American football linebacker Brandon Nathaniel Smith plays for the National Football League’s Carolina Panthers (NFL).
At Penn State, he played collegiate football. In Louisa, Virginia, Smith attended Louisa County High School. He was named Virginia’s Gatorade Football Player of the Year in 2018 as a senior.
He took part in the Under Armour All-America Game in 2019. Smith decided to play college football at Penn State University. Smith participated in the final season of Mark Lee Fischer’s tenure as the football team’s head coach while attending Louisa County High School.
In addition, he was ranked by 247Sports as a 5-star recruit, the top high school recruit in the state of Virginia, the top inside linebacker in the nation, and the 18th-best player overall in the country.
The Penn State standout was a three-time letter winner and two-time captain of his high school football team. Smith was allowed to take part in both Nike’s The Opening and the Under Armour All-America Game. As a senior, he was selected to the USA Today All-USA first team and the MaxPreps All-America first team. After his senior year, USA Today named him the All-USA Virginia Defensive Player of the Year.
He also received the 2018 Gatorade Player of the Year award for Virginia and made the 2018 Butkus Award finalist list for outstanding high school linebacker. Smith received a number of other high school honors, including three career selections to the all-region and all-Central Virginia teams. The teenage linebacker has mentored kids in sports programs at primary schools as a volunteer while playing for Penn State.
How Good Is Brandon Smith?
Brandon Smith is a young player with a lot of potentials who might benefit from the correct coaching setup. Smith has the right build for the job thanks to his strong body and lengthy arms. He can easily move across and up the field thanks to his strong speed and range when playing. In covering, his speed stands out the most.
Smith frequently demonstrated that, both in man-to-man coverage and zone coverage, he can run up the seam with bigger pass-catchers thanks to his long arms and quickness.
He also excels at assessing the scene behind him and moving to close throwing windows when providing zone coverage. He also responds nicely to throws from beneath.