Maason Smith NFL Draft 2024: Scouting Report for LSU DL

HEIGHT: 6'5"

WEIGHT: 306

HAND:

ARM: 35"

WINGSPAN: 84⅝"

40-YARD DASH: 5.01

3-CONE: 7.62

SHUTTLE: 4.69

VERTICAL: 31"

BROAD: 9'0"

POSITIVES

— Great size and decent short-area quickness for an NFL defensive tackle.

— Impressive get-off. Reacts quickly to the snap and has solid acceleration off the line of scrimmage, allowing him to get a nice initial surge off the ball.

— Has pop in his hands and the upper-body strength to control and lock out offensive linemen at the line of scrimmage.

— Block recognition against the run has improved with more experience.

— Has a good arm-over move that he uses as a counter off the bull rush when rushing the passer and to help escape blocks against the run.

NEGATIVES

— Pad level out of his stance is subpar and inconsistent at best, reducing the effectiveness of his bull rush and making it harder for him to hold ground against double-teams.

— Has a habit of stopping his feet on contact, leading to issues against doubles/combo blocks and against interior offensive linemen who can survive his initial surge.

— Needs to improve his use of hands as a pass-rusher. Lets offensive linemen make the first significant contact and hang onto him too much, limiting how many clean wins he gets.

— Limited pass-rush arsenal beyond his arm-over move.

2023 STATISTICS

— 12 G, 28 TOT, 4.5 TFL, 2.5 SK, 2 PD

NOTES

— Born Oct. 13, 2002

— 5-star recruit in the 2021 class, per 247Sports

— Injuries: 2022 (Torn ACL, missed all but one quarter of the season)

— Suspended for the first game of 2023 for participating in autograph signing prior to NIL, per radio host Matt Moscona

— No. 17 on Bruce Feldman's list of exceptional athletes entering the season

OVERALL

Maason Smith is a bit of a tough evaluation mainly because he's missed so much football over the last three years. After serving as a backup/rotational defensive lineman during his freshman season, he tore his ACL celebrating in the season opener of 2022 less than 10 snaps into the campaign.

That could make Smith a candidate to return to school, but he is a solid draft prospect in the 2024 draft class if he does decide to leave school.

Smith has a good blend of size, strength and short-area quickness to blossom into a good defensive tackle in the NFL. He shows traits of being a well-rounded player, popping up on tape against the run as a pass-rusher. Consistency is just a bit of an issue right now, which could be tied to inexperience.

Teams will be taking a bit of a gamble by drafting the LSU product, but the payout could be high. He's also pretty scheme-versatile, as he could line up as a 3-technique in even fronts or as a 4i-technique in odd fronts.

GRADE: 7.0 (High-Level Backup/Potential Starter — 3rd Round)

OVERALL RANK: 83

POSITION RANK: DL10

PRO COMPARISON: Potential to be Calais Campbell

Written by B/R NFL Scout Matt Holder

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