Connect with us

Football

Arik Smith earns invite to Jaguars rookie camp

Army has featured a long line of talented inside linebackers during the Jeff Monken era.

Two of those linebackers – Cole Christiansen of the Chargers and Jon Rhattigan of the Seahawks – are currently on NFL rosters.

Arik Smith will have his opportunity to join Christiansen and Rhattigan. The Black Knights’ senior captain has been invited to Jacksonville Jaguars rookie minicamp, per Army football official Twitter account.

Smith is the fifth Army senior to receive an NFL rookie camp invite, joining nose tackle Nolan Cockrill (Ravens), safety Cedrick Cunningham (Colts), punter Zach Harding (Jets) and defensive back/linebacker Malkelm Morrison (Raiders). He led Army with 86 tackles and added 10.5 tackles for a loss and four sacks. Smith tied Rhattigan for the team lead in tackles (78) as a junior.

Monken said early in the 2021 season that Smith might be the best out of the group of inside linebackers that he’s had in his eight seasons at West Point. Smith’s instincts are off the charts. He’s one of the hardest hitters that Army’s defense had seen in Monken’s years.

The Jaguars will host their rookie camp from May 13-15 under first-year coach Doug Pederson. Linebacker was an area of emphasis for Jacksonville in last week’s NFL draft. The Jaguars took Utah linebacker Devin Lloyd with the 27th pick in the first round and selected Wyoming linebacker Chad Muma in the third round.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Fearless 6

    May 6, 2022 at 5:27 PM

    Arik Smith was a great Army LB, but given that the Jags aleady took two LBs in the draft you have to wonder what his chances are .. Perhaps he has outside chance to get aboard as Special Teams playeras Jon R did in Seattle. I have no doubt they Arik as undersized ( 5’11 3/8″ and 230) and a bit slow ( 4.9 40) for an interior LB at the next level, but if can get aboard he might just prove his real value of the field.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

Podcasts

Support Black Knight Nation

Follow Us On Twitter

More in Football