Ryan Smith (born September 7, 1993) is a German professional American football cornerback who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Buccaneers in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He played college football for the North Carolina Central Eagles.
Early life
Ryan Smith was born in Germany on September 7, 1993, to parents Damon and Traci Richardson, and raised in Clinton, Maryland, where he spent the majority of his childhood. He moved to Upper Marlboro, Maryland in high school, where he attended Dr. Henry A. Wise, Jr. High School. His younger brother Tre Smith played defense at NCCU with him. In high school, Smith was a dual athlete playing football and basketball. He made up in his mind that football was the more logical sport to pursue in order to help his family pay for his college tuition. In a press conference shortly after he was drafted, Smith stated that if his plans of playing in the NFL hadn't come true, he would have joined the United States Marshals Service.
College career
Smith attended North Carolina Central University (NCCU) from 2012 to 2015, playing in 45 games and starting 42. He set multiple team records for solo tackles (168) and kickoff return yard average (28.1). On top of that among NCCU career leaders, Smith finished sixth in tackles (263) and tied for 11th in passes defended with 31 (7 interceptions, 24 pass break-ups).
In his freshman season, he was redshirted and played in all 11 games, starting 8 of them. Smith ended his freshman season as NCCU's second-leading tackler with 65 total takedowns, second with three interceptions and third with eight passes defended (three interceptions, five pass break-ups). Smith was selected to the College Sports Journal Football Championship Subdivision Freshman All-America team. Smith started all 12 games in his redshirt sophomore season. He ranked second on the Eagles and 19th in the MEAC with 88 total tackles (51 solo). He was also ranked number one on the team and ranked fourth in the MEAC with 3 fumble recoveries. In his redshirt junior campaign, he started all 12 games making the switch from safety to cornerback in his redshirt junior season. Smith tallied 58 total tackles and a team second-best 44 solo tackles. He was voted to the Preseason All-MEAC Third Team. As a redshirt senior, Smith started in 10 of 11 games as a cornerback, only missing the game against the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats. He ended the year ranking third in the MEAC with a team-best 11 passes defended (two interceptions and nine pass break-ups), and a total of 52 tackles (ranking second on the team with 38 solo tackles). Smith led the conference and ranked 10th in the nation with an average of 28.1 yards per kickoff return (14 for 394 yards, 1 touchdown).
Professional career
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2016
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Smith in the fourth round with the 108th overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. Smith was the 18th cornerback drafted in 2016.
On May 5, 2016, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Smith to a four-year, $2.93 million contract with a signing bonus of $592,161.
The Buccaneers immediately converted Smith to safety. Throughout training camp, Smith competed for a job as a backup safety against Isaiah Johnson, Kimario McFadden, and Elijah Shumate. Head coach Dirk Koetter named Smith the backup free safety, behind Bradley McDougald, to begin the regular season. On September 25, 2016, Smith made his professional regular season debut as the Buccaneers lost 37–32 against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 3. In Week 9, he recorded his only tackle of the season during a 43–28 loss against the Atlanta Falcons. He finished his rookie season in 2016 with one tackle in 14 games and zero starts.
2017
Following the 2016 season, the Buccaneers announced that Smith would be moved back to cornerback. During training camp, Smith competed to be the third cornerback on the depth chart against Javien Elliott, Jude Adjei-Barimah, Robert McClain, and Josh Robinson. Head coach Dirk Koetter named Smith the third cornerback on the depth chart to begin the regular season, behind Brent Grimes and Vernon Hargreaves.