Longshot look: Chris Smith II needs to establish himself in crowded safety group

3rd-year pro is special teams mainstay but veteran Lonnie Johnson Sr. can take that role

Finding a niche as a special teams mainstay isn’t necessarily the sexiest way to go about an NFL career.

But for a late-round draft pick, that career path can lead to a long career as special teams is the easiest and most prolonged way in ensuring you’ve got a 53-man roster spot year in, year out.

This is where Las Vegas Raiders safety Chris Smith II finds himself. Entering his third year in the league after being taken in the fifth round (170th overall) in the 2023 NFL Draft, the 25-year-old hasn’t been able to break into the defensive rotation but is an active participant in Tom McMahon’s special teams group. Earning 191 special teams snaps as a rookie, Smith garnered 276 in 2024 as his participation rates were 61 and 66 percent in his first two season in Las Vegas.

Headed into 2025 under new head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Spytek, Smith appears set to at least be a special teamer again. The 5-foot-11 and 195-pound Georgia product has good size for the unit. However, the Raiders new head honcho is all about competition across the board to earn snaps and Smith is in a spot where he must establish himself in a suddenly crowded safety room in Las Vegas.

Two new faces have joined the Raiders in Hudson Clark (undrafted free agent from Arkansas) and Jonathan Sutherland (second-year pro undrafted free agent out of Penn State). Sutherland — who spent time with Carroll in 2023 with the Seattle Seahawks — was one of several players added as the Raiders made a roster moves on Monday.

Clark and Sutherland make it a safety group of eight.

Veterans Jeremy Chinn and Lonnie Johnson Jr. were added during free agency back in March and the newcomers join incumbents: Isaiah Pola-Mao, Smith, Trey Taylor, and Thomas Harper.

The likely starting safeties in that group of eight are Chinn and Pola-Mao, two bigger defenders at 6-foot-3, 220 pounds and 6-foot-4, 205 pounds, respectively. Competition will sort out the starters and rotational players, along with the special teamers in the safety group.

While Smith has familiarity with McMahon’s special teams unit the past two seasons, he’ll face a strong challenge from Johnson.

At 6-foot-2 and 213 pounds, the 29-year-old veteran has the size and experience advantage over Smith. Johnson, a second round pick (54th overall) by the Houston Texans in the 2019 draft, had the opposite career path in a sense as he went from defensive starter to special teamer from the first three years of his career to the las trio of seasons.

Johnson spent the 2024 season with the Carolina Panthers where he played 339 snaps on special teams (81 percent of the units total) while seeing just 13 on defense. The Kentucky product finished with seven total tackles last season.

Considering his light participation rate the last three seasons on defense, expect Johnson to vie for special teams snaps in Las Vegas. HIs most productive season as a safety on defense was in 2021 with the Texans (55 total tackles, three interceptions, and six pass deflections).

But it won’t only be Johnson and Smith trying to earn a role on special teams and defense. Second-year safeties Thomas Harper and Trey Taylor are going to be equally as hungry to make the team.

Harper, an undrafted free agent from Notre Dame, was claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Chargers at cutdown day and earned his way to 191 defensive snaps and 265 on special teams. The 5-foot-10 and 195-pounder is only 24 years old and can play safety or work in as a nickel/slot defender.

Taylor, on the other hand, was the Raiders’ seventh round pick (223rd overall) in last year’s draft. He’s got good size at 6-feet, 213 pounds and he earned 155 special teams snaps this past season.

If Smith hasn’t shown progression as a tackler and cover man in his third season, he’s going to be in a cluster of younger players looking for a roster spot, too. It’s highly likely defensive coordinator Patrick Graham uses three safeties over the course of the season on defense. Especially considering Chinn and Pola-Mao are of the taller/bigger variety.

But let’s assume the volume of snap counts go to those two as the starting safeties. That means less snaps on defense for the other six safeties looking to make the team.

Unless Smith, Harper, et. al show out and prove they belong, someone is going to get lost in the shuffle and find themselves released or on the practice squad.