Tulane · W 17-3
No tackles.
North Carolina · L 20-24
No tackles.
Virginia · W 19-16
No tackles.
Boston College · W 47-2
4 tackles, 1.5 for loss
The other 4 games average 1 tackles. This one was 3 above.
Smith has tackles in 5 of Duke’s 8 games: none against Tulane, North Carolina and Virginia.
Evan Smith
The four seasons span two programs and two head coaches: David Braun and Manny Diaz. A game that shows it: 4 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss against Boston College — Week 9, 2026.
9 tackles · 0 sacks
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
The Daily Progress Oct 23
Yahoo Sports Oct 19Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Duke | 9 | 7 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | Northwestern | 6 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- |
| 2024 | Northwestern | 28 | 23 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 3 | 1 |
| 2023 | Northwestern | 8 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| Career | 51 | 38 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 5 | 2 |
Last game (Wk 9): 4 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 5 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 2 | W 31-27@ Illinois | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 35-7vs Stanford | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 62-7vs William & Mary | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 6 | L 25-28@ Georgia Tech | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 47-2vs Boston College | 4 | 3 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 4 tackles |
| Total | 9 | 7 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 |
Oct. 31 · W 47-2 vs Boston College, play by play
4 tackles, including 1 more for loss. He hurried the quarterback once.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
How Duke’s defense played that day
Boston College’s 12 drives: 12 stopped (2 takeaways) · 0 scored.
2 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
0 tackles, including 1 pass broken up.
1 tackle. He hurried the quarterback once.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
2 tackles, including 1 interception. His interception on 3rd and 8 ended Illinois’s drive (int).
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
Intercepted on 3rd and 8. Fourth quarter, up 31-27. Ended Illinois’s drive (int).
Week 2 · 2026
W 31-27
at Illinois
1 interception · 2 tackles · 2 solo tackles
A close one, won by 4 on the road.
Ratings of the games shown run from -11 to +7 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 5 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home3g | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Road2g | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-74g | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+1g | 4.0 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Manny Diaz
Pass share
46.0%
243 pass / 285 run
Plays / game
66.0
8 games
Team sack rate
1.1%
266 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2026
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive backs who play every week.
2026 is in progress.
A stat line in 23 games over four seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2022–2026
3 coachesPlayed for 3 head coaches at 2 schools: Pat Fitzgerald, David Braun and Manny Diaz.
Next stop · Transfer
Transferred to Duke
