2021 NFL draft film breakdown: UAB EDGE Jordan Smith vs. South Alabama

Sam Crnic takes a glance at UAB EDGE Jordan Smith’s signs of promise as both a pass rusher and run defender against South Alabama. A key factor behind the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)'s impressive defense (34th of 127 in scoring defense nation-wide), EDGE Jordan Smith traveled a long way to get where he is today. A 4-star defensive end prospect out of Lithonia, Georgia, Smith joined Florida's 2016 signing class only to redshirt and eventually contribute to their 2017 team. However, Smith never played a game in a Florida jersey. One of the nine players charged for a credit card fraud scam that shocked the entire program, Smith's poor judgment led to his decision to opt-out of Florida's 2018 season, joining Butler Community College (Kansas) instead. He ended up totaling 77 tackles and 11 sacks in 12 games. Despite his punishment of two years of probation and 521-dollars in court charges, Jordan was ready to return to the Division 1 FBS level. Joining UAB's football program in 2019, Smith had a new opportunity to make a run for the NFL. Already a 6-foot-7, 255-pound eclipse of a man, Jordan collected 53 tackles, 10 sacks, and four forced fumbles for the Blazers in his first year with the team. Entering 2020, Smith got off to a hot start with two sacks in his first three games, looking to push his way into the 2021 NFL draft. While it still remains in doubt exactly where he will go in the draft, his efforts to work his way back into the NFL picture are paying off. Asked whether or not his early mistakes would prevent him from reaching the NFL level, Smith responded: "When the situation happened at Florida, I always had the mindset that it wasn’t going to set me back... It would’ve been easy to give up on football and fall into something else. I had a strong mindset. I knew, deep down in my heart, this was not the end. If I got another chance, I was going to take full advantage of it." Reviewing Smith's 2020 film against South Alabama (Sept. 24), I had a chance to grasp his unique abilities in both the passing game and the running game. Using UAB's All-22 film, we will explore why Smith can be a Day 3 steal for an edge-needy team like the New York Jets despite his earlier character concerns. UAB vs. South Alabama Game Recap On the offensive side, UAB running back Spencer Brown - the second-leading active career FBS rusher behind Clemson's Travis Etienne - rushed for three touchdowns in a 42-10 rout over South Alabama. Jordan Smith had four tackles - two for a loss - and a sack against Jaguars' quarterback Chance Lovertich, who replaced the injured Desmond Trotter. Smith was also responsible for an interception, affecting the arm of Lovertich in the motion of a throw, leading to the ball wobbling in the air and resulting in an easy pick. In addition to the impressive stat-line, Smith was an off-the-stat-sheet force to be reckoned with in both phases, creating plenty of penetration as he showcased his quickness and athleticism off the snap to attack the quarterback or the ball carrier. Pass Rush Swim Move Right off the bat, Jordan Smith looks like a man among boys on the line of scrimmage based on his mighty frame. In the passing game, Smith is adept at exploding out of his stance and swimming free of the blocker's grasp in the process. From the strong side 6-tech, a quick release from the QB is the only reason Smith doesn't get the sack following a great rush. Before the snap, Smith is in a three-point stance from the 6-tech, aligned over an undersized tight end he visibly towers over. Off the snap, Smith explodes out of his stance, rushing the QB through the C-gap. To force his way by, he clears the hands of the TE with a swipe, giving way to move forward with his other arm. Doing this, he pushes the TE to the side, throwing the blocker off his balance in the process. Smith then sweeps his arm over the TE's head in a swim motion as he steps by the blocker with his opposite foot. Once Smith gets his hips across, he uses his momentum to push forward towards the QB. If not for a quick release of the ball, this would be an outstanding sack. Great play nonetheless. Jordan has very impressive footwork that he consistently uses to effectively set up his swim move. Here, he displays some savvy footwork that forces the right tackle to become unbalanced. This time around, Smith is aligned on the left side of the defense, positioned at the wide 9-tech in a two-point stance. Off the snap, Smith has enough burst to cause an imbalance in his blocker's footwork, giving himself the opportunity to take advantage of it. From there, Smith jab steps towards the inside, forcing the RT to counter by shifting his weight inside as well. With the RT already unbalanced, Jordan jabs back outside, showcasing another swim move in the process. With the swim move to get by his blocker, Smith creates pressure and forces a throw to the flat. Speed Rip Move From the strong side edge alignment, I was really impressed with Smith's burst out of his stance, overpowering his blocker with a rip move as he pursued the QB. Aligned at the 9-tech, Jordan explodes off the snap, leverages the LT's arm with a rip move, and uses speed to get his first and only sack of the game. From the two-point stance, Smith showed to be a consistent force against South Alabama. Where some edges win with technique and hand usage, Smith wins here with pure speed. Off the ball, he beats the LT to the spot, winning the corner almost instantly as the LT is late to pick him up. By the time the LT makes contact with Smith, the defensive end's feet are already facing the pocket as his lower body flexion and hips are engaged towards the QB. To assure nothing gets in his way, Smith dips his shoulders and renders any attempt of the tackle to widen his attack ineffective. At the same time, Jordan rips his inside arm under the LT's, overpowering and out-leveraging any chance of preventing the sack. Another example of the speed rip move, Smith clearly beats tackle coming up the arc, engaging the rip move to generate enough pressure towards the QB to affect the throwing motion. Positioned at the 9-tech, Smith has to travel a longer distance until he makes contact with the LT. Due to his wide positioning, he has to attack with speed and win the corner against his blocker to generate any kind of pressure. Off the snap, he does just that. Even with more distance to cover, he makes contact with the LT before he reaches the top of his arc, meeting him off-balance. Already winning in leverage and power as he meets the LT with speed and force, Smith dips his shoulders and rips his inside arm under the LT's arm to prevent him from widening his attack, which allows him to make contact with the QB before he releases the ball. With his left arm still engaged with the LT, he extends his other one, hitting the QB's arm as he starts his throwing motion. This clearly affects the throw, leaving the ball up for grabs, and a UAB linebacker to come down with it for the interception. It's all caused by Smith. Run Game Quickness/Athleticism Not only is Jordan exceptionally quick in the pass rush, but his quickness also shows up in the run game. Whether he's bursting through the line of scrimmage to attack the ball carrier or hustling down the field to track down the RB, Smith complements his massive frame with impressive athleticism. Working from the wide 9-tech, Jordan manages to pull his blocker to his knees, while still catching up to the running back 20 yards down the field. Positioned on the weak side in a two-point stance, Jordan's intended assignment is to pressure the backfield from the outside. Realizing the inside zone following the handoff, Smith knows he has to disengage from his blocker immediately. In the process of doing that, he wins hand placement and pulls down the arms of the RT, essentially throwing him down to his knees. The run is successful primarily because of the 4i-tech defensive tackle getting pancaked into the turf, compromising the B-gap. Smith executes his assignment well. Instead of quitting on the play as soon as the RB reaches the second level, Smith sprints downfield to catch up with the back, displaying hustle desired at the NFL level. While he doesn't get the tackle, he's the only defensive lineman in the area of the downed ball carrier, one of the many things coaches appreciate in the film room. Placed in the interior (4i-tech), Smith exhibits the same burst off the snap we saw from him against the pass, getting right in front of the RB's desired rushing lane. This play could have worked if the LT and LG executed a strong combination block the star defensive end, but instead, Smith penetrated the strong side B-gap to blow up the run. On the way to get there, Jordan displays the same swim move as the first clip in this film review, only working this time from the 4i-tech. He clears the hands of the LG by swiping his right hand against the guard's left arm, giving way for his other arm to sweep over the top of the blocker's head. When doing this, he clears his hips through the guard and looks to attack the ball carrier head-on. While he doesn't get the tackle, his penetration takes away any possible running lanes, allowing his teammates to eventually bring the ball carrier down for a loss. Power Besides his tenacious ability to outpace defenders off the snap, there's a lot of natural power to Jordan's 6-foot-7 255-pound frame, as showcased in the run game. Even with the help of the motioned TE, Smith overpowers his assignment, clearing a hole for the Will (weak-side linebacker, No. 50) to attack the RB. Positioned at the wide 9-tech once again, Smith has a longer distance to travel before meeting the RT. This works to South Alabama's advantage given the outside zone run, giving the tackle a chance to push the defensive end out of the play. He does just this off the snap, as Smith attacks the run too wide. Aiming his attack towards the TE, Jordan effectively blows him out of the way, but Smith is out-leveraged by the tackle, essentially pushing him out of the play and clearing running room. Despite this, Smith essentially takes two blockers out to clear room for more defenders. Before the RB turns the corner, the Will linebacker has a great look at the ball carrier, unfortunately missing the tackle Smith set up for him. The RB doesn't get much farther, though, being brought down by the next defender against the sideline. Even though it looks like Smith's attack was ineffective, he clears two key blockers out of the way, giving his teammates a chance to stop the RB for a short gain. A play where Smith wins the line of scrimmage and successfully disengages from his blocker, he gets the well-deserved tackle here. Aligned on the weak side in a two-point stance, the same outside zone run is headed his way. The only difference is that no TE is sent to chip or help the block. What happens, as a result, is the strongest man on the field winning his one-on-one matchup and taking the back down for a minimal gain. While his hand placement isn't the best, he doesn't give up ground along the line of scrimmage, which allows him to easily attack the RB. Off the snap, at the point of impact, Smith's hand placement isn't inside his blocker's, but he readjusts quickly. While the placement still isn't ideal, his natural power comes into play, not allowing the RT to push him away from the line of scrimmage. Smith takes a power angle with his hips pointed towards the ball carrier, something that allows him to attack the RB immediately after disengaging from the blocker. Once he does disengage, the tackle gets away with a slight hold that could have been called, but that does not stop Smith from making the play. Jordan puts himself in a position to attack the RB's intended lane, forcing him back inside but still finishing the tackle in the process. Takeaways Someone who loves the game, Jordan Smith realizes the impact of his previous poor decision, and looks to use that as motivation: "It’s really just having love for the game and having it taken away from you... It got taken from me for just a small amount of time and that drove me to be better. I had to better myself because something I cared about was taken away because of a bad decision." A college student who's worked his way back from the courtroom to division one football, there's a lot to love about Smith's story and progression. Already an incredible specimen of a human being, Jordan has continually improved his skill-set and technique on a year-to-year basis. My favorite part about Smith's game is just his tenacity and energy he brings on every snap. Known as a raw prospect at the beginning of his 2019 season, Smith has used that relentless motor to become a menace in the passing game. Slowly perfecting both the speed rip and swim, Jordan is getting to the QB more and more as the 2020 season rolls on. Able to work from the 3-tech to wide 9-tech, Smith has strong reps on tape from both a three-point and two-point stance. What was most impressive was his ability to play either the weak side or strong side edge, and be effective at both. Not all edge defenders can do this, so it's always something worth mentioning. While Jordan never played the competition at UAB he would have played at Florida, he made the very best of the opportunity given to him and impressed against the teams he did face. At 6-foot-7 and 255-pounds, Smith has a unique amount of speed off the edge for a man his size. Even without a clear speed move, there were numerous times when Jordan would win the corner simply with an instantaneous burst off the line of scrimmage. With that natural speed and how long/lanky Smith is, he is a dangerous NFL edge in the making if developed correctly. Whether or not the Jets would be willing to take a chance on him remains the question mark. Joe Douglas has always favored high character guys who are great in the locker room. Credit card fraud doesn't necessarily match those descriptions. But that brings me to my original point: Smith has been nothing but motivated ever since that initial mistake, seemingly learning from it immensely. Will teams buy into his turnaround or be scared off by the red flags? Time will tell. Regardless, Jordan is an extremely interesting wild card come the 2021 NFL draft. While he could be taken anywhere on Day 3, there's always that hidden chance he goes undrafted. Either way, the team that ends up with Smith will be taking a chance on a speedy edge who boasts a wide array of intriguing physical tools, ready to take the league by storm with the right opportunity.