James
Smith-Williams.
James
Smith-Williams.
North Carolina St.· 6'4"· 265 lb· 4.60s 40
"Washington drafted an explosive but injury-hampered NC State end at No. 229, and his rare testing turned into five NFL seasons, 65 games, 109 tackles and eight sacks."Pre-draft read
Smith-Williams was a defensive end in NC State's four-man front, a 6-4, 265-pounder who lined up mostly as a strong-side end and rotated inside on passing downs. His primary trait was explosiveness: he fired off the ball with a quick first step, used his length to convert speed to power and pressured quarterbacks when healthy, as his six sacks in 2018 showed.
His secondary trait was effort against the run, where he set the edge with long arms and chased from the backside. His athletic ceiling was high after a 4.60 40 and a 10-foot-3 broad jump, and his signature was a rare testing profile that his limited college production never fully matched.
Four-man front that lets a long, explosive end rush from a wide alignment and set the edge on early downs.
Year 1: rotational end and core special teams player. Ceiling: starting-caliber end in a deep rotation.
Two-gap 3-4 scheme that asks him to hold up against double teams as a five-technique at 265 pounds.
His athleticism fit best in an attacking, one-gap front.
NC State DE James Smith-Williams Top Plays 2018
His six-sack breakout season in 2018.
NC State DE James Smith-Williams Highlight Reel - 2019 Season
His injury-shortened 2019 season.
Put Me In Coach with James Smith-Williams of NC State Football (February 8th, 2019)
NC State feature interview before his senior season.
Smith-Williams projected as a high-upside, low-floor edge whose testing and length outran his tape and durability. Evaluators saw an explosive, smart and hardworking defender with the frame to play end in any front, but one whose production came almost entirely in a single healthy season.
He played sparingly early, then broke out in 2018 with 37 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and six sacks in 12 games. Injuries limited him to seven games as a senior in 2019, when he made 20 tackles and one sack after appearing in only 12 games combined over his first two seasons. The flags were durability, only one season of starter-level production and inconsistent pass-rush technique.
Most boards viewed him as a late-round or priority free agent end whose workout gave him a chance to be drafted. Washington took him at No. 229 as a developmental rotational end and special teams player, betting his athleticism would play up once healthy and that his motor would make him a core special teams player right away while he developed as a rusher.
- 01
Explosive athlete
Ran a 4.60 40 with a 10-foot-3 broad jump at 265 pounds, a rare testing profile for a late-round defensive end.
- 02
Length
Used long arms to keep blockers off his frame, set a firm edge against the run and convert speed to power as a rusher.
- 03
Breakout flashes
Made 37 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and six sacks in 2018, showing what he could do in a full, healthy season.
- 04
Effort and motor
Chased plays from the backside and worked through the whistle, traits that translated naturally to special teams.
- 05
Football intelligence
A supply chain management graduate, he picked up assignments quickly and could line up at end or inside on passing downs.
- 01
Durability concerns
Injuries limited him to seven games in 2019, capping a career in which he never played a full 13-game season.
- 02
Thin production
Only one season of starter-level production, with just two sacks combined across his other four seasons at NC State.
- 03
Raw pass-rush plan
Relied on his first step and effort rather than a developed set of moves and counters to beat NFL tackles.
- 04
Tight in the hips
Struggled to bend and flatten around the edge, which limited his ability to finish when he beat blockers early.
Relative Athletic Score (Kent Lee Platte) benchmarks combine/pro-day numbers against every measured prospect at the position since 1987. 10.00 is elite; 5.00 is average.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.60sp50
- Vertical
- 32inp50
- Broad jump
- 123inp50
- Three-cone
- 7.35sp50
- Shuttle
- 4.52sp50
- Bench
- 28repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | NC State | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | NC State | 8 | 13 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2017 | NC State | 12 | 10 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | NC State | 12 | 37 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 2019 | NC State | 7 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | — | 43 | 84 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
Seasons from Sports-Reference, which sum to 84 tackles, 15 TFL, eight sacks and three passes defensed over 43 games. Wikipedia lists 82 tackles and 12 TFL; the eight sacks match across sources.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
The realized outcome: a rotational end and special teams player for five seasons.
Late-blooming, smart edge who became a steady rotational pass rusher.
Talented, injury-hit edge whose college production never carried to the NFL.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Smith-Williams made Washington's roster as a rookie in 2020 and became a steady rotational end and special teams player over four seasons on the defensive line. He signed with Atlanta for 2024 and played 10 games with one sack in his fifth NFL season. Through 2024 he had appeared in 65 games with 109 tackles, eight sacks and two passes defensed.
In hindsight the pick was a clear win for a No. 229 selection. The durability concerns that dropped him to the end of the draft never derailed his career, and the athleticism evaluators saw translated into five NFL seasons of rotational snaps and special teams value. He never became a full-time starter, as the thin pass-rush plan flagged before the draft limited his ceiling, but most seventh-round ends never reach 65 games. He was the kind of late-round depth that good rosters are built on, and a reminder that elite testing can buy a player the time to prove himself.