Last December, Gophers star defensive end Anthony Smith told the Pioneer Press his goal was to be a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL draft.
“Being in the green room and my name being called, literally, the first day,” Smith said before the playing in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
The conventional wisdom was the Battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe against Wisconsin on Saturday would be his final regular-season game, but the redshirt junior was not bidding farewell when asked about his future in Wednesday’s news conference. The Shippensburg, Pa., native has one more year of eligibility remaining for next fall and appears to be contemplating using it.
“I don’t know yet,” Smith said Wednesday. “I got to focus on this week. Like always, my goal has been to go to the NFL, whenever that happens.”
Smith was then asked a similar question on whether he will walk on Senior Day at Huntington Bank Stadium. He was noncommittal on participating in those festivities Saturday, which are not a guarantee on whether a player is coming back or not.
Smith has been considered the only candidate to potentially continue the Gophers’ streak of having a first- or second-round pick in six straight drafts since 2020. But his stock might be slipping; he was left off The Athletic’s list of Top 50 draft candidates earlier this fall.
At 6-foot-6 and 285 pounds, Smith has a Big Ten-leading 10 1/2 sacks in 11 games as well as 37 total pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. But his season has been up and down, including a season-low 40.9 overall grade from PFF in the 38-35 defeat to Northwestern last Saturday.
One litmus test for draft stock is how a player performs against the best of the best, and Smith did not show out against Ohio State (zero pressures), Iowa (one pressure) and Oregon (two pressures and one sack).
If Smith does return for next fall, it would be a big boost for the Gophers D-line. Minnesota will lose a handful of key interior linemen, including fifth-year senior tackle Devein Eastern, sixth-year tackle Jalen Logan-Redding and sixth-year tackle Rushawn Lawrence.
That trio has run out of eligibility, but it’s wait and see on Smith.
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