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PlayerTykee Smith · S, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Model Score 81.1Be the Buccaneers GM

Tykee Smith

Tampa Bay BuccaneersUNDERPAID
Pos S
Updated October 8, 2026
Compare Tykee Smith S rankings →

Model Score

81.1 MODEL
2024
74.2
2025
85.0
2026
81.1

How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →

STM Take

Tier 8 (#59) rookie to tier 3 (#23) sophomore is a 36-spot one-year jump for an 89th overall 3rd-round pick. The Georgia 2022 CFP National Championship pedigree plus the structural Buccaneers anchor role gives him real college foundation. The 2026 question is whether Smith earns his first Pro Bowl plus holds tier 3 or better or whether the 2025 finish was a one-year context spike.

Smith came out of Georgia as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 3rd-round pick (89th overall) in 2024 after winning the 2022 CFP National Championship as a transfer from West Virginia. He delivered a tier 8 (#59) STTM rookie finish before breaking through to tier 3 (#23) in 2025.

Strengths

  • Georgia 2022 CFP National Championship pedigree plus the 36-spot year-over-year STTM jump establishes elite college foundation.
  • Year-two starter snaps for the Buccaneers at age 23 plus the structural anchor role gives him the developmental runway.

Concerns

  • Single tier 3 finish without prior top-30 STTM history caps the long-term projection certainty.
  • Tampa Bay's broader defensive identity transition compresses the structural support around Smith.

What to watch: Whether Smith earns his first Pro Bowl in 2026 plus holds tier 3 or better, the threshold for confirming the 2025 breakout was structural.

Comps

Overall match
size, testing and production, same career stage
Karl Joseph ’1669%Chauncey Gardner-Johnson ’2061%Antoine Winfield ’2061%
Famous comp
names you know, same point in their careers (second years)
Michael Huff ’0775%Byron Jones ’1673%Nick Collins ’0666%
Plays like
on-field production only
Brent Alexander ’9983%Darren Woodson ’0379%Brian Branch ’2578%
Built like
measurables only, his size
Antoine Winfield Jr.82%Terrell Burgess79%Chad Williams79%
Coming out
pros whose college production, size and testing looked like his
Derrick Kindred ’1668%Mike Edwards ’1964%T.J. Ward ’1062%

Names you know nearby: Antoine Winfield Jr. ’20 61%.

Of his 20 closest coming out: 3 stars, 8 starters, 9 backups, 0 didn't stick.

Tykee Smith Injury StatusNot listed

Tykee Smith is not on the injury report as of Oct 8. Source: the official NFL injury report, refreshed daily.

Tykee Smith Stats This Season · 4 games

0
INT
1
Pass Deflections
52.9%
Comp % Allowed
9.4
Yds / Target
3
TD Allowed
14
Solo Tackles

Draft & College

Round 3, pick 89 · Tampa Bay Buccaneers · 2024
Georgia (SEC)
Taken
#89
where he actually went
Consensus board
117th
average of the public big boards that spring
Our college model
#24
among S in our college data

He went about where consensus had him.

In college · 2019-2023 · 47 games
8 INT, 12 pass breakups, 207 tackles, 22 TFL

Covers the college seasons in our data, which does not always reach back to a player's first year.

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