The last time offensive D’Ante Smith played in a competitive football game, it was a humid 80 degrees in North Carolina.
On Sept. 26, 2020, Smith played the first game of his senior season at East Carolina against No. 13 UCF. According to ECU offensive line coach Steve Shankweiler, Smith had missed most of training camp due to contact tracing for the coronavirus.
Smith was playing well, but Shankweiler later said he shouldn’t have played Smith on so many snaps. Smith left the game with a concussion, and he didn’t play the rest of the season.
“He missed a ton of weightlifting last year because of COVID,” Shankweiler said. “He really played well in the first game against Central Florida against some guys who could play. He really had a heck of a game. He got a little overheated and the last play he was in there took a kid 10-to-12 yards down field.”
Aside from a few plays like that, NFL evaluators never got a significant chance to scout Smith in 2020. But the Bengals liked what they saw and drafted Smith in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Entering the 2021 season, Smith has an opportunity to be the Bengals first offensive tackle off the bench.
“He brings length and athleticism with 35-inch arms,” Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said after the draft. “He's a really nimble athlete (with) great feet. He's got all the traits you would look for in a tackle, and he's a true tackle.”
During OTAs, offensive tackle Hakeem Adeniji suffered a pectoral injury that’s expected to cost the second-year tackle a significant amount of time in 2021. Adeniji started five games last season, and now the Bengals are lacking in experience at tackle behind starters Jonah Williams and Riley Reiff.
The other veteran tackles on the roster are Fred Johnson and Isaiah Prince, who are competing to make the roster and have started nine combined NFL games.
Smith, a 6-foot-5, 294 pound tackle provides another option with more upside.
“(The) 35-inch arms and athleticism are things that guys possess naturally,” Callahan said. “It's not something (where) you can really just make somebody (have) longer (arms). So (I'm) really excited about that part of his game. Injury-wise, we had no concerns. Everything checked out for us."
Smith only played in 33 games in his five seasons at ECU, and he was only a starter for two of them. While he was one of the most gifted athletes on the roster, he had three different offensive line coaches in his first three seasons.
That delayed Smith’s progress.
“The issue for D’Ante has been the fact that I was his third offensive line coach in three years,” Shankweiler said. “He had a lot of inconsistent teaching, there were different terminologies, so he was a little inconsistent because of that. But he learned our system really well, and he takes a lot of pride in learning.”
Smith emerged as a draft prospect in 2019. In the season finale against Tulsa, he matched up for most of the game against linebacker Trevis Gipson, who now plays for the Chicago Bears.
“It was a brawl, and D’Ante won a bunch of battles,” Shankweiler said. “At the end of the season, we had really high hopes for him.”
Since Smith hardly played in 2020, his performance at the 2021 Senior Bowl in January took on extra significance. Callahan spent most of practice focused on the offensive line, and Smith stood out in his matchups with defensive end Cam Sample, who the Bengals also selected in the fourth round.
“He flashed,” Callahan said. “He flashed all the things you like to see in a tackle and is a guy I'm really excited about adding to the competition of that group."
While Smith lined up for repetitions at guard in the Senior Bowl, he has focused on tackle with the Bengals. After Adeniji’s injury, Smith moved up the depth chart.
There’s still a strong class of veteran offensive tackles on the free agent market who could fit backup roles in Cincinnati, including Russell Okung, Rick Wagner and former Bengal Marshall Newhouse.
If the Bengals don’t make another move, Smith could be one of the team’s most important rookies during training camp.
“The big thing for him this year is to make the club, be a sponge and learn,” Shankweiler said. “If he can find a way to be a multiple backup guy, then the position and length of time he plays will prove out in the end. He’s still growing, he missed a ton of weightlifting last year because of COVID. He has a lot of upside.”
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