Dropping into coverage was never Preston Smith’s strong suit. Fortunately, he is doing far less under Green Bay Packers’ new defensive coordinator Joe Barry.
Through the first 11 games in 2021, Smith has dropped into coverage only 28 times, according to Pro Football Focus. At this point last season, Smith had already dropped back 78 times. Of course, this was under former defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, who is now a senior assistant for the Chicago Bears.
For whatever reason, Pettine had no problem letting Smith’s pass coverage snaps hit double digits in a single game. He did so three different times during the 2020 season and six times in 2019. Smith has yet to play at least 10 snaps in pass coverage under Barry. Against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 12, Smith did not drop back even a single time.
Before arriving in Green Bay back in 2019, Smith had never played more than 75 coverage snaps in a single season. In his first two years with the Packers, he did it over 100 times in both years. PFF gave Smith coverage grades of 46.5 and 45.7 for the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Both of those grades were the lowest of his career.
This is not to say Smith is a liability in coverage, but when he is lined up out wide against a running back, that is a matchup the opposing team would be wise to exploit. Smith does not exactly have the swiftest of feet, but he does have long arms to potentially impede passing lanes, and knockdown throws. However, his pass deflection totals have yet to rise.
Not to mention, opposing teams had a really good chance of completing a pass in Smith’s direction in 2019 and 2020. During that two-year span, Smith allowed 26 receptions on 34 targets. Those 26 completions went for 252 yards, and half of them resulted in first downs.
Luckily, Green Bay hasn’t had to worry about that this season. So far, Smith has surrendered just one completion for a total of seven yards. His play has also improved in other areas as his run defense grade is the highest it’s been since 2018. Even his impact as a pass rusher is seeing a dramatic improvement compared to last season. Smith already has more quarterback pressures in 2021 than he did all of 2020.
Thanks to Barry, Smith is back to doing what he does best.
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