Former Tar Heels LB Andre Smith says Panthers got 'a steal' drafting him in 7th round

Former North Carolina standout Andre Smith told anyone he ran into at the NFL scouting combine that he would have been one of the top linebackers in the draft if he’d played his entire junior season.

Smith didn’t say whether these conversations took place before or after he popped his hamstring running the 40 in Indianapolis. Not that it matters much — Smith’s confidence hasn’t wavered despite the injuries he’s endured the past two years.

“If I’d played the whole season — especially the way the first two games went — I think I’d be a — top-three-round pick,” Smith said in a telephone interview Monday. “But it doesn’t matter because once you’re drafted and you’re in the league. You’re in the league so it’s time to start playing football.”

Smith’s final season in Chapel Hill was cut short by knee surgery, and he ended up falling to the Carolina Panthers with the 234th overall pick, in the seventh round.

Thirteen inside linebackers were drafted ahead of Smith, a list that includes former Maryland LB Jermaine Carter, whom the Panthers took in the fifth round.

While he wasn’t one of the top linebackers taken, Smith believes he’s one of the top bargains in the draft.

“I think they definitely got a steal, a diamond in the rough,” Smith said. “When I was at the combine I would tell teams that I felt like if I’d played the whole season I’d be one of the top linebackers in the draft. Most of them agreed.

“And based off the first two games of the season — it sucks. But the whole goal was to get in the NFL. And now I’m in there. I thank the Carolina Panthers a lot for taking a chance on me because obviously I was coming off an injury, but I’m glad to be a Panther and I’m ready to show them they didn’t make a mistake taking me.”

After racking up 113 tackles as a sophomore for the Tar Heels, Smith was off to a fast start in 2017.

He had a team-high 10 tackles and an interception he returned 73 yards to set up a touchdown in a season opening loss to Cal.

In the first half the following week against Louisville, Smith chased down a Cardinals tight end, started to get up after making the tackle and felt tightness behind his left knee.

Smith thought he’d strained his hamstring and stayed in the game. Playing on adrenaline, Smith finished with 11 stops to lead the team in tackles for the second consecutive week.

Postgame prognosis

But UNC’s trainer had some sobering news after the game.

“They put me in the office. They closed the door. I was like, ‘Oh, this is not good,’ ” Smith said.

An MRI confirmed what the UNC training staff thought — Smith had torn the meniscus in his left knee and was out for the year.

Smith spent several weeks on crutches while wearing a brace that “basically took up my whole leg.”

While the Tar Heels struggled through a three-win season, Smith spent a good chunk of his weekdays in the training room, where he became “the BOSU ball king.”

Weekends weren’t much fun, either. He did not travel with the team for road games, although he and another injured UNC player made it into Carter-Finley Stadium for the season-ending loss to N.C. State.

“We literally parked and walked in the stadium. Nobody tried to stop us,” he said. “We were wearing our Carolina gear (and) kept walking all the way to the sideline.”

Rehab veteran

Smith hit the rehab hard, saying his surgically repaired leg was stronger than his right leg in testing done at UNC. It was the second time in as many years Smith had dealt with injury: He had pectoral surgery in 2016 that caused him to play that season with “like, one-and-a-half arms.”

Rather than risk having another injury derail his senior season, Smith declared for the draft and went to the combine hoping to show scouts he’d fully recovered.

Then he felt his hamstring pop halfway through the 40-yard dash, which he finished in 4.63 seconds. He didn’t participate in any of the subsequent position drills.

“That,” Smith said, “sucked a lot.”

Smith worked out for scouts at UNC’s pro day, and had private workouts for several teams. The Panthers weren’t one of them.

Smith said the only real contact he had with Carolina was visiting with linebackers coach Steve Russ at the combine. But the Panthers called Smith late Saturday afternoon to tell him he was their pick — eight spots before taking Miami defensive tackle Kendrick Norton, Smith’s teammate at Trinity Christian in Jacksonville, Florida.

The Panthers drafted three Jacksonville products among their eight picks: Ole Miss edge rusher Marquis Haynes, a fourth-round selection, also grew up there.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Smith said of the collection of talent from north Florida.

A beautiful comparison

Smith has an easygoing demeanor and says “beautiful” a lot. Given what he’s been through the past 24 months or so, things seem to be looking up.

The Panthers plan to use Smith at middle linebacker, where he’ll learn from the best. At least one draft expert described the 6-foot, 237-pound Smith in Luke Kuechly-like terms.

“Two-down inside linebacker with a severe case of thumps who looks to impose his will against ball carriers as often as possible,” Lance Zierlein of NFL.com wrote. “Smith's lack of speed, athleticism and cover skills could hurt his draft stock, but his history as a consistent tackler and willing banger gives him a good chance to make a team no matter where he is drafted.”

That is what Smith will start working toward when he gets to Charlotte, a city he visited several times while at UNC.

He’ll arrive in two weeks healthy — and in decidedly good spirits.

“It’s just a beautiful city, great weather, great people. The downtown is beautiful. Driven through the suburbs — it’s just awesome,” he said. “I think the world of it and I can’t wait to get there.”

This story was originally published May 1, 2018 at 7:31 AM with the headline "Former Tar Heels LB Andre Smith says Panthers got 'a steal' drafting him in 7th round."