Tykee Smith
Tampa Bay BuccaneersUNDERPAIDModel Score
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 →
Season Stats · 16 games
Draft & College
He went about where consensus had him.
Covers the college seasons in our data, which does not always reach back to a player's first year.
Comps
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.