Brashard Smith Making Name For Himself At Senior Bowl

The word on the street is that the 2025 running back class is a stacked group, and a former wide receiver is looking to make a name for himself this week. SMU running back Brashard Smith made the transition to running back after three years playing receiver for the Miami Hurricanes and had a breakout season with more than 1,300 yards on the ground, adding 14 rushing touchdowns to go with 39 receptions for 327 yards and four touchdowns. The multi-talented Smith brought his tools to Mobile to showcase that he’s a true running back and had the best run of the day from both practices.

Smith does a great job on this outside-zone run. He works with the offensive line and uses his feet to give the linemen time to get their blocks. He presses to the front-side tackle and keeps his eyes on the weakside linebacker, knowing he has to give No. 72 time to get to the block. He breaks down and hesitates, which forces the linebacker to do the same and allows No. 72 to get on the block so Smith can traverse around and into space. 

He does a great job reading defensive leverage and using quick feet to get around defenders and blockers to eventually pop this run down the left sideline for a big play. Smith showed that he sees the field well and will fit great in an outside zone offense at the next level, but working the one-on-ones against linebackers in the passing game gave us all a peak at the receiver experience and pass-catching ability he’ll take to the NFL.

The speed, quickness in and out of his breaks, and explosiveness at the top of his route show it all for Smith against man coverage. He attacks the linebacker, closing space quickly and giving him a little “rock” to the left at the top of his route. He forces the linebacker to take a step to the right, and it’s all over. Smith breaks to his right and is free into space, pulling away from the defender to make the catch and get upfield. 

His route-running ability will be a useful tool at the next level, but he did come in at 5-foot-9 and 195 pounds, and proving he can hold up in pass protection is a box he’ll need to check if he wants to be trusted in key third down situations.

Smith showed his explosiveness, natural feel, and vision as a runner. He’s going to be a mismatch against linebackers in man coverage. He had a great day and earned a lot of attention. He’ll have a great test as the practices get more physical and they lean into pass protection. The arrow points up for one of the most explosive backs at the Senior Bowl.