How bottom-rated recruit in Texas Tech football’s 2021 class has emerged as potential steal

Isaac Smith‘s a tall, rangy dude, which comes in handy being an edge rusher for the Texas Tech football team. It seems appropriate, too, given his background.

“My whole family is from Montana,” Smith said Tuesday, “and my grandpa worked on the show ‘Yellowstone.’ He did, like, some excavating and stuff for the show, and a lot of the stunt guys went and roped at their house, like team roped. My family’s big in the western industry.”

Smith was born and raised in Oklahoma, however, and football captured his interest more than roping. Among the 12 members of Texas Tech‘s 2021 signing class, Smith was ranked lowest by Rivals and second-lowest by 247Sports. He’s already changing perceptions, battling Steve Linton and Bryce Ramirez for time at boundary end.

The sophomore from Wagoner, Oklahoma, emerged in the last three games last season, starting two. Most of his 2022 production came in that time frame: three tackles at Iowa State, four tackles including a tackle for loss against Oklahoma and four tackles, including a sack, another TFL and a fumble recovery against Mississippi in the Texas Bowl.

“Everybody at the first of the year was (saying), ‘Who’s Isaac Smith?’ ” Tech coach Joey McGuire said. “And Isaac Smith at the end of the year was playing as good as anybody.”

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Before November, Smith was on the travel roster primarily for special teams, but was going over to scout team just to get more work.

“It got to a point where I kind of had to force them to move me up, and they did, which was awesome,” he said. “It happened to be at the end of the year I got some playing time and started getting more and more playing time.

“My number got called, I feel like I did well and I just want to build off last year and keep on trending upward.”

The down side to how Smith finished was he suffered a torn labrum in one hip at the bowl game. Before the extent of the injury was known, Smith rehabbed with the Tech medical staff. When that didn’t solve the issue, an MRI revealed the tear and Smith underwent surgery in February in Vail, Colorado. He was medically cleared after spring football.

“I feel awesome being back,” he said. “I did a lot of rehab and a lot of work in the weight room over the summer to make sure I feel a hundred percent coming into fall camp. That was really the goal was just get to camp a hundred percent. I feel like we’ve done that so far.”

Smith, who stands 6-foot-6, weighed 233 pounds when last season ended and 261 this week. He has the frame to carry 270-plus. Had he looked like that three years ago, Tech might have had more trouble signing him.

Smith initially committed to Tulsa, about a half hour from home. As a senior during the pandemic season of 2020, he didn’t take any official recruiting visits. Matt Wells’ staff recruited him over the phone, and Smith remembers doing a Zoom conference after he committed to go over the Red Raiders’ nutrition program.

“I was kind of lean,” Smith said. “Covid hurt us a little bit in the 2021 class, but honestly it doesn’t really matter to me at this point. I’m just happy I’m here. But I do think a lot of it (the lack of recruiting attention) was probably just not filling out, and the position I was playing at the time wasn’t really an outside linebacker. It was more of a 5 (technique) defensive end.”

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: How Texas Tech football’s Isaac Smith has emerged as potential steal