An All-Pro selection is one of the highest honors in football. Most years, the All-Pro team provides a true barometer of the league’s best players. While the Pro Bowl is a popularity contest, the All-Pro team consistently selects the game’s most impactful players.
Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith is having an All-Pro caliber season.
Through 12 games, Smith is one of only eight players with at least 10 sacks, and he leads the NFL in quarterback hits with 28. He’s on pace for almost 94 total pressures, a staggering amount for any player.
His 70 pressures rank third in the NFL among edge rushers, trailing only Danielle Hunter and Cameron Jordan, per Pro Football Focus. He’s the only edge rusher with at least 10 sacks, 15 quarterback hits and 40 other pressures this season.
Smith has produced at least one sack or three quarterback hits in nine of 12 games. In three different games, the Packers tallied double-digit pressures from Smith, including 12 this past Sunday against the New York Giants.
Last season, Khalil Mack and J.J. Watt were the two first-team All-Pro edge rushers, as selected by the AP voters. Mack delivered 12.5 sacks, 18 quarterback hits and 10 tackles for losses. Watt had 16 sacks, 25 quarterback hits and 18 tackles for losses.
Smith is currently on pace for 13 sacks, 37 quarterback hits and 15 tackles for losses.
If there’s a knock on Smith, it’s his lack of forced fumbles. He still doesn’t have one. Mack forced six last season; Watt had seven.
But everything else about Smith’s profile screams All-Pro. He has the stats, the performances and the impact, having helped turn the Packers’ pass-rush completely around.
A strong finish to the 2019 season will keep Smith right in the running for the honor. A big performance in the Packers’ primetime matchup against the Minnesota Vikings on Dec. 23 would help, too.
“He’s been a consistent player,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Monday. “That’s one thing I know we can count on each and every week. He’s going to go out there and play a hundred miles an hour and make plays for us.”
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