Jaylin Smith: CB · USC · #2.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Jaylin Smith
Gets targeted often and tackles in space. Played for two head coaches at USC: Donte Williams and Lincoln Riley. First career honor, 2024: All-Big Ten. A game that shows it: 8 tackles and 1 tackle for loss against Notre Dame — Week 14, 2024.
Play style
Targeted often and asked to tackle in space on the perimeter.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
58 tackles. 2 passes defended. 2 interceptions. 4 TFL.
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.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
247Sports Nov 2
USA Today Nov 1
On3 Oct 21
Yahoo Sports Oct 16Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Game log · Week-by-week
2024 season · 10 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 27-20vs No. 13 LSU | 6 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 24-27@ No. 18 Michigan | 7 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 38-21vs Wisconsin | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 17-24@ Minnesota | 4 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 30-33vs No. 4 Penn State | 5 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 28-29@ Maryland | 11 | 9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | Season-high 11 tackles |
| Wk 10 | L 21-26@ Washington | 7 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Wk 12 | W 28-20vs Nebraska | 6 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 19-13@ UCLA | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 35-49vs No. 5 Notre Dame | 8 | 6 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 58 | 39 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 2 | 2 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
3%2 pass breakupsInterceptions
2interceptionsTackle volume
58tackles this season58 tackles · 4 for loss · 2 pass breakups · 2 interceptions.
Splits · Per-game
2024 season · 10 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 5.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road5g | 6.4 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 4.6 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 7.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Lincoln Riley
Pass share
59.9%
533 pass / 357 run
Plays / game
68.5
13 games
Team sack rate
2.5%
563 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Pass-leaning.
Player standing · 2024
Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Former four-star. Now #137 at the position.
How it ended
Four seasons at USC, 176 tackles — drafted at #97 overall by the Houston Texans.
A blue-chip recruit with honors.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-BIG TEN
All-Big Ten mention (2024)
Coaching lineage · 2021–2024
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Donte Williams → Lincoln Riley. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Next stop · NFL
Houston TexansEntering 2nd NFL season
Houston TexansEntering 2nd NFL season
