Keith Smith (linebacker)

Keith Smith

refer to caption

Smith at the Dallas Cowboys training camp in August 2015
No. 56 Dallas Cowboys
Position: Linebacker
Personal information
Date of birth: (1992-04-08) April 8, 1992
Place of birth: Pomona, California
Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight: 232 lb (105 kg)
Career information
High school: Covina (CA) Charter Oak
College: San Jose State
Undrafted: 2014
Career history
Roster status: Practice squad
Career highlights and awards
  • Division I FBS leader in total tackles (159) and tackles per game (13.3) (2013)
  • First-team All-MWC (2013)
  • Military Bowl champion (2012)
  • First-team All-WAC (2012)
  • 2× second-team All-WAC (2010–2011)
  • Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Freshman of the Year (2010)
  • Academic All-WAC (2010)
Career NFL statistics as of 2014
Tackles: 7
Quarterback sacks: 0.0
Interceptions: 0
Forced fumbles: 1
Player stats at NFL.com

Alton Keith Smith, Jr. (born April 8, 1992) is an American football linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at San Jose State University.

Early years

Born in Pomona, California, Smith graduated from Charter Oak High School in Covina in 2010.[1] Smith began playing football in the fourth grade.[2] At age 11, Smith met Indianapolis Colts cornerback and Charter Oak graduate Jason David, who was dating Smith's older sister.[3] David commented about Smith: "...he was so eager for knowledge, he was so eager to get better, he was willing to do whatever it took. He studied film, worked out on weekends and got better and better."[4] Smith is now David's brother-in-law.[3]

Name Home town High school / college Height Weight 40‡ Commit date
Keith Smith
LB		 Covina, CA Charter Oak HS 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 207 lb (94 kg) 4.9 Jan 19, 2010 
Scout:2/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 73
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 60 (MLB), 76 (school)   Rivals: 101 (school)  ESPN: 69 (ILB), 180 (CA)
  • ‡ Refers to 40 yard dash
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height, weight and 40 time.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

College career

Smith attended San Jose State University and played for the San Jose State Spartans football team from 2010 to 2013 as an inside linebacker.[3] In 49 games, Smith made 45 starts and had 476 total tackles, the second most among all-time San Jose State players.[1] He also had 29 tackles for loss and eight forced fumbles.[1] Smith played under head coach Mike MacIntyre from 2010 to 2012 and Ron Caragher in 2013.[1]

As a freshman in 2010, Smith played in all 13 games and started the last 9. With 116 tackles and 14 tackles for loss, Smith led all freshmen in NCAA Division I FBS in those categories. Smith earned Academic All-Western Athletic Conference (WAC), FWAA Freshman All-America, second-team All-WAC, and San Jose State Scholar-Athlete honors this season.[1] However, San Jose State finished the season 1-12.

In 2011, San Jose State improved to a 5-7 record. Smith had the most on average tackles per game this year with 6 tackles per game; he had 104 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 3 forced fumbles, and 2 passes defended. For the second year in a row, Smith earned second-team All-WAC honors.[1]

As a junior in 2012, Smith had 97 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 4 forced fumbles, and 8 passes defended. Smith made his first interception on October 27 against Texas State.[1] On November 17 against BYU, Smith matched a career single-game high with 19 tackles and added 2 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, one sack, and a pass deflection.[1] With 1:16 left in the game against BYU, Smith hurdled over a BYU blocker and sacked BYU quarterback Riley Nelson on Nelson's blind side and also forced a fumble. San Jose State recovered the fumble and sealed the 20-14 victory. For this game-ending play, Smith won WAC Defensive Player of the Week honors.[5][6] San Jose State ended the season 11-2 by beating Bowling Green in the 2012 Military Bowl 29-20. With 4:22 remaining and San Jose State up 22-20, Smith recovered a fumble forced by Travis Johnson, and San Jose State advanced the ball in two minutes for a touchdown.[7]

In his senior year in 2013, Smith had 159 tackles and 13.3 tackles per game—both the most among all FBS players this season—along with 8 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles, one interception, and one pass defended. Smith reached new career records, with two games with at least 20 tackles, on September 21 against Minnesota and September 27 against Utah State.[1] In the San Jose State regular season finale on November 29, a 62-52 win over #16-ranked Fresno State, Smith intercepted a pass by Derek Carr and ended Carr's streak of 305 passes without an interception.[8] Despite bowl eligibility with a 6-6 record, San Jose State was not selected for a bowl. Smith graduated from San Jose State with a B.A. in communication studies in December 2013.[9][10]

Professional career

2014 NFL Draft

Pre-draft measurables
Ht Wt 40-yd dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert Broad BP
6 ft 0 in 233 lb 4.98 s 1.76 s 2.87 s 4.53 s 6.87 s 31 in 9 ft 5 in 26 reps
Measurements taken at San Jose State's Pro Day.[11]

Dallas Cowboys

Smith signed with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent on May 11, 2014.[12][13][14] Multiple injuries on the linebacking corps forced the team to sign him to the active roster for depth purposes on September 20.[15] Smith made his NFL debut in the Cowboys' 34-31 win over the St. Louis Rams.[16] He lined up with the defense in a play where the Cowboys stopped the Rams on 4th down & inches in the third quarter.[17] After being waived the next day, this pattern would repeat two additional times during the season, until being re-signed to the active roster on November 26.[18][19]

On May 14, 2015, he was released after rookie minicamp to make room for free agent safety Danny McCray.[20] He was re-signed on July 31, a day after linebacker Keith Rivers announced his retirement.[21] He made the team because of his special teams ability and appeared in 4 games until being released on October 5, to make room for a suspended Rolando McClain.[22] On October 7, he was re-signed to the Cowboys' practice squad.[23] On November 14, he was elevated to the active squad for depth purposes while linebacker Sean Lee was out with a concussion. On November 16, he was waived to make room for linebacker Mark Nzeocha. On November 18, he was re-signed to the practice squad.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Keith Smith". San Jose State Spartans. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  2. ↑ GetSportsFocus (May 4, 2014). "#31 Keith Smith, LB, SJSU: GSF Exclusive Feature". YouTube. Retrieved June 25, 2014. See 2:40 mark for when Smith started playing football.
  3. 1 2 3 Pimentel, Joseph (April 17, 2014). "Former NFL player flexes experience to help athletes train". Los Angeles Register. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
  4. ↑ Adelson, Andrea (May 6, 2011). "Keith Smith emerges as top-notch LB". ESPN. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
  5. ↑ Durkin, Jimmy (November 19, 2012). "San Jose State's Keith Smith earns WAC honor". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Riley Nelson sacked by Keith Smith for a loss of 9 yards, fumbled, forced by Keith Smith, recovered by SJSt Vince Buhagiar at the SJSt 36.". ESPN. November 17, 2012. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  7. ↑ Durkin, Jimmy (December 28, 2012). "San Jose State Spartans win Military Bowl 29-20". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  8. ↑ Durkin, Jimmy (November 30, 2013). "San Jose State stuns Fresno State 62-52". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Keith Smith" (PDF). Dallas Cowboys 2014 Media Guide. p. 195.
  10. ↑ Instagram post on May 24, 2014 by Smith. Includes "3.5Years" as a hashtag.
  11. ↑ "Keith Smith, DS #38 ILB, San Jose State". NFLDraftScout.com. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  12. ↑ George, Brandon (May 11, 2014). "Dallas Cowboys bring in 23 undrafted free agents as rookie mini-camp approaches". SportsDayDFW. Dallasnews.com. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Keith Smith". Dallas Cowboys. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Chandler Jones & Keith Smith 1st Free Agent Signings". San Jose State Spartans. May 12, 2014. Retrieved May 23, 2014. He is slated to begin his professional career as an outside linebacker with Dallas.
  15. ↑ Eatman, Nick. "LB Keith Smith Signed Off Practice Squad; DE Cut". Dallas Cowboys. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Keith Smith Game Log, 2014". NFL. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
  17. ↑ 1:45 of video Week 3: Cowboys vs. Rams highlights
  18. ↑ Davison, Drew (September 22, 2014). "Cowboys notes: Despite big play, Claiborne might get benched". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
  19. ↑ http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2014/11/26/keith-smith-yo-yos-back-active-roster-jack-crawford-sent-ir
  20. ↑ Sabin, Rainier (May 14, 2015). "Dallas Cowboys bring back S Danny McCray, sign seventh-round pick Geoff Swaim". Dallas Cowboys Blog. DallasNews.com. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  21. ↑ Broaddus, Bryan. "Scout’s Notebook: Keith Smith Returns, Notes From Friday Morning Walkthrough". Dallas Cowboys. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  22. ↑ Phillips, Rob (October 5, 2015). "2 Players Waived To Help Make Room For Return Of Hardy, R. McClain". DallasCowboys.com. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  23. ↑ Brandon George [@DMN_George] (7 October 2015). "The Cowboys have signed LB Keith Smith to their practice squad after releasing him Monday. Replaces DE Efe Obada." (Tweet).

External links

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