Tag: Jordan Smith

Tennessee offers 2026 safety Jordan Smith

Tennessee football offers 2026 safety prospect Jordan Smith.

Tennessee offered a scholarship to 2026 safety prospect Jordan Smith.

“After a great talk with Steven Ruzic, I’m honored and blessed to receive an offer from the University of Tennessee,” Smith said.

The 6-foot-3, 185-pound safety prospect is from Houston County High School in Warner Robins, Georgia.

There are not recruiting rankings currently for Smith from Rivals, 247Sports, On3 or ESPN.

Tennessee is the only Southeastern Conference school to offer Smith.

Williams has scholarship offers from Tennessee, USF, Georgia Southern, USC, Georgia Tech, Bowling Green, Appalachian State and West Virginia.

USF was the first school to offer Smith a scholarship on Jan. 19.

Jordan Smith, Shubhankar Sharma tied for lead at Irish Open

Catch up on the action from the Irish Open here.

Another day at The K Club, another day for low scoring and the field took advantage.

After opening the Horizon Irish Open with a 7-under 65 Thursday and sleeping on the solo 18-hole lead, Shubhankar Sharma was one worse Friday, shooting a 6-under 66 and is joined atop the leaderboard by Jordan Smith at 13 under.

“It was a really quick start,” Sharma told the media in Kildare, Ireland. “Very early morning start for us, so I was a bit sleepy in the morning. I managed to make a lot of putts on the front nine. I had nine single putts which was amazing. I don’t think I’ve done that before.

“Everything was just going nicely. I was hitting it in the right spots and I was really good inside ten feet. So it all came together.”

Irish Open: Full leaderboard

Smith, after a first-round 66, fired a 7-under 65 that included nine birdies and a double bogey on the par-4 17th. The Englishman, who won the Portugal Masters last year for his second DP World Tour win, tied for 20th at last week’s European Masters.

Ross Fisher (6-under 66) is alone in third at 12 under, Hurly Long (6-under 66) is in solo fourth at 11 under, while Calum Hill (7-under 65) is fifth at 10 under.

As for the big names, Shane Lowry (4-under 68) is solo ninth at 8 under, five back, and Rory McIlroy is tied for 26th at 5 under, eight back.

The shot of the day came from the Northern Irishman when he drained his 116-yard approach into the par-5 16th for eagle.

Coverage of the Irish Open continues Saturday morning on Golf Channel from 7:30 a.m. ET to 12:30 p.m. ET.

Jaguars 2023 cuts tracker: QB Nathan Rourke among waived players

The Jaguars have until 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday to cut their roster down to 53 players. We’ll track every move right here:

The Jacksonville Jaguars have until Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET to trim their 90-man roster to 53 players ahead of the 2023 regular season.

That could be especially difficult for the team this year after accumulating talent that made the Jaguars owners of one of the NFL’s deeper rosters from top to bottom. The depth of the team could also mean that the Jaguars negotiate a trade or two before the Tuesday deadline:

Right here we’ll keep track of every Jaguars player who gets released, waived, or traded before the Tuesday afternoon:

 

Should the Jaguars extend OLB Josh Allen before 2023 season?

The Jaguars may put themselves in a tight spot if they wait until 2024 to decide Josh Allen’s future.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have a decision to make regarding outside linebacker Josh Allen.

After drafting the pass rusher seventh overall in 2019, the Jaguars got immediate results with Allen racking up 10.5 sacks and earning Pro Bowl honors as a rookie. But he hasn’t reached eight sacks in any season since.

Now, Allen is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2023 season, and the Jaguars seem to content to wait until after he plays out his rookie deal to decide his future with the franchise.

Should they, though?

Paying Allen sooner rather than later may be the more cost-effective approach to keep him in Jacksonville. It all depends on whether or not the Jaguars can envision a scenario where they let the 26-year-old pass rusher walk into free agency.

What would the Jaguars’ pass rush look without Allen?

Jacksonville is hopeful that 2022 No. 1 pick Travon Walker will develop into a headache for opposing offenses. The rest of the pass rushing options on the roster are long shots to become productive players, though.

The clear-cut best candidate is Yasir Abdullah, who was a sack machine in college despite being undersized. Early signs from Abdullah in training camp and preseason have given more reason to be optimistic about his future, but the odds are still stacked against him.

Double-digit sack artists drafted in later rounds are few and far between in the NFL. Nineteen players recorded at least 10 sacks in 2022 and 11 of them were first-round picks. Another eight were picked before the end of the fourth round. The New England Patriots’ Matthew Judon, a 2016 fifth-rounder, was the only exception.

There’s even less reason to feel encouraged about players on the Jaguars roster like K’Lavon Chaisson, who has three sacks in as many seasons, and Jordan Smith, who missed almost all of his first two years.

Barring a breakout season from at least one of those young pass rushers, the cupboard would be very bare in Jacksonville if Allen left.

Of course, the Jaguars could stock up on outside linebackers in the 2024 NFL draft. But considering the state of the roster, it doesn’t look like the team will be drafting talent in the top 10 any time soon. And it’s hard to imagine finding an upgrade from Allen on the free agent market who wouldn’t cost a fortune.

Allen will only cost more if he plays well in 2023

If the Jaguars plan to wait until 2024 to decide Allen’s future, it leaves the team in a weird place. Either Allen plays well enough to warrant an extension that’ll be much more expensive after a strong 2023, or Allen doesn’t live up to expectations and the Jaguars have a tough call to make.

Allen is a perennial team captain who was seventh in the NFL in pressures last season despite his relatively low sack total. With so many hurries and knockdowns, the numbers tell the story of a pass rusher who was much effective than seven sacks suggests and close to recording elite numbers.

But sacks pay the bills and a contract for Allen may be at its most reasonable price tag after he recorded only 17 sacks in the last three seasons.

Four years ago, the Jaguars signed linebacker Myles Jack to a massive extension a week before the start of the 2019 season. In October 2011, Jacksonville extended both Montell Owens and Michael Thomas midseason.

Allen’s too important of a player to allow to reach free agency and there’s no time like the present to get a deal done.

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Jaguars 2023 roster review: OLB Jordan Smith

It’s now or never for the Jaguars’ 2021 fourth-round pick Jordan Smith after two lost seasons.

The brunt of the offseason is in the books and training camp is underway. Join us for a player-by-player review of the Jaguars roster ahead of the 2023 season.

The Jacksonville Jaguars had high hopes for outside linebacker Jordan Smith when they picked him in the 2021 NFL draft.

After trading away multiple picks to move and select him, Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke told reporters that the team was impressed with Smith’s size, first step, and ability to shed blockers.

Two years later, Jacksonville is still waiting to see it in action. Smith was a healthy scratch for all but two games as a rookie and finished the year with one tackle. Then he missed his entire second year after suffering a season-ending knee injury in the offseason.

Smith, who described himself in 2021 as “the best pass rusher in this draft,” is still hunting for his first career sack. But he’s running out of time to show he deserves a role in the Jaguars defense.

Contract (2023): $940,000 base salary, $184,897 prorated signing bonus, $1,239,897 cap hit.

Acquired: The Jaguars picked Smith with the No. 121 overall pick in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL draft.

PFF grades:

  • N/A (2022)
  • 27.8 (2021)

Highlight:

Quote: “I feel like this year is going to basically dictate the way the rest of my future goes. That’s just the way I look at it. I really feel like I have to have a standout, breakout year and I’m motivated and trying to push towards that every day. So I really don’t have a doubt in my mind that I’m going to accomplish my goal.” – Smith

Calvin Ridley (No. 0) Travis Etienne Jr. (No. 1) Rayshawn Jenkins (No. 2) C.J. Beathard (No. 3) Tank Bigsby (No. 4) Andre Cisco (No. 5)
Chris Claybrooks (No. 6) Zay Jones (No. 7) Logan Cooke (No. 9) Parker Washington (No. 11) James McCourt (No. 12) Christian Kirk (No. 13)
Kendric Pryor (No. 14) Tim Jones (No. 15) Trevor Lawrence (No. 16) Evan Engram (No. 17) Nathan Rourke (No. 18) Sammis Reyes (No. 19)
Daniel Thomas (No. 20) Latavious Brini (No. 21) JaMycal Hasty (No. 22) Foyesade Oluokun (No. 23) Snoop Conner (No. 24) D’Ernest Johnson (No. 25)
Antonio Johnson (No. 26) Divaad Wilson (No. 27) Tevaughn Campbell (No. 29) Montaric Brown (No. 30) Darious Williams (No. 31) Tyson Campbell (No. 32)
Devin Lloyd (No. 33) Gregory Junior (No. 34) Ayo Oyelola (No. 35) Christian Braswell (No. 36) Tre Herndon (No. 37) Qadree Ollison (No. 38)
Jamal Agnew (No. 39) Erick Hallett (No. 40) Josh Allen (No. 41) Andrew Wingard (No. 42) Kaleb Hayes (No. 43) Derek Parish (No. 43)
Travon Walker (No. 44) K’Lavon Chaisson (No. 45) Ross Matiscik (No. 46) De’Shaan Dixon (No. 47) Chad Muma (No. 48) Shaquille Quarterman (No. 50)
Ventrell Miller (No. 51) DaVon Hamilton (No. 52) Willie Taylor III (No. 53) DJ Coleman (No. 54) Dequan Jackson (No. 55) Yasir Abdullah (No. 56)
Caleb Johnson (No. 57) Raymond Vohasek (No. 59) Darryl Williams (No. 60) Samuel Jackson (No. 62) Coy Cronk (No. 64) Chandler Brewer (No. 67)
Brandon Scherff (No. 68) Tyler Shatley (No. 69) Cole Van Lanen (No. 70) Walker Little (No. 72) Blake Hance (No. 73) Cam Robinson (No. 74)
Cooper Hodges (No. 75) Anton Harrison (No. 76) Josh Wells (No. 77) Ben Bartch (No. 78) Luke Fortner (No. 79) Kevin Austin Jr. (No. 80)
Seth Williams (No. 81) Elijah Cooks (No. 84) Brenton Strange (No. 85) Gerrit Prince (No. 86) Jaray Jenkins (No. 87) Oliver Martin (No. 88)
Luke Farrell (No. 89) Henry Mondeaux (No. 90) Dawuane Smoot (No. 91) Jordan Smith (No. 92) Tyler Lacy (No. 93) Folorunso Fatukasi (No. 94)
Roy Robertson-Harris (No. 95) Adam Gotsis (No. 96) Michael Dogbe (No. 98) Jeremiah Ledbetter (No. 99) Brandon McManus (No. 10) Jacob Harris (No. 83)
Josh Pederson (No. 49)

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Jordan Smith: ‘I have to have a standout, breakout year’ in 2023

Jordan Smith, a 2021 fourth-round pick, knows he’s running out of time to make an impact with the Jaguars.

In two NFL seasons, Jacksonville Jaguars outside linebacker Jordan Smith has played just 32 career snaps. The 2021 fourth-round pick was a healthy scratch almost every week of his rookie season, then missed all of 2022 due to a season-ending knee injury.

With no sacks under his belt, Smith knows that he’s running out of time to make an impact. His third season with the Jaguars may be his last chance to truly make a first impression.

“It’s absolutely huge,” Smith said of the 2023 season in an interview with News4Jax. “I feel like this year is going to basically dictate the way the rest of my future goes. That’s just the way I look at it.

“I really feel like I have to have a standout, breakout year and I’m motivated and trying to push towards that every day. So I really don’t have a doubt in my mind that I’m going to accomplish my goal.”

Step one for Smith is continuing his rehab until he’s ready to practice and play without limitations. For now, he says he’s about 80 percent and is dealing with tenderness in his knee nearly a year removed from surgery.

Smith, 25, had 14.5 sacks and 27 tackles for loss in 23 career games with the UAB Blazers, earning All-Conference USA honors in each of his two seasons with the program.

“At the end of the day, you get your bread and butter by sacking the quarterback,” Smith told News4Jax. “That’s what I plan on doing a lot of.”

With little depth behind Travon Walker and Josh Allen at outside linebacker, Smith will have a chance through the remainder of the offseason to show he can be the player the Jaguars thought he’d be when they traded up to pick him in 2021. That impact needs to happen sooner rather than later, though.

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Jaguars ‘expect greater results’ in 2023 from pass rushers on roster

The Jaguars haven’t done much to fix their pass rushing woes, but Doug Pederson thinks the solution is already on the roster.

Only six teams in the NFL finished last season with fewer sacks than the Jacksonville Jaguars. Since the year ended, both Duwuane Smoot and Arden Key — who finished second and third on the team in sacks, respectively — were allowed to reach free agency.

While there’s still a strong chance Smoot will be brought back, adding pass rushers looked like it would be a top priority for the Jaguars in the 2023 NFL draft. Yet the team didn’t pick any defensive players until Day 3.

After the draft, Jaguars coach Doug Pederson told reporters that the team believes the pass rushers already on the roster can make the improvements necessary to make the quiet offseason a moot point.

“We are expecting Josh Allen to take the lead and of course Travon [Walker]’s there and K’Lavon Chaisson to take a step,” Pederson said Saturday. “They’re all guys that have been here, the second year in the defense. Jordan Smith is coming back off injury. He has another opportunity there.

“So, yeah, we expect greater results starting in training camp and then obviously carrying over to the regular season. Looking forward to it. Looking forward to working with these guys, developing their skill set even more.”

Allen, 25, earned Pro Bowl honors as a rookie when he finished 2019 with 10.5 sacks. He’s been unable to reach eight sacks in any season since. With Allen now set to play on the fifth-year option of his rookie contract, the Jaguars may opt to wait and see how his 2023 season goes before deciding whether he’s worth a pricy extension.

But perhaps no player on the Jaguars defense will be more pivotal than Walker. The No. 1 pick of the 2022 NFL draft only had 3.5 sacks as a rookie. A similarly lackluster season will probably doom the Jaguars to another sack total near the bottom of the league, while a big jump forward could propel Jacksonville to new heights.

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Watch: With one swing, Jordan Smith won he and his caddie new cars at 2022 Genesis Scottish Open

Watch how one swing helped Jordan Smith and his caddie win new cars.

It’s not every day you see a hole-in-one at the golf course. It’s even harder to witness one that comes with it a couple large gifts.

That’s what happened Friday during the second round of the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland. England’s Jordan Smith stepped onto the 17th tee box on a 193-yard par-3 with a simple caveat.

Make a hole-in-one, win new cars for both he and his caddie.

That’s exactly what he did.

Green’s tee shot landed at the front of the green before using the slope to funnel to the front left pin position. The ball continued shuffling towards the hole before tumbling in the back side of the cup.

The ace won Smith, who’s 122nd in the Official World Golf Ranking, a Genesis electric GV70, a luxury midsized SUV while his caddie won a Genesis GV60, an electric crossover.

Genesis Scottish Open: Leaderboard | PGA Tour live on ESPN+

The ace came on Smith’s penultimate hole, helping him card a 1-under 69 in his second round. He’s well inside the projected cut line, sitting at 3-under for the tournament and tied for eighth with the afternoon wave still to play.

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Jags place OLB Jordan Smith on IR, sign OLB Wyatt Ray

The Jags made roster moves on Tuesday by placing OLB Jordan Smith on IR and filling the available spot with OLB Wyatt Ray.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have officially placed second-year player Jordan Smith on injured reserve after he went down with a knee injury early last week. They also signed a player to fill his vacant spot on Tuesday by adding fourth-year linebacker Wyatt Ray to the roster.

Ray, 25, entered the league in 2019 as an undrafted player out of Boston College. He spent his rookie season as a practice squad player with various teams but got his first opportunities as a regular-season player with the Tennessee Titans (2020) and Cincinnati Bengals (2021).

While with the Bengals, he recorded 15 tackles and a sack (in 15 games), and while with the Titans, he recorded two tackles (in four games). Ray will also enter his tenure with the Jags with two starts, with one coming through his stints with both aforementioned teams.

As for his collegiate career, Wyatt accumulated 114 tackles, 24 tackles for loss, and 17 sacks while with the Boston College Eagles. In his senior season (2018), he was able to earn Third-Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors after hitting a career-high of 44 tackles that season.

Wyatt is the grandson of the late legendary singer and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Nat King Cole and nephew of the late Natalie Cole. He’s also a native of Boca Raton, Fla. where he attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School.

As for Smith, reporters said that the staff was evaluating his right knee when he went down last Monday. Last Thursday, coach Doug Pederson announced that his injury would require surgery, which is expected to keep him out for the season.

“Touchdown Jaguars!” will be published weekly, giving Jags Wire readers a new go-to podcast to hear the latest in news, rumors, and more. To stay up to date, subscribe via Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and feel free to rate and comment. 

Jaguars OLB Jordan Smith to miss full 2022 season with knee injury

Doug Pederson told the media that Jordan Smith will miss the full season and is set for knee surgery after leaving practice early Monday.

The Jacksonville Jaguars had two injury scares to start this week on both sides of the ball. The first of those injuries were to second-year outside linebacker Jordan Smith, who had to be helped off the field.

On Tuesday, Jags coach Doug Pederson provided an update on the injury. According to him, Smith sustained a knee injury that will require surgery and will keep him out for the season.

Smith was entering his second season with the Jags after the team traded up last year in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft to take him with the 121st overall pick out of Alabama Birmingham. He spent a majority of the season inactive though he made the final 53-man roster, but did see the field for the Jags’ final two games against the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts.

During his rookie season, Smith only saw the field for 21 defensive snaps and 11 special teams snaps. Needless to say, he was undoubtedly looking forward to seeing the field more in 2022 with a year under his belt as were the fans.

Smith’s injury will make the depth at outside linebacker worth watching heading forward. There doesn’t appear to be a shortage of options to play on the edge behind starter Josh Allen, and probable starter Travon Walker as veteran Dawuane Smoot can help there alongside former first-round pick K’Lavon Chaisson. The Jags also picked up a versatile pass rusher in Arden Key in free agency and have many others who could potentially battle to be a part of the regular season rotation in Rashod Berry, Jamir Jones, and De’Shaan Dixon.