Anthony Smith

Anthony Smith led the Big Ten in sacks at 6-6, 295 -- a power rusher built like a defensive end and a tackle at once. He turned down the NFL to come back, sharpen the craft, and chase the first round.

DL · Minnesota · Cl 3

CFB Zeitgeist 88

Smith's 2025 was a wrecking-ball season: 12.5 sacks to lead the Big Ten and 17.5 tackles for loss, the kind of production that usually buys a ticket to the draft. Instead he rejected transfer interest and the NFL to return to Minnesota, pairing with Karter Menz to form one of the conference's best edge duos. The forward stakes are a climb up draft boards: he's already an All-America-caliber rusher, and 2026 is about refining the rush plan around a heavy, powerful base into a first-round profile. At his size, with this production, he's a problem for any tackle in the Big Ten.

PLAY STYLE

Smith is a power-rush edge -- 6-6, 295, a heavy, long defender who wins by walking tackles back into the pocket rather than running the arc around them. The bull rush is the foundation, and the 12.5 sacks and 17.5 tackles for loss say it works: he collapses the edge and the quarterback's launch point at once. At his weight he's stout against the run too, hard to move off the ball -- the kind of edge who sets a firm edge and rushes from a base of strength. The development is the finesse to complement the force: add the counters and the bend, and a dominant power rusher becomes a complete one.

SOURCES

Career Arc

Recruit

★★★★

#326 national

CFB

College

Minnesota

2022–2025

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted (yet)

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

1 coach

2022

P.J. Fleck

Minnesota

2023

P.J. Fleck

Minnesota

2024

P.J. Fleck

Minnesota

2025

P.J. Fleck

Minnesota

Played his entire career under P.J. Fleck.

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022Minnesota9-4HC: P.J. Fleck · Run-heavy

2023Minnesota6-7HC: P.J. Fleck · Run-heavy, slow tempo

2024Minnesota8-5HC: P.J. Fleck · Balanced

2025Minnesota8-5HC: P.J. Fleck · Balanced, slow tempo

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DL cohort

88All-Conference

6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (99th). Strength: tackles for loss (99th).

Sacks#3 / 2975 · 100th pct

12.5defe

Tackles for loss#5 / 2975 · 100th pct

17.5defe

QB hurries#69 / 2975 · 97th pct

7defe

Passes defended#517 / 2975 · 78th pct

3defe

Tackles#976 / 2975 · 67th pct

38defe

Solo tackles#959 / 2975 · 67th pct

21defe

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.

Career stats

Defense

Season-by-season defensive box score for disruption and splash plays.

Season	Team	TOT	SOLO	TFL	SACK	PD	INT	FF
2025	MinnesotaFinal snapshot	38	21	17.5	12.5	3	--	--
2024	MinnesotaFinal snapshot	27	14	11.5	6.0	1	--	--
2023	MinnesotaFinal snapshot	14	7	2.0	1.0	--	--	--
2022	MinnesotaFinal snapshot	1	1	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career	4 loaded seasonsCareer row reflects the stat seasons currently loaded in this database.	80	43	31.0	19.5	4	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 8 · 2025

W 24–6

vs Nebraska

5 TOT · 3 SOLO · 2 SACKS

Game log

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 23-10vs Buffalo	2	1	1.5	0.5	—	1	Season-high 6 tackles
Wk 2	W 66-0vs Northwestern State	3	1	1.5	1.5	—	0
Wk 3	L 14-27@ California	2	1	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 5	W 31-28vs Rutgers	4	2	2.0	1.5	—	0
Wk 7	W 27-20vs Purdue	2	0	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	W 24-6vs Nebraska	5	3	2.5	2.5	—	0	2.5 sacks
Wk 9	L 3-41@ Iowa	3	0	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	W 23-20vs Michigan State	5	3	2.0	1.5	—	0
Wk 12	L 13-42@ Oregon	2	1	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 13	L 35-38@ Northwestern	3	3	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 14	W 17-7vs Wisconsin	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Bowl	W 20-17vs New Mexico	6	6	4.0	2.0	—	2
Total		38	21	17.5	12.5	—	3

How he plays

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DL cohort

88All-Conference

6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (99th). Strength: tackles for loss (99th).

Sacks#3 / 2975 · 100th pct

12.5defe

Tackles for loss#5 / 2975 · 100th pct

17.5defe

QB hurries#69 / 2975 · 97th pct

7defe

Passes defended#517 / 2975 · 78th pct

3defe

Tackles#976 / 2975 · 67th pct

38defe

Solo tackles#959 / 2975 · 67th pct

21defe

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.

PLAY STYLE

2026 Outlook

Returning to Minnesota for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Minnesota

Returning around him

44% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
1 Minnesota player drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -1 net (19 in / 20 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Minnesota · Last season: 8-5 · Talent rank #41 · 2026 recruiting class #49

Perception vs tape

Anthony Smith led the Big Ten in sacks at 6-6, 295 — a power rusher built like a defensive end and a tackle at once. He turned down the NFL to come back, sharpen the craft, and chase the first round.

How he plays

Smith is a power-rush edge — 6-6, 295, a heavy, long defender who wins by walking tackles back into the pocket rather than running the arc around them. The bull rush is the foundation, and the 12.5 sacks and 17.5 tackles for loss say it works: he collapses the edge and the quarterback's launch point at once. At his weight he's stout against the run too, hard to move off the ball — the kind of edge who sets a firm edge and rushes from a base of strength. The development is the finesse to complement the force: add the counters and the bend, and a dominant power rusher becomes a complete one.

2026 outlook · as of 2026-06-13

src

DNA match

Player DNA

The 3-Tech Penetrator

Disruptive interior rusher who lives in the backfield.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Gabe Hall’s 2021 season.

Gabe Hall

70%match

Baylor · 2021

Tuli Tuipulotu

USC · 2022

Consensus All-AmericanNFL Rd 2 · Pk 23

63%

Anthony Smith

Minnesota · 2024

54%

Maurice White

Memphis · 2021

52%

Trajan Jeffcoat

Arkansas · 2023

51%

Matches Gabe on

Weight

Height

Sack rate

Differs from Gabe on

TFL rate (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Darius Hodges's senior season at Tulane (2023).

Darius Hodges

48%match

Tulane · 2023

All-AAC

Byron Turner Jr.

Tulsa · 2025

46%

Brandon Matterson

UTSA · 2023

All-AAC

42%

Gabriel Murphy

UCLA · 2023

42%

RJ Oben

Duke · 2023

40%

Matches Darius on

Class year

Weight

Sack rate

Differs from Darius on

Height (higher)

TFL rate (higher)

Peer comparator

Peer Comparator · Fingerprint match

Three closest profiles by box-rate percentile

3 peers · 6 metrics

Anthony SmithMinnesotaJohn MillerUtah State· 83% simRasheem BilesPittsburgh· 83% simCade UluaveCalifornia· 82% sim

Sacks

100
Smith

99
Miller

95
Biles

89
Uluave

Tackles for loss

100
Smith

96
Miller

100
Biles

98
Uluave

QB hurries

97
Smith

98
Miller

88
Biles

88
Uluave

Passes defended

78
Smith

78
Miller

86
Biles

86
Uluave

Tackles

67
Smith

99
Miller

98
Biles

98
Uluave

Solo tackles

67
Smith

92
Miller

91
Biles

94
Uluave

Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.

Heisman trajectory

Heisman futures · live sportsbook odds

#8 in market ▼ from #6 · 4 books

+10009.1% implied