Kansas City Chiefs sixth-round draft pick Trey Smith is turning some heads with his mastery of the Xs and Os.
Smith was one of two rookies for Kansas City to join former Chiefs OL Geoff Schwartz on his new show on FOX NFL, dubbed the ‘Big Boys Club.’ Schwartz recently shared the final segment of this season of the show, which featured Smith getting on the whiteboard to talk Xs and Os.
Schwartz had Smith draw up his favorite run play from college and he chose what he described as an “attitude play.” Smith was tasked with explaining all the different aspects of the play, even the responsibilities of his other teammates on the offensive line.
Check it out:
The final segment of Big Boys Club is with new @Chiefs offensive lineman @TreySmith73
We get on the white board to discuss some Xs and Os. It easy to why the Chiefs got a steal with Trey Smith in the 6th round. Check it out
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) July 7, 2021
Smith’s favorite play is a weak inside zone run to the right side. It was a high-success play in Tennessee’s scheme, mainly because they ran it a little bit different than most would. Smith explained that it was almost closer to a halfback cutback than a traditional inside zone run.
This specific play would look a bit different for Smith in the Chiefs’ scheme than it did for him in college. Smith would be combo-blocking with center Creed Humphrey on this play in Kansas City. For the Volunteers, where Smith played left guard last season, he’d be making a B-block on the middle linebacker.
Schwartz quizzed Smith on how he and his teammates would react differently if something unexpected happened during the play, like the free safety coming down into the box. Instead of changing this particular play, Smith said they’d move down a track and leave themselves down a man on the backside of the play. He says it’s on the running back in that scenario to make the unblocked player miss.
Another play that Smith drew up was a play where he’d be a pulling guard. He chose a trap play from the power gap scheme that Tennessee ran. That’s an area of his game that was dominant because of his natural athleticism, but this shows that he also has a great understanding of the concepts behind the play.
After watching Smith on the whiteboard with Schwartz, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn he has been the starting right guard at OTAs and minicamp since Kyle Long was injured. It’d be even less of a surprise to see him fend off some veterans and become the Day 1 starter at right guard for Kansas City.
[listicle id=94627]