Tennessee has had few football players as simple to advertise as goalkeeper Trey Smith.
He was the first All-SEC team last season and an All-American preseason this year. He’s a leader on and off the field. And it’s a wonderful story of human interest.
The story comes with a twist.
A more predictable story would have made him a professional after the 2019 season, especially since his football career was interrupted twice due to a fitness problem. Smith missed part of the 2018 season after having blood clots in his lungs.
However, he returned to UT in his senior year, even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, all he wants are statistics. He’s a victim of his position.
If Smith were so smart in any other offensive position at stake, he’d deserve a crusade for the Heisman Trophy.
You can measure quarterbacks, running midfields and open receivers in yards won. Even defensive players can be measured through captures, tackles, interceptions and defended passes. But an offensive lineman only seems like a “participant” in the summary of the game being published. scattered in a press booth.
Bill Martin, the touch of media relations in UT’s first year of football, would possibly perceive the challenge of selling an offensive lineman. He summed it up with the same word, “statistics. “
Martin is under pressure because the challenge is not as wonderful as it used to be. You know that if you subscribe to Pro Football Focus. Evaluate not only NFL players, but also elementary school players. Offensive linemen are included.
Pro Football Focus scores offensive linemen in both pass blocking and race blockade. It doesn’t just sign on the dominant blocks. He can tell you how many times an offensive lineman must put pressure on his quarterback.
But he doesn’t want PFF’s knowledge to perceive why Smith is selected as a first-round selection of 2021. You just have to watch him play. Even in a 300-pound bush near the punch line, Smith is not lost in the crowd. He has been mistreating advocates since his first school game in 2017.
Tennessee expects no less this season and perhaps UT provides more evidence of Smith’s success.
Coaches compare offensive linemen in every game. It would be useful to make the notes of those offensive linemen for the media, who can simply pass them on to the fans. After all, while Smith is the most productive player in UT, an experienced offensive line is a team strength. So you might as well make it known.
Former Arkansas coach Bret Bielema has promoted his offensive line as much as any coach in SEC history. Bielema, who coached the Razorbacks from 2013 to 2017, once had his offensive line in football media guide politics.
No school has made its offensive line better known than Nebraska when its dynasty was in the most sensible way. Passing through Nebraska media guides in the past 1990s before the Cornhuskers launched the Steam Flights in a few bowling games. blocks of pancakes “of each offensive lineman was included in his biography.
But more for Smith than pancake blocks.
“One of the most important things with Trey is what he does off the field,” Martin said. “Trey organized this march (against racism) on campus.
“If you play this season, we’ll do everything we can to promote it. “
According to Smith’s background, you can count on him to keep his end of the bargain.
John Adams is a senior columnist. He can be reached at 865-342-6284 or john. adams@knoxnews. com. Follow him on: twitter. com/johnadamskns.