Terell
Smith.
Terell
Smith.
Minnesota
"A press corner in the most literal sense: give him his hands on a receiver at the line and he is a functional NFL starter, take them away and he is a special-teamer who runs fast."Pre-draft read
Smith was Minnesota's boundary corner in a press-quarters system, a long 6-0½, 204-pound cover man who lined up almost exclusively outside and jammed at the line. His best trait is the initial punch: he times the strike, uses his length to widen releases toward the sideline, and stays hip-to-hip through the stem when he wins the first three yards.
The secondary trait is speed to carry vertically — 4.41 at 204 pounds is real, and he ran with Big Ten posts without grabbing. He is a willing, physical run-support corner off the edge, less consistent in off-man where his eyes drift to the quarterback. Ball production was modest, but the size-length-speed blend is the signature that separates him from a typical Day 3 cover man.
Press-quarters / Cover 3 zone with boundary press responsibility
Year 1: fourth corner and core special-teamer with spot outside starts in press-heavy game plans. Ceiling: dependable No. 3 boundary corner in a quarters system.
A heavy off-man/Cover 1 defense that asks corners to mirror from depth and track routes with their eyes in the backfield — his stem discipline erodes without a jam.
Value drops sharply if he is asked to play slot or match tight ends from off alignment; keep him on the boundary with his hands on receivers.
Terell Smith 2022 Highlights | Minnesota Gophers
Breakout senior season at boundary corner: press reps, perimeter run support and both interceptions.
Terell Smith Week 12: All Coverage Snaps
Every rookie-year coverage snap from a Bears start, useful for judging his press technique against NFL releases.
Terell Smith 2018 Highlights | MN Gophers Football
True freshman tape showing the early physicality that got him on the field before the technique caught up.
A five-year Minnesota cornerback who arrived as a lightly recruited Atlanta defensive back and left as the program's most physically gifted outside corner of the P.J. Fleck era. Football identity is simple and honest: press him at the boundary, let him disrupt the release, and ask him to run. He is not a matchup chess piece or a slot convert; he is a one-position, one-technique corner who plays to his length.
Development was slow. He played eight games as a true freshman in 2018, lost 2019 to a limited role, and appeared in only five games in the shortened 2020 season. The breakout came in 2022: 13 games, 38 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, five pass breakups and two interceptions as the Gophers' No. 1 corner, easily the most complete season of his college career. Flags were the thin ball-production history — four career interceptions across five years — and a tendency to grab late when beaten inside.
The board had him as a fourth-to-fifth-round developmental press corner with special-teams value, a testing profile that outran his tape. Chicago, hunting depth behind Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon, took him at 165 as a scheme-specific bet: if you play zone-heavy quarters with press at the line, the traits fit the job description exactly.
- 01
Press timing
Times the jam well and consistently redirects receivers toward the sideline, using length to reset the route stem before it ever gets vertical.
- 02
Long speed
Ran 4.41 at 204 pounds and carries vertical routes without panicking or grabbing, so posts and go balls rarely become uncovered explosives.
- 03
Length
Nearly 33-inch arms let him contest at the catch point from a trailing position, and he plays through the receiver's hands rather than the body.
- 04
Run support
Willing to set the edge and take on blocks from a boundary alignment; 4.5 tackles for loss in 2022 came largely from perimeter run fits.
- 05
Special teams value
Size, speed and contact tolerance made him an immediate gunner and coverage-unit contributor, the classic Day 3 route to a roster spot.
- 01
Ball production
Only four interceptions and modest breakup totals over five college seasons; he plays coverage well but rarely finishes the play at the ball.
- 02
Off-man eyes
In off alignments his eyes drift to the quarterback and he loses the receiver's stem, giving up separation he never gives up in press.
- 03
Short-area quickness
Change of direction lags his straight-line speed, so twitchy route runners can win underneath on comebacks and quick outs.
- 04
Late grabbing
When beaten inside he reaches and holds instead of recovering with his feet, an NFL flag that shows up against pro-level release packages.
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Minnesota | 8 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | Minnesota | 5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | Minnesota | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | Minnesota | 10 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 2022 | Minnesota | 13 | 38 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| Career | — | 41 | 92 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
2020-2022 verified against cfbstats (includes bowl games); 2018-2019 from StatMuse season table. TFL and pass-breakup splits are not published for 2018-2019, so those career totals are left unset rather than estimated.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Press-only traits corner who filled in as a starter early, then settled into depth and special-teams work.
Long, physical outside corner who carved out a multi-year role as a starting-caliber No. 3 without becoming a ballhawk.
Athletic Day 3 defensive back whose value ended up concentrated in kick coverage more than defensive snaps.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Chicago got real rookie value: Smith played 12 games in 2023 and started six when Jaylon Johnson missed time, posting 49 tackles and six pass breakups while holding up in the Bears' quarters-heavy scheme. Year 2 was a step back by role rather than play — 14 games, mostly as the third or fourth corner and a core special-teamer, with 19 tackles, four breakups and his first career interception. The 2025 season never happened: he tore the patellar tendon in his left knee in an August preseason game against Buffalo and went to injured reserve before Week 1. He returned in 2026 camp but Chicago released him on cut day, August 30, after trading for Clark Phillips III.
In hindsight the pick was a fair fifth-round outcome, not a miss. Smith gave Chicago a functional starter for a stretch of his rookie year and two seasons of real special-teams work on a cheap deal — exactly the return you underwrite at 165. What kept him from more was the thing the evaluation flagged: he never turned coverage snaps into takeaways, and the off-man limitations capped him as a scheme-specific press corner rather than an every-down answer. The knee, not the tape, is what ended the Bears chapter.