On September 7, 1993, Ryan Smith, a cornerback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League, was born.
In the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Smith as the 108th overall choice. Smith was chosen as the 18th cornerback in 2016.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers gave Smith a four-year, $2.93 million contract with a signing bonus of $592,161 on May 5, 2016.
The Buccaneers immediately switched Smith from running back to safety. Throughout training camp, Smith competed with Isaiah Johnson, Kimario McFadden, and Elijah Shumate for a backup safety role. Dirk Koetter, the head coach, designated Smith as the backup free safety to begin the regular season behind Bradley McDougald.
In Week 3 of the 2016 NFL season, the Buccaneers fell to the Los Angeles Rams 37-32 on September 25, marking Smith’s first regular-season game as a professional. He made his single tackle of the year in Week 9’s 43-28 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. In 14 games and without making a start, he concluded his rookie season in 2016 with one tackle.
Where did Ryan Smith go to high school?
Smith attended Dr. Henry A. Wise, Jr. High School. Smith would return to cornerback, the Buccaneers announced following the 2016 campaign.
Smith had competition from Josh Robinson, Javien Elliott, Jude Adjei-Barimah, Robert McClain, and the other cornerbacks on the depth chart during training camp for the position of the third cornerback. Behind Vernon Hargreaves and Brent Grimes on the depth chart for the start of the regular season, head coach Dirk Koetter placed Smith as the third cornerback.
