Dontae Smith

Senior running back for Georgia Tech. 2023: 504 rushing yards, 4 rushing TD, 10 catches.

RB · Georgia Tech · Sr. · #4

5′11″ · 198 lb · Spring Hill, TN

CFB Index 53 · #107 of 310 RBsHigh confidenceGeorgia Tech 2023 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

APB recruit

No. 791 nationally · Signed with Georgia Tech

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 running back for Georgia Tech. 2023: 504 rushing yards, 4 rushing TD, 10 catches.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Georgia Tech in 2018.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Georgia Tech, 1,662 rushing yards — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 5 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

2018

Signed with Georgia Tech3-star out of Spring Hill

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#791 national

CFB

College

Georgia Tech

2019–2023

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2019–2023

2 coaches

2019–2021

Geoff Collins

Georgia Tech

2022–2023

Brent Key

Georgia Tech

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Geoff Collins → Brent Key. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2023 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2019Georgia Tech3-9HC: Geoff Collins · Run-heavy, slow tempo

2020Georgia Tech3-7HC: Geoff Collins · Run-leaning

2021Georgia Tech3-9HC: Geoff Collins · Run-leaning

2022Georgia Tech5-7HC: Brent Key · Balanced

2023Georgia Tech7-6HC: Brent Key · Run-leaning

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

53Rotational starter #107 of 310?

High confidence12 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: long run (89th percentile). Concern: explosive rate (9th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

EPA / carry#109 / 426 · 75th pct

0.28

Success rate#118 / 426 · 72nd pct

48.8%

Yards / carry#183 / 426 · 57th pct

5.4

TD rate#248 / 426 · 42nd pct

3.8%

Explosive rate#386 / 426 · 9th pct

2.5%

Box-score rates (7)

Long run#38 / 333 · 89th pct

Rec yards#141 / 327 · 57th pct

Yards / carry#146 / 333 · 54th pct

5.0

Rush yards#155 / 333 · 54th pct

504

Carries#159 / 333 · 52nd pct

100

Rush TDs#146 / 333 · 51st pct

Receptions#175 / 327 · 45th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / carry

52nd → 75th percentile

Success rate

27th → 72nd percentile

Explosive rate

37th → 9th percentile

Yards / carry

53rd → 57th percentile

TD rate

65th → 42nd percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2023 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Home7g	49.3	6.0	0.1
Road3g	53.0	3.9	1.0

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Weeks 1-74g	28.8	4.4	0.2
Weeks 8+6g	64.8	5.7	0.5

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Brent Key

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

Awards

Player standing · 2023

Part-time starter

Splitting first-team reps — starts some weeks, rotates others.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

53 · #107 of 310 RBs

Three-star recruit. Now #107 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2023	Georgia Tech	100	504	5.0	4	--
2022	Georgia Tech	87	419	4.8	5	--
2021	Georgia Tech	68	378	5.6	4	--
2020	Georgia Tech	43	296	6.9	3	--
2019	Georgia Tech	10	65	6.5	0	--
Career		308	1,662	5.4	16	--

Season	Team
2023	Georgia Tech	10	92	9.2	1	--
2022	Georgia Tech	19	125	6.6	0	--
2021	Georgia Tech	7	33	4.7	0	--
2020	Georgia Tech	6	52	8.7	0	--
2019	Georgia Tech	2	13	6.5	0	--
Career		44	315	7.2	1	--

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 9 · North Carolina · 2&5 · Q4 · EPA +5.98Dontae Smith run for 70 yds for a TD (Aidan Birr KICK)
Week 10 · Virginia · 3&14 · Q2 · EPA +4.86Dontae Smith run for 33 yds for a TD (Aidan Birr KICK)
Week 11 · Clemson · 2&7 · Q4 · EPA +3.19Haynes King pass complete to Dontae Smith for 32 yds for a TD (Aidan Birr KICK)
Week 10 · Virginia · 2&12 · Q4 · EPA +3.08Haynes King pass complete to Dontae Smith for 22 yds to the UVA 41 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · UCF · 4&1 · Q4 · EPA +2.79Dontae Smith 1 Yd Run (Aidan Birr Kick)
Week 10 · Virginia · 3&9 · Q3 · EPA +2.78Haynes King pass complete to Dontae Smith for 12 yds to the UVA 38 for a 1ST down
Week 10 · Virginia · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +2.51Dontae Smith run for 10 yds for a TD (Aidan Birr KICK)
Week 9 · North Carolina · 3&6 · Q1 · EPA +2.36Dontae Smith run for 11 yds to the UNC 39 for a 1ST down
Week 10 · Virginia · 3&3 · Q2 · EPA +1.90Dontae Smith run for 9 yds to the UVA 43 for a 1ST down
Week 9 · North Carolina · 3&3 · Q4 · EPA +1.79Dontae Smith run for 6 yds to the GT 49 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2023 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 34-39vs Louisville	7	18	2.6	0	7
Wk 2	W 48-13vs South Carolina State	5	32	6.4	0	14
Wk 5	L 27-38vs Bowling Green	—	—	—	—	—
Wk 8	L 23-38vs Boston College	1	11	11.0	0	11
Wk 9	W 46-42vs North Carolina	22	178	8.1	1	70	Season-high 178 yds
Wk 10	W 45-17@ Virginia	15	78	5.2	2	33
Wk 11	L 21-42@ Clemson	7	16	2.3	0	9
Wk 12	W 31-22vs Syracuse	12	38	3.2	0	11
Wk 13	L 23-31vs Georgia	15	68	4.5	0	12
Bowl	W 30-17@ UCF	16	65	4.1	1	11
Total		100	504	5.3	4	70

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

Dontae Smith

2018

2023 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Balanced Back

Players who play like Dontae Smith