ATHENS – No word from Tykee Smith’s camp to know if there has been a ritualistic burning or other form of destruction to the knee brace that has accompanied his every step on a football field the last calendar year. Nevertheless, he most definitely is thrilled to finally have that thing off his left leg.
For the first time since suffering an ACL injury on Oct. 13, 2021, Smith is running free in Georgia’s defensive backfield. He has shed that dastardly brace – hopefully for good – and that’s a very good thing both for Smith and for the Bulldogs, who hope to show off a reloaded defense in the annual G-Day spring game this Saturday (4 p.m., ESPN2).
It’s been a long time coming for the fifth-year senior from Philadelphia by way of West Virginia. Despite being injured pretty much the entire time since arriving as a highly-touted transfer in 2021, Smith has actually played a decent amount of winning football for the Bulldogs. That has been enough of a sample size to know he can help.
However, indications are that what’s ahead might be even better. First of all, Smith is participating in spring practice for the first time since arriving at UGA. Secondly, he’s also fully healthy for the first time as a Bulldog.
“It’s definitely a blessing just to be out there in the spring,” said Smith, who played in 14 games encumbered by that knee brace last season. “I’ve never been through a spring before. Getting to go through a whole season fully healthy and getting confidence back has definitely been the biggest thing.”
Smith already has done some good work for the Bulldogs. He enters Saturday’s G-Day game No. 7 among returning defensive lettermen with 28 tackles, 2 sacks, 4 quarterback hurries, one pass breakup and a forced fumble.
Still, that falls short of the expectations that accompanied Smith when he arrived in Athens from Morgantown, W.Va., in June of 2021. He showed up as a two-time All-American after completing his spring semester academic work at West Virginia. He impressed the Bulldogs that first summer and initial preseason camp, but went down with a sprained foot that sidelined him for the first five games.
No sooner did Smith return than he was hurt again. This time he suffered a torn ACL on the Wednesday before Georgia’s homecoming game against Kentucky.
Just like that, Smith was back in surgery, then back in Ron Courson’s rehabilitation facility.
“Tykee has been through a tough road,” Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart said this past Saturday. “Let’s be honest, before he ever got here, he had already been labeled to be an unbelievable guy, an All-American, first team, just everything. … But even without the injuries, this is the most competitive environment there is to go out and play. He’s taken that head on.”
The timing for Smith finally getting well could not be any better for the Bulldogs. They lost All-American safety Christopher Smith to graduation and All-American cornerback Kelee Ringo to the NFL Draft from last year’s title team.
Meanwhile, Javon Bullard is back. Bullard, a rising junior, plays the same position as Smith. They both play the nickelback position that the Bulldogs call the “star.” And it’s hard to imagine anybody playing it better than Bullard did last year.
Nobody but Jalen Carter graded higher on defense for the Bulldogs than Bullard. He received an 80.5 grade while playing 624 snaps last season. Bullard’s work earned him defensive NVP honors in both the College Football Playoff semifinals and national championship game.
But that also overshadowed some pretty good work for Smith, who played a relatively miniscule 256 snaps as Bullard’s understudy.
The thought is Georgia may need both players on the field in the secondary if it is duplicate the kind of success it has had the last two seasons. Both Bullard and Smith have been cross-training at safety. There are indications that Bullard might make a full-time transition to safety in order for the Bulldogs to have their five best defensive backs on the field in 2023.
Smith, for one, is not about to make any pronouncements.
“I can’t really speak on my role right now,” he said. “That’s a coach’s decision, at the end of the day.”
It is, but Smart and the Bulldogs clearly are liking what they’re seeing from Smith so far.
“I think he’s put himself in a position to have a really, really good season with the way he’s practiced and led,” Smart said.
In the meantime, Smith is just going to take it day-by-day and do the best he can to stay healthy. He continues to undergo preventative physical therapy before and after every practice and workout. For the first time since he has worn a Georgia uniform, Smith said he feels fast and fully conditioned. He said his GPS numbers have gotten back into the 20-mph range.
It’s not about proving anything to anybody, Smith said. As he has stated before, it’s all about doing everything he can to earn a living and take care of his daughter, 14-month-old Zyla Smith, who is living back home in Philadelphia.
“My motivation is to be in position to feed her,” Smith said. “… I’m not trying to get back to being the player that I was. I’m just trying to be the best version of myself now.”
By all accounts, that’s pretty good.
