also refer to the four corners offense in basketball.'' The spread offense is an offensive scheme in gridiron football that typically places the quarterback in the shotgun formation, and "spreads" the offense horizontal ...

since the arrival of new head coach

Art Briles Arthur Ray Briles (born December 3, 1955) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach for the Guelfi Firenze in the Italian Football League. Briles was the head coach of the Houston Cougars from 2002 to 2007 and the Baylor B ...

, Smith was usually in a two-point stance for pass protection, which caused NFL scouts to question his run blocking ability.

College awards and honors

*2008 First-team All-

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

*2008

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

and

Third-team All-American *2008

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

All-American *2008 ''

Pro Football Weekly ''Pro Football Weekly'' (sometimes shortened to ''PFW'') is an American sports magazine, founded in 1967, and website that covers the National Football League (NFL). It was owned by Pro Football Weekly LLC and headquartered in Riverwoods, Illin ...

'' honorable mention All-American

Professional career

Pre-draft

At the 2009

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

, Smith recorded the 11th-fastest 40-yard dash (5.09 seconds), tied for the fourth-most repetitions in the bench press (33), and was sixth in the three-cone drill (7.53 seconds) among all offensive linemen who participated. He scored a 23 on the

Wonderlic Test The Wonderlic Contemporary Cognitive Ability Test (formerly the Wonderlic Personnel Test) is an assessment used to measure the cognitive ability and problem-solving aptitude of prospective employees for a range of occupations. The test was cr ...

. Smith drew comparisons to

Ryan Clady Ryan Jacob Clady (born September 6, 1986) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Boise State Broncos, earning con ...

St. Louis Rams

Smith was selected in the first round with the second overall pick in the

by the

. He was Baylor's first first-round draft pick since

Daryl Gardener Daryl Ronald Gardener (born February 25, 1973) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Miami Dolphins, Washington Redskins, and Denver Broncos. He played colle ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. On July 30, 2009, the Rams agreed to terms with Smith on a six-year contract worth up to $61 million, with $33 million in guarantees. As a rookie in 2009, Smith played mostly right tackle, although he played some left tackle, the position for which he was drafted. In his rookie season, Smith suffered a serious concussion November 22, 2009. "My situation was real serious," Smith related, and it caused him to miss the remainder of his rookie season. In 2010, Smith was beaten out by rookie

Rodger Saffold Rodger P. Saffold III (born June 6, 1988) is an American professional football player who is a guard in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the St. Louis Rams in the second round, 33rd overall in the 2010 NFL draft. He played ...

New York Jets (first stint)

The St. Louis Rams agreed to trade Smith to the

in exchange for tackle Wayne Hunter on August 27, 2012. He was released from the Jets on February 19, 2013.

New Orleans Saints

On April 11, 2013, Smith signed with the

. On August 21, 2013, he was released by the Saints.

New York Jets (second stint)

On August 23, 2013, Smith was re-signed by the Jets. He was released on August 31, 2013.

Coaching career

Abilene Christian

On January 25, 2024, Smith was hired as the

s coach at Abilene Christian.

References

External links

Baylor Bears bioNorth Texas Mean Green profileAbilene Christian Wildcats profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Jason 1986 births Living people Players of American football from Dallas American football tight ends American football offensive tackles Baylor Bears football players St. Louis Rams players New York Jets players New Orleans Saints players W. T. White High School alumni Second overall NFL draft picks North Texas Mean Green football coaches Abilene Christian Wildcats football coaches