Impressive Debut: Za’Darius Smith Debut Performance Raises Bar for Lions’ Defense
The Detroit Lions saw the debut of veteran edge rusher Za’Darius Smith in the Week 11 shellacking of the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the 32-year-old three-time Pro Bowler did not disappoint.
Smith was acquired just ahead of the trade deadline a few weeks back but did not make his debut right away. Head coach Dan Campbell decided to give Smith the week off in Week 10 because he did not get the benefit of a bye before the trade.
In his debut, Smith saw the field for 37 snaps, which was a 77% share. Campbell had said Smith might see a limited workload going into the contest, but that was the largest snap share Smith has had in a game this season.
With his 37 snaps, Smith tallied three pressures, including two hurries and a half of a sack. He also had one run stop. Pro Football Focus gave him an overall grade of 64.9 and a pass-rush grade of 72.5.
With the half of a sack, Smith has now tied his total from last season with seven games to go.
We were also impressed with the way defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn used Smith in different spots. He lined up as a typical stand-up EDGE, of course, but was also deployed on the interior and utilized in stunts.
Needless to say, Campbell was happy with the early returns.
“I thought he did some things for us,” Campbell said of Smith. “It was good to have him out there. I thought, really like we talked about last week, just be a piece of this puzzle and he’s a guy that’s played, he is instinctive, he doesn’t stay blocked long, he’s really good with his hands. Like I said, he can set an edge in the run game and he’s really good at working gains with [Alim McNeill] and [D.J. Reader] and those guys. He’s got a knack for those things. So, I think, first outing with him, I thought it was good. I think he fits right in with us.”
Smith has only been part of the team for a few weeks now, but he already looks like a perfect fit in Detroit. The scary thing for the Lions’ upcoming opponents is, he will only get better the more comfortable he gets in Detroit’s defense.
