Ryan Smith (cornerback, born 1993)

Ryan Smith (born September 7, 1993) is an American football cornerback who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Buccaneers in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He played college football for the North Carolina Central Eagles. Ryan Smith was born in Germany on September 7, 1993, to parents Damon and Traci Richardson, and raised in Clinton, Maryland, where he spent the majority of his childhood. He moved to Upper Marlboro, Maryland in high school, where he attended Dr. Henry A. Wise, Jr. High School. His younger brother Tre Smith played defense at NCCU with him. In high school, Smith was a dual athlete playing football and basketball. He made up in his mind that football was the more logical sport to pursue in order to help his family pay for his college tuition. In a press conference shortly after he was drafted, Smith stated that if his plans of playing in the NFL hadn't come true, he would have joined the United States Marshals Service. Smith attended North Carolina Central University (NCCU) from 2012 to 2015, playing in 45 games and starting 42. He set multiple team records for solo tackles (168) and kickoff return yard average (28.1). On top of that among NCCU career leaders, Smith finished sixth in tackles (263) and tied for 11th in passes defended with 31 (7 interceptions, 24 pass break-ups). In his freshman season, he was redshirted and played in all 11 games, starting 8 of them. Smith ended his freshman season as NCCU's second-leading tackler with 65 total takedowns, second with three interceptions and third with eight passes defended (three interceptions, five pass break-ups). Smith was selected to the College Sports Journal Football Championship Subdivision Freshman All-America team. Smith started all 12 games in his redshirt sophomore season. He ranked second on the Eagles and 19th in the MEAC with 88 total tackles (51 solo). He was also ranked number one on the team and ranked fourth in the MEAC with 3 fumble recoveries. In his redshirt junior campaign, he started all 12 games making the switch from safety to cornerback in his redshirt junior season.