Ohio State football: Tyreke Smith’s fit with Seattle Seahawks

The Ohio State football program had to wait a little bit to get another player drafted on Saturday. The entire fourth round came and went without a single Buckeye being drafted. Once the 5th round rolled around though, that didn’t last too much longer.

That’s because the Seattle Seahawks took Tyreke Smith to help improve their defensive line. Smith is someone who could end up being a pretty good player. He’s a good player to take a flyer on because he really does have some tremendous talent and he showed it when he was on the field.

The issue was that he wasn’t on the field very much. Smith was often injured during his time with the Ohio State football program. If he would have been able to stay healthy, he could have gone much higher in this draft. As it is, he goes 158th overall to the Seahawks.

As far as fit goes, this isn’t a great fit but it’s not a bad fit either. Seattle is in the midst of a rebuild now that they traded Russell Wilson. They have been horrendous on the defensive side of the ball for the last few years. They’re trying to improve up front.

The reason it’s not a great fit is that there are a lot of people ahead of Smith on the depth chart right now. He’s going to have to fight really hard to earn some playing time with them. That’s something he can do, as long as he is able to stay healthy.

Ultimately, Smith’s career will hinge on his ability to stay healthy and available. If he can leave his injury issues behind him, he has a chance to be a quality starter. I’m hoping that he can lose the injury bug and be a productive NFL player.