#92

Damonte Smith

Senior nose tackle for Middle Tennessee. 2025: 3 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, 33 tackles.

NT · Middle Tennessee · Sr. · #92

6′1″ · 301 lb · Savannah, GA

CFB Index 91 · #9 of 330 interior linemenLow confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamReturning to Middle Tennessee for 2026

How he plays

Wins his gap play after play.

Tackles for loss: 97th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

sacks · 2025

11 TFL · 33 tackles · 4 hurries

Best game: 1 sacks, 2.5 TFL, 5 tackles, vs Austin Peay

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 nose tackle for Middle Tennessee. 2025: 3 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, 33 tackles.

Signed with Middle Tennessee in 2021.

His career, year by year

Damonte Smith

NT · Middle Tennessee · Sr · #92

Wins his gap play after play. Damonte Smith has been at Middle Tennessee through two head coaches in four seasons. In 2025 the league put his name on paper for the first time: All-Conference USA. The receipt: 5 tackles, 1.5 TFL against Delaware — Week 9, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
recognition record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022Middle Tennessee8-5HC: Rick Stockstill · Balanced

2023Middle Tennessee4-8HC: Rick Stockstill · Balanced

2024Middle Tennessee3-9HC: Derek Mason · Pass-leaning

2025Middle Tennessee3-9HC: Derek Mason · Pass-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

91All-America level #9 of 330?

Low confidenceAscending7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles for loss (97th percentile). Strength: sacks (89th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Tackles for loss#74 / 2975 · 97th pct

11.0

Sacks#291 / 2975 · 89th pct

3.0

QB hurries#288 / 2975 · 88th pct

Passes defended#777 / 2975 · 67th pct

Solo tackles#959 / 2975 · 67th pct

Tackles#1194 / 2975 · 59th pct

Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct

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

2025 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home5g	3.4	1.1	0.4	0.2
Road6g	2.7	0.9	0.2	0.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	3.3	1.2	0.3	0.2
Weeks 8+5g	2.6	0.8	0.2	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Derek Mason

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

our read the All-Conference 1st team honor is earned — and the box score backs it up emphatically: #9 of 330 FBS interior linemen by CFB Index Score.2025 profile

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

91 · #9 of 330 interior linemen

Unranked recruit. Now #9 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Middle Tennessee	33	21	11.0	3.0	2	1	--
2024	Middle Tennessee	25	10	4.0	2.0	1	--	--
2023	Middle Tennessee	7	4	1.0	0.0	--	--	--
2022	Middle Tennessee	13	3	1.0	0.0	1	--	--
Career		78	38	17.0	5.0	4	1	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2025

W 14–13

at Nevada

1 TOT · 1 SOLO · 1 TFL

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 1 on the road.

With A. Logan — 46 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 59 LONG · N. Vattiato — 247 yds · 1 TD · 1 INT · QBR 40.4 · 8 rush yds (13 car) · 1 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	L 14-34vs Austin Peay	5	3	2.5	1.0	—	0	Season-high 5 tackles
Wk 2	L 10-42@ Wisconsin	3	2	1.5	0.0	1	0
Wk 3	W 14-13@ Nevada	1	1	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 28-42vs Marshall	5	5	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 5	L 16-24@ Kennesaw State	3	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	L 20-22vs Missouri State	3	2	1.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 9	L 28-31@ Delaware	5	3	1.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	L 30-56vs Florida International	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 26-42@ Western Kentucky	1	0	0.5	0.0	—	1
Wk 13	W 31-17vs Sam Houston	2	1	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 14	W 31-24@ New Mexico State	3	1	1.0	1.0	—	0
Total		33	21	11.0	3.0	1	2

How he plays

Play style

Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

11 games

33Tackles

21Solo

11TFL

3Sacks

2Pass def.

1INT

33 tackles. 2 passes defended. 1 interceptions. 11 TFL.

Week 11 sack
Week 21 INT
Week 41 sack
Week 71 PD
Week 121 PD
Week 141 sack

Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.

2026 Outlook

Middle Tennessee

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Nose tackle · Middle Tennessee

Returning around him

1 Middle Tennessee player drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: +2 net (20 in / 18 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Middle Tennessee · Last season: 3-9 · Talent rank #109 · 2026 recruiting class #119

DNA match

Player DNA

Two-Gap Base

Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jaxon Player’s 2021 season.

Jaxon Player

80%match

Tulsa · 2021

All-AAC

J.J. Pegues

Ole Miss · 2024

78%

O'Bryan Goodson

Memphis · 2020

All-AAC

76%

Zane Durant

Penn State · 2023

NFL Rd 5

76%

Pita Tonga

Hawai'i · 2021

72%

Matches Jaxon on

Weight

TFL rate

Height

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Lawrence Johnson's senior season at Auburn (2023).

Lawrence Johnson

71%match

Auburn · 2023

Deandre Jules

Pittsburgh · 2023

67%

Marley Cook

Middle Tennessee · 2023

All-Conference USA

66%

Mason Nelson

Western Michigan · 2024

66%

Patrick Jenkins

Tulane · 2023

All-AAC

65%

Matches Lawrence on

Class year

Weight

Hurry rate

Differs from Lawrence on

TFL rate (higher)

Player DNA

Players who play like Damonte Smith

Pooda Walker

Kennesaw State · 2024

94%

Luis Medina

Troy · 2024

90%

Bishop Thomas

Georgia State · 2025

86%

Na'im Rodman

Washington State · 2023

86%

Mason Narcisse

Louisiana · 2023

86%

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

2021

202511 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

All-Conference 1st team

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Two-Gap Base

Players who play like Damonte Smith