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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Tyler Forness

Vikings 90-man roster player profile: S Harrison Smith

Welcome to the beginning of our 2023 season preview content!

Over the next few weeks, we will be looking at each player on the roster in-depth with backgrounds and how they currently project forward on the Minnesota Vikings roster.

What is the best-case scenario? What is the worst-case scenario? What should we expect from them during the preseason and beyond? We will break all of that down here.

As a staff, all of us at Vikings Wire ranked the entire 90-man roster 1-90 and will be releasing player profiles in reverse order.

Background

Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Name: Harrison Smith

Rank: 5

Height: 6’2″

Weight: 211 lbs

Experience: 12th year

College: Notre Dame

Stats (In NFL): 159 games played, 158 starts, 946 tackles, 43.0 tackles for loss, 16.5 sacks, 36 quarterback hits, 34 interceptions, 83 passes defended, 4 touchdowns, 9 forced fumbles, 8 fumble recoveries,

Votes:

Tyler Forness: 5

Kevin Fielder: 4

Judd Zulgad: 7

Saivion Mixson: 5

Average: 5.25

Best case scenario

Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

Smith returns to his old form as a riverboat gambler, do-it-all safety.

Last season under Ed Donatell, Smith was asked to play mostly two-high, essentially eliminating most of what he’s good at. Under Brian Flores, Smith is likely to be asked to do a little bit of everything, which is how to best utilize him on the back end. The aggressiveness of Flores will help maximize Smith’s ability to blitz and shoot gaps in the running game.

Worst case scenario

Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Smith’s athleticism has waned too much and he struggles to be as effective as he once was.

Athleticism was never Smith’s game, but he is a good athlete. Going into his age 34 season, that could end up hindering his performance this season and beyond. Father time waits for no player and it could be Smith’s time this year.

What to expect in 2023

Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports

Smith is likely going to be better than last year but also not what he once was. The key will be in how Flores utilizes him on the back end. Blitzes and roaming the box are what he does best and that will be a big part of his game. Expect Smith to have multiple sacks and tackles for loss like he did earlier in his career.

The Real Forno Show

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