Game log · Week-by-week
2020 season · 1 game
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 2 | L 48-51vs UTSA | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 1 tackles |
| Total | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 |
#21
Anthony Smith
Junior linebacker for Texas State. 2020: 1 tackle.
5′10″ · 200 lb · Fort Worth, TX
Texas State 2020 alumnus
The story
3 linebacker for Texas State. 2020: 1 tackle.
The record fills in as he plays.
His career, year by yearAnthony 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.
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.
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.
How it ended
Two seasons at Texas State, 3 tackles — his college career is complete.
Career arc
HS
Recruit
—
CFB
College
Texas State
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Coaching lineage · 2017–2020
2 coaches2017
Texas State
Coaching transition mid-career: Everett Withers → Jake Spavital. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
2020 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
2017Texas State2-10HC: Everett Withers · Run-leaning
2020Texas State2-10HC: Jake Spavital · Balanced
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Concern: tackles (0th percentile).
Box-score production (6)
Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.
Splits & context
Splits
Per-game splits
Through 1 game: 1.0 TKL/g, 0.0 TFL/g, 0.0 SACK/g, 0.0 PD/g — splits start at 3 games.
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
G.J. Kinne
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Awards
Player standing · 2020
Backup
On the two-deep and pushing for snaps.
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career stats
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Texas State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2017 | Texas State | 2 | -- | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | 3 |
| Career | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | 3 |
Game log
Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology