Smith reunites with Brian Thomas
After the Jacksonville Jaguars invested their first round pick on Brian Thomas Jr., the Jags decided to use their second round pick on a Tiger as well.
Maason Smith was picked by Jacksonville in the second round, 48th overall Friday evening.
Smith came to LSU as a five-star prospect but was never quite able to harness all of that potential. Smith had a promising freshman season and earned freshman All-American honors; his star was supposed to explode heading into his sophomore year, but he tore his ACL in the opening series of the 2022 season opener against Florida State.
Smith’s redshirt sophomore season had more downs than ups, as it was obvious he was working his way back from his ACL tear. Smith was also hobbled by an ankle injury suffered during fall practices. And obviously Smith was done no favors by the defensive coaching staff this past season either. Here’s the part where I mention that a certain former LSU defensive coordinator is now employed by the Jaguars, so that reunion will probably be…yeah.
I’m pleasantly surprised to see Smith get picked so high. I thought he could have increased his stock had he returned to school for the 2024 season, especially seeing as he would have been coached by Bo Davis, but he ended up being a top-50 pick anyway.
Here’s hoping that all the bad luck Smith had at LSU is over with and he’ll enjoy a long, prosperous NFL career.