Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Bucs addressed their secondary with the Georgia Bulldog.

The Bucs once again went to the SEC well with their first of two 3rd-round picks, selecting Tykee Smith at No. 89 overall Friday.

The team secured Antoine Winfield, Jr. and brought back Jordan Whitehead to solidify their starting safety duo, but the depth remained seriously thin prior to the selection of Smith. Todd Bowles knows the Georgia defense well (his son is on the team), so he’s seen plenty of Smith to know what he’s getting out of the versatile safety prospect.

Tykee Smith Career Stats

Smith played in Georgia’s multi-versatile scheme as the “star” defender, which tasked him with moving all around the formation from the box to slot to safety — sound familiar?

In 5 college seasons, the first two of which came at West Virginia, Smith tallied 215 total tackles (21.5 or loss), 5 sacks, 20 passes defensed, and 8 interceptions. He took a significant step forward in 2023, starting a career-high 13 games, leading the team in tackles (70), and tallying 4 picks and 6 passes defensed.

His college years saw him achieve multiple accolades, including freshman All-American and second-team All-American in 2020 for West Virginia before transferring and promptly tearing his ACL. He spent most of 2022 re-discovering his form before re-emerging last year to claim second-team All-SEC.

Athletic Testing

Despite the major knee injury, Tykee Smith tested well enough and re-affirmed the tape as someone who thrives with smarts and toughness over pure physical ability — though he still has enough of that to hang with the big boys. RAS grades Smith (5-foot-10, 203 pounds) as a slightly above-average athlete with very good speed and burst.

Size doesn’t really scare Bowles away from safeties in particular (Winfield and Whitehead are both sub 6-feet tall), so Smith’s frame wasn’t going to bother him either. You’d like to see some better agility numbers, and those stick out on tape with tight hips and labored recoveries.

What Type of Player Is Tykee Smith?

Smith is a classic chess piece profile that fits this Bucs defense to a tee. He profiles immediately as a nickel who can also play some safety, which makes sense given the team’s total lack of a competent third option behind Winfield and Whitehead.

Smith is a well-built, strong, and small but mighty hammer in the run game. He might have some of the best tackling technique of any cornerback in the draft this year, as he does well to balance wicked blows with reliable form tackling. He thrives in the box as a run defender and blitzer (8.5 TFL in ‘23).

He’s very intelligent with disciplined eyes and anticipation to create disruption, either in the form of breakups or takeaways. He’ll need to continue maximizing those traits because he will need to adjust versus the true technicians and elite athletes of the league due to the aforementioned stiffness issues.

You’re not going to see him play deep much, if at all, which inherently limits his ceiling as someone who’s more subpackage-friendly rather than a full-time starter. The height will also create issues versus long, physically dominant receivers and tight ends.

Conclusion

Smith possesses the tools to thrive as a blitzer, run defender, and close-quarters coverage man in Bowles’s scheme. He adds more depth to a secondary that’s seen valuable additions like Whitehead and Tavierre Thomas, but chances are still good that he’ll see the field a good bit as a rookie.

Your thoughts, Bucs Nation?