Big Cat Country
Get to know the Jaguars’ new additions from draft weekend with our ‘3 things to know’ series.
With the 2024 NFL Draft in the books, it’s time to reflect on how the Jacksonville Jaguars fared. Did Trent Baalke deliver a masterclass, or has he just set the Jags back five years? Truth is, we probably won’t know that for some time. But we can get to know the newest members of the team a little bit better. In the first of a mini-series of deep dives, here are three things to know about Maason Smith, DT, LSU:
Maason Smith was born and raised in Houma, Louisiana, a modest city approximately two hours south of Baton Rouge. Hot and humid, it’s sadly probably best known for being almost totally destroyed by Hurricane Ida in 2021, but weirdly also has links with comic books - being the setting for both the Swamp Things series as well as the adopted home of The Suicide Squad.
However, Houma’s real claim to fame is just how fertile ground it has proved to be when it comes to sending players to the NFL. Smith is the eighth player to make it to the league from the city, following in the footsteps of Joe Burks, Richie Cunningham, Skyler Green, Brandon Jacobs, Frank Lewis, Elijah McGuire and Tramon Williams. Considering Houma has a steady population of roughly 33,000, it’s an incredible output of professional football talent.
The top-rated defensive lineman in the nation coming out of Terrebonne High School, Smith chose to leave Houma for LSU - the five star recruit turning down thirty other scholarship offers to become a Tiger. He’ll be hoping to be the next one from his hometown to ball out on Sundays.
Maason Smith cuts an imposing figure. Standing at 6’5” and weighing in at 306 lbs, he’s tall and fairly lean for a defensive tackle - although it hasn’t always been like that. The former LSU star ballooned to an incredible 380 lbs during the pandemic, a curse that many of us were punished with as the world went into lockdown and outdoor activities ceased.
Unlike this writer, Smith wasted no time shrinking his waistline when the world reopened again - losing a whopping 52 lbs before his freshman year. I’m not sure which stat is more impressive, the weight loss or the weight gain! Now much more disciplined with his diet and regimen, Smith has been in peak condition for some time, playing at a weight that allows him to be explosive as an interior pass rusher.
Some other interesting measurables; Smith isn’t just tall, he’s long too. His 35” arms sit in the 94th percentile, and his 85” wingspan in the 95th. That length allows him to stay off blocks and shed attention on his way to the backfield, where his speed and athleticism take care of the rest. Oddly, Smith has tiny hands by comparison...
