Trey
Smith.
Trey
Smith.
Tennessee· 6'6"· 321 lb
"A 6'6", 321-lb Tennessee guard and former five-star recruit whose sophomore-year blood clots wiped out combine testing and dropped a top-40 talent into Day 3, with the medical file as the whole argument."Pre-draft read
Power-scheme guard displaces nose tackles and 3-techniques on gap and duo runs, with the length and torque to finish blocks well past the initial fit. He fires low from a wide, balanced stance, keeping his hat playside on down blocks and rolling his hips through contact, driving defenders backward even with late hand placement. His finish differentiates him: he searches for extra bodies in the second level, buries edge defenders on climb blocks, and plays through the whistle without drawing flags.
Pass sets are heavy-handed; he sits deep and punches with independent hands, using arm length to reset when rushers work half-a-man. Change-of-direction against inside spin and short-area counters is a ceiling limiter; his base can widen against speed-to-power when the first punch misses.
This prospect is an ideal fit for a gap/duo power run game scheme where the offensive line aims to displace interior defenders and finish blocks well past the initial fit.
He can immediately step in as a starting guard in a power run scheme, with a ceiling to be an All-Pro interior blocker known for his dominant run blocking.
His value would be diminished in an outside zone or pass-heavy Air Raid system where his foot quickness in space and recovery against inside counters would be consistently tested.
Smith's elite power and finishing temperament make him a devastating interior blocker for run-heavy offenses, assuming his medical history is cleared.
Trey Smith Tennessee Highlights | 2021 NFL Draft
Tennessee 2020 tape: run-block finish reps against SEC interiors and pass-pro anchor from both guard spots.
Every Trey Smith one on one rep from the Senior Bowl
Senior Bowl 1-on-1 pass-pro reps against draftable interior rushers — heavy hands, anchor, recovery.
Tennessee OL Trey Smith Pro Day 3/24/21
Pro-day workout footage; medical situation kept full timed testing off the table but shows position drills at measured 6'6"/321.
Smith projects as a starting power guard who can anchor a run game built on downhill schemes, with the size and strength to move interior defensive linemen against their will. He offers the movement skills to pull effectively and climb to the second level.
He arrived as a top recruit and started at left tackle as a true freshman before moving inside. After bilateral pulmonary emboli wiped out most of his sophomore year, he returned in 2019 and earned AP First-Team All-American honors at guard by 2020. His tape showed an elite drive-block finisher against high-level SEC competition, with clean enough pass protection reps to project either guard spot. He accumulated 42 starts in 42 games played.
Evaluators consistently gave him first-round traits, but his significant medical history, including multiple diagnoses of bilateral pulmonary emboli and an ongoing monitoring protocol, raised concerns. This led to many teams red-flagging him from the second round onward in their evaluations. He was ultimately selected as the 226th pick in the sixth round.
- 01
Drive-block finisher
Rolls hips through contact on down and duo blocks, burying interior defenders past the fit against SEC competition like Alabama and Georgia.
- 02
Length and grip strength
Long arms with a heavy independent punch allow him to reset and lock out, turning contested reps in the phone booth into wins by the second hand fit.
- 03
Play-strength anchor in pass pro
Sits deep in a wide base, absorbs bull-rush from twitch nose tackles without giving ground, and recovers his feet under the load.
- 04
Second-level range
Pulls and climbs with squared shoulders for his size, keeping eyes on moving linebackers and cutting off backside pursuit on split-zone.
- 05
Positional flexibility
Started at left tackle as a true freshman before sliding to guard, providing an emergency swing tackle option and defensible guard projection.
- 01
Medical file
Two separate diagnoses of bilateral pulmonary emboli and ongoing blood-thinner monitoring were the primary reason for his draft fall.
- 02
Recovery against inside counters
Heavy-handed punch style and wide base leave him vulnerable to short-area spin and cross-chop counters after the initial hand fit.
- 03
Foot quickness
Movement is functional rather than fluid; when linebackers redirect at the second level, he can whiff the fit or catch bodies instead of running through them.
- 04
Limited athletic testing
Did not run at the Combine or a full pro day, forcing evaluations to rely solely on tape and measured physical dimensions.
| Yr | Team | G |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Tennessee | 12 |
| 2018 | Tennessee | 7 |
| 2019 | Tennessee | 13 |
| 2020 | Tennessee | 10 |
| Career | — | 42 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Realistic outcome — a long, powerful right guard who moves the pile, holds up in pass pro, and starts 90+% of the games he's available for without ever being a movement guard.
Ceiling comp if the medical holds — a plus-length interior All-Pro who wins with hand independence, anchor and a mean finish. Trey Smith's power profile and pass-pro heaviness track that way when healthy.
Downside comp if the medicals or injuries chip games away and the base gets exposed against inside counters — a first-round-grade frame who ends up a functional starter with penalty and rush-return volatility.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Pre-draft context. A five-star Tennessee lineman whose evaluation was defined by two rounds of bilateral pulmonary emboli in 2018 and a recurrence-monitoring protocol; the medical rechecks at the combine drove the fall more than anything on tape. He measured 6'6" and 321 pounds with long arms, did not run timed athletic testing, and left the pre-draft cycle with a first-round grade from evaluators willing to trust the recheck and a Day 3 flag from teams that were not.
NFL fit — Kansas City Chiefs. The organization took the swing at pick 226 and installed him immediately at right guard, a starting job he never gave back. Rookie season he started every game he was active for, anchored the interior on Super Bowl LVII and LVIII runs, and by 2023 was a Pro Bowl selection and one of the highest-graded run blockers at the position. Kansas City franchise-tagged him in 2025 and then signed him to a four-year, $94M extension — the outcome of a Day 3 medical fall becoming the anchor of a championship interior.
Retrospective. One of the cleanest late-round hits of the decade. The tape was Round 1, the medical was a defensible Round 6 discount, and the Chiefs turned that arbitrage into a five-year starter, a Pro Bowler and a multi-Super-Bowl champion at a position where late-round starters almost never happen.