Tulsa’s Smith was an NFL prospect right away
TULSA — University of Tulsa football coach Philip Montgomery knew when he recruited Tyler Smith that the offensive lineman could be a future pro.
“With his (Smith’s) size, his athleticism, and then you get him here in the summer and you can see what he can do,” Montgomery told the Tulsa World. “Even as a freshman, you know, you could tell there was something special there.”
Smith played the final four games of his true freshman season while maintaining his redshirt status in 2019. Fellow TU lineman and draft-hopeful Chris Paul said that he knew Smith was destined to become an NFL prospect after his first career start against UCF that season.
“After (Smith’s) first play, I was like, ‘OK, yeah. The sky’s the limit,’” Paul said.
Montgomery said Smith was unlike most prospects in that he had a legitimate chance to play at the next level.
“You could tell his was not just a dream,” Montgomery said. “It was there, and to have the ability to reach out and grab it.”
Smith’s dreams could be realized Friday night. The second and third rounds of the 2022 NFL Draft start at 6 p.m. in Las Vegas.
The 6-foot-4, 324-pound tackle, who was unavailable for an interview for this story, declared for the draft in January. Since then, his stock has risen tremendously as draft pundits have rated him as one of the best available offensive tackles in this year’s class.
Pro Football Focus rated Smith as the fifth-best draft-eligible tackle, while Sports Illustrated had him as the ninthbest offensive lineman overall. PFF reported that his 93.9 run blocking grade was the highest ever by an American Athletic Conference tackle.
A former Golden Hurricane teammate, Baylor defensive tackle Jaxon Player, tweeted that Smith was, in his opinion, the best tackle in the country.
“I’ll stand by that,” Player said. Ascroll through Twitter will find more where those comments came from.
“If I’m an NFL OL coach, I am begging the GM to get me Tulsa OT Tyler Smith,” Joe Marino of the Draft Network said.
“Finished studying Tulsa OT Tyler Smith. Best way to describe him — permanently pissed off,” said NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah.
“Y’all didn’t tell me about Tulsa OT Tyler Smith. Thoughts and prayers to some of the DEs he hit up,” nfl.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein said.
And ESPN analyst Jordan Reid said he received “nothing but positive feedback” about Smith following TU’s Pro Day.
Less than one month after his 21st birthday, the redshirt sophomore is also one of the youngest players in this year’s draft class.
“(Smith’s) ability to move people against their will is rare for a player his age,” PFF writer Mike Renner said.
After his redshirt freshman season in 2020, Smith was named a Freshman AllAmerican by The Athletic and the Foot
ball Writers Association of America. Last season, Smith was named an AAC second-team selection.
“You know, (Smith has) put in all the work. We’ve tried to help him in that process,” Montgomery said. “I think our coaches have done a good job of trying to pour into him, you know, some of the technical things that you’ve got to play with.
“And then giving him the opportunity to highlight those skills that he has,” Montgomery said.