The rookie class of the Las Vegas Raiders arrived at the team facility on Friday.
It was the first chance for the 11 players the team selected in the draft to get on the field. Additionally, all of the team’s undrafted free agent signings and those invited for tryouts were in attendance.
While most of the players who received tryouts are rookies looking for their first shot in the league, the team also invited an old friend to participate. Jaylon Smith, who spent time with the Raiders in 2023, is in Vegas for rookie minicamp and is looking to land a roster spot.
Smith was out of the league in 2024 and only played in one game in 2023. That one game in 2023 came with the Raiders, and the linebacker collected two tackles in that lone appearance.
Smith has had an up-and-down NFL career, but it started out with a ton of promise.
The linebacker was drafted out of Notre Dame by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 2016 NFL draft. Smith missed his entire rookie season, however, due to a knee injury suffered in his final college game.
However, once the linebacker made his debut in 2017, it was immediately clear that the Cowboys made the right selection.
Smith racked up 81 tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack, two pass deflections, and two forced fumbles. As a result, the linebacker finished fourth in AP Comeback Player of the Year voting.
Over the next three seasons, Smith continued to impress, racking up over 120 tackles in each campaign. Smith earned a Pro Bowl bid in 2019, the only selection of his career thus far.
After 2020, Smith’s career went downhill. The linebacker played in 10 games for three different teams in 2021, putting up the worst stats of his career.
In 2022, Smith caught on with the New York Giants, but he was unable to land another gig until his one-game stint with Las Vegas in 2023.
Now, Smith will look to impress the Raiders enough to secure a roster spot once again. The Raiders are thin at inside linebacker, so there’s seemingly room for a player like Smith to earn a spot.
Currently, Devin White and Elandon Roberts are penciled in to start for the Raiders, and the depth behind that duo isn’t impressive. Smith has been a solid player when healthy, and it will be interesting to see if his skill is still there after a year-plus away from the league.
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