Roquan Smith Records Sack on First NFL Snap

The Chicago Bears fans were given something to be excited about in NFL Week 1, as rookie Roquan Smith impressed.

Linebacker Roquan Smith recorded a sack on his first NFL snap in the season opener against the Green Bay Packers.

Roquan Smith sacked Packers quarterback DeShone Kizer with just under a minute remaining in the first half. He burst past running back Ty Montgomery, who was pass blocking, to bring Kizer down. The sack set the Packers back by nine yards as Kizer attempted to roll away from edge rusher Khalil Mack.

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The No. 8 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft didn’t start the game for the Chicago Bears. He entered the game because starting inside linebacker Danny Trevathan left with an injury.

Smith played his college football in Georgia. In 2015, he was a sparingly used freshman for the Bulldogs. That year he recorded 20 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss in 10 games. He began to start in his sophomore year, okaying in 13 games. That season he had 95 tackles, five tackles for loss, one pass deflection, one fumble recovery, and two forced fumbles.

He impressed even more in his junior season, where he recorded 137 tackles and 14 tackles for loss. As well as that, he had 6.5 sacks, two pass deflections, two fumble recoveries, and one forced fumble.

Smith was the first player in Bulldog’s history to win the Butkus Award, given to college football’s best linebacker.

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Reportedly, the Bears have Smith pencilled in to play 20 – 30 snaps this year. Along with new edge rusher Khalil Mack, he isn’t going to be rushed into action due to not playing preseason.

Smith missed training camp and preseason because of issues with his hamstring. He worked hard to get himself ready for Week 1, and will now be raring to go again.