Tennessee football’s top 10 NFL DEs ever

Teams played for:

• Atlanta Falcons, 1992-1999
• Carolina Panthers, 2000

We already mentioned Chris Mims as a junior college transfer on Tennessee football’s 1990 SEC Championship team. Chuck Smith was the other transfer on the line. Those two joined Dale Carter to help offset the defensive production, which is why the Vols repeated that year as champs. In two years, Smith had 111 tackles, 67 of which were solo, and 13.5 sacks.

While Mims was a first-rounder in the NFL Draft, though, Smith fell to the second round and was taken by the Atlanta Falcons. However, that was the perfect situation for Smith, as he enjoyed an eight-year career there. At 6’2″ 252 pounds, Smith could spend time at linebacker, but he became the full-time starter at defensive end by his third year.

In 1997, Smith earned All-Pro honors despite not actually reaching the Pro Bowl. He helped the Falcons reach the NFL Playoffs the year after Deion Sanders left and then reach the Super Bowl in 1998. So the guy had lots of accomplishments in Georgia. The Carolina Panthers had Smith for two games in 2000, but his career ended after that due to multiple surgeries.

Over his nine-year career, Smith appeared in 125 games and started 89 of them. He had 58.5 sacks, 20 forced fumbles, 12 fumble recoveries and even three interceptions. In fact, he had one pick-six and a fumble recovery for a touchdown, making for two career defensive touchdowns. Add in 323 tackles 210 of which were solo, and nobody can deny his success in the pros.