Tampa used their 108th pick on North Carolina Central University’s cornerback Ryan Smith. Tampa has drafted a player out of NCCU before, defensive end Greg Peterson who was selected in the fifth round of the 2007 draft. Smith and Peterson are the only two players selected in the NFL draft since DB Robert Massey was selected in the second round of the 1989 draft, by the Saints.
Smith played four years at NCCU leaving with a career record of 168 solo tackles and finishing sixth in career tackles, with 263. He can proudly boast, 31 career pass defends with 7 of those being interceptions, and 24 of them breakups. Pretty solid for a corner selected in the 4th round.
Not only did he play corner, he returned kicks. As a senior, Smith ranked 1oth in the nation with an average of 28.1 yards per kickoff return. That is something Tampa desperately needs.
