Rodney Smith (running back)

Rodney Smith (born February 28, 1996) is an American football running back for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Minnesota, and signed with the Panthers as an undrafted free agent.

Not to be confused with Rod Smith (running back).
For other people named Rodney Smith, see Rod Smith (disambiguation).
Rodney Smith
No. 35 – Carolina Panthers
Position:Running back
Personal information
Born: (1996-02-28) February 28, 1996
Height:5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school:Mundy's Mill
(Mundy's Mill, Georgia)
College:Minnesota
Undrafted:2020
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
  • Third Team All-Big Ten (2016)
  • Second Team All-Big Ten (2019)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 14, 2020
Rushing yards:156
Rushing average:3.8
Rushing touchdowns:1
Receptions:9
Receiving yards:59
Receiving touchdowns:0
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Early years

A 2014 graduate of Mundy's Mill High School, Smith played both football and baseball. As a senior, Smith helped lead Mundy's Mill to its best record to date, 8–5, while rushing for 261 times for 2,201 yards and earning first team all-state honors.[1] As a baseball player, Smith finished his career by being named the Region 4-AAAAA Player of the Year in Georgia.[2]

As a recruit, Smith was ranked a three-star prospect and the 71st best running back in the 2014 recruiting class by 247Sports.[3] Smith was also rated as a three-star prospect by ESPN[4] and Scout,[5] while Rivals listed him as a two-star prospect.[6] Smith committed to Minnesota over offers from East Carolina, Southern Miss, and others, citing the prestige of a Big Ten degree and Minnesota's physical rushing-based offense as key reasons for his decision.[7]

College career

Freshman season

After redshirting during the 2014 season, Smith played in 12 of Minnesota's 13 games as a redshirt freshman during the 2015 season, rushing 157 times for 670 yards and 2 touchdowns.[1]

Sophomore season

During his sophomore campaign, Smith took the lead role in the Gophers' backfield, starting the majority of games while splitting the overall workload with fellow sophomore Shannon Brooks.[8] During the regular season, Smith rushed for 1,084 yards and 15 touchdowns, earning third-team all-Big Ten honors for his efforts. The 15 touchdowns would also rank, at the time, as the third most rushing touchdowns in a single season for a Gophers running back.[9] The Gophers would qualify for the Holiday Bowl, taking on Washingston State. Smith starred in the game, leading all rushers with 17 carries for 74 yards and added a touchdown, which earned him the offensive MVP award for the Holiday Bowl.[10][11]

Junior season

Smith continued to be the lead back for the Gophers during the 2017 season, sharing carries with Shannon Brooks and Kobe McCrary, but saw his production decrease as the production of the offense as a whole decreased. This was due to many factors, mainly a first-year head coach in PJ Fleck, a first-year offensive coordinator in Kirk Ciarrocca, as well as inconsistent QB play after the departure of 3-year starter Mitch Leidner. Still, Smith ran for 977 yards, which was 7th in the Big Ten, as well as 3 touchdowns that earned him an all-Big Ten honorable mention from the coaches and media.[12]

(Redshirt) Senior season

Smith started off his senior campaign in 2018 with a bang, rushing for a (then) career-high 156 yards against New Mexico State in a 48–10 victory. However, in the next game against Fresno State, on just the third play from scrimmage, Smith tore his ACL on his left knee.[13] This injury kept him out for the remainder of the season. Smith was then granted a 6th year of eligibility by the NCAA, having already redshirted once during his first year on campus.[14]

Senior season

As a sixth year senior, Smith once again emerged as the primary ball carrier, while sophomore Mohamed Ibrahim and fellow senior Shannon Brooks also shared the workload. After a relatively slow start in the Gophers' three non-conference games, Smith ran for over 100 yards and at least 1 touchdown in each of the first five conference games, including a career-high 211 yard performance on just 24 carries against Illinois. Smith finished the season with a career-high 1,163 rushing yards. That number was good for 3rd in the Big Ten, behind only JK Dobbins and Jonathan Taylor. He also ran for 8 touchdowns, and was awarded all-Big Ten 2nd team honors by both the coaches and media.[15] Smith left Minnesota 2nd all-time in rushing, with 4,125 yards, 6th all-time in rushing touchdowns, with 29, 2nd all-time in yards from scrimmage, with 4,646, and 1st all-time in all-purpose yards, with 5,444.[16]

Statistics

Smith's statistics are as follows:[17]

NCAA Collegiate Career statistics
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Season Rushing Receiving
AttYardsAvgYds/GTDRecYardsTD
2014 Redshirt
2015 1576704.355.82161240
2016 2401,1584.889.116231880
2017 2299774.381.43171070
2018 251546.27702320
2019 2281,1635.189.587700
NCAA Career Totals 8794,1254.781.5429655210

Professional career

After not being selected in the 2020 NFL Draft, Smith signed with the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted free agent.[18] He was waived on August 1, 2020.[19] He was signed to the practice squad on October 12, 2020.[20] He was promoted to the active roster on November 14, 2020.[21] In Week 10 of the 2020 season, he made his NFL debut against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and had three carries for 13 rushing yards.[22] In the final game of the 2020 NFL season, he scored his first career rushing touchdown against Carolina's division rivals New Orleans Saints in a 33-7 loss.[23]

References
  1. "Rodney Smith". GopherSports. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  2. Mahone, Derek (May 22, 2014). "Rodney Smith named top baseball player in Region 4-AAAAA". Clayton News-Daily. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  3. "Rodney Smith,Mundy's Mill,Running Back". 247Sports. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  4. "Rodney Smith – Football Recruiting – Player Profiles". ESPN. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  5. "Rodney Smith,Mundy's Mill HS RB". Scout. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  6. "Rodney Smith". Rivals. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  7. Goblirsch, Kyle (January 24, 2014). "Smith "Excited" to be a Gopher". Gopher247. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  8. Ward, Austin (December 14, 2016). "Season Review: Tracy Claeys, Minnesota show clear signs of progress". ESPN. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  9. "Four Gophers on Offense Honored by B1G". GopherSports. November 30, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  10. "Minnesota emerges from turmoil to upset WSU in Holiday Bowl". Sports Illustrated. December 27, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  11. "Holiday Bowl MVP's given to Blake Cashman and Rodney Smith". The Daily Gopher. December 27, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  12. "View the 2017 All-Big Ten Football Offensive Teams". Big Ten Network. November 29, 2017. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  13. "Gophers' Rodney Smith Out For Season With Torn ACL". CBS – Minnesota. September 10, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  14. Andy Greder / St. Paul Pioneer Press (September 10, 2018). "Gophers running back Rodney Smith is out for the season, to seek sixth year". Grand Forks Herald. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  15. "Big Ten Announces Football All-Conference Teams for Offense and Select Individual Honors". Big Ten Conference. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  16. "Smith Vaults into Record Book". University of Minnesota Athletics. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  17. "Mitch Leidner". www.sports-reference.com. USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  18. Weaver, Tim (April 25, 2020). "Panthers 2020 undrafted free agent tracker". USAToday. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  19. Simmons, Myles (August 1, 2020). "Panthers waive five, reduce roster to 80". Panthers.com. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  20. Weaver, Tim (October 12, 2020). "Panthers bring back rookie RB Rodney Smith for practice squad". USAToday.com. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  21. "Panthers' Rodney Smith: Promoted to active roster". CBSSports.com. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  22. "Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers – November 15th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  23. "HIGHLIGHT: Rodney Smith scores first career TD". www.panthers.com. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
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