Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tykee Smith Seeks to Emulate Antoine Winfield Jr.'s Game

Rookie safety Tykee Smith has an obvious role model in Bucs' training camp, and his experience at Georgia has prepared him to deal with top competition and play a versatile role on defense

Jul 30, 2024 at 06:28 PM

Scott Smith

Senior Writer/Editor

Georgia safety Tykee Smith had two opportunities to meet with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 2024 pre-draft process, once at the NFL Scouting Combine and once during a "Top-30" visit to the team's headquarters. During the latter, Smith sat down with what would prove to be his first NFL position coach, Nick Rapone, and fielded a question he had heard before and was ready for.

The question: What NFL players does he try to pattern his game after. The answer: Antoine Winfield Jr., Tyrann Mathieu and Budda Baker. All three are "undersized" playmakers and all three, coincidentally, have at some point been under Rapone's tutelage. Rapone coached Mathieu and Baker in their first five NFL seasons from 2013-17 with the Arizona Cardinals and later inherited Winfield upon joining the Bucs' coaching staff in 2019. All three have earned Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro honors.

"It's crazy, I got this question throughout the draft process [and] from Coach Rapone," said Smith. "Coming out I really liked Winfield, Tyrann Mathieu, Budda Baker…not the biggest guys but play the biggest. I think they do a real good job with their preparation and being ready on Sundays and for games. And Coach Rapone has had a chance to coach all three of them. That's another blessing, getting a chance to learn from him."

Winfield, Mathieu and Baker have always been chess pieces that their defensive coordinators move all over the board. After nabbing Smith in the third round of this year's draft, the Buccaneers immediately announced their intention to give him a shot at the slot corner job while also working him at safety. That has in fact been the approach in this year's training camp so far, and Head Coach Todd Bowles has been impressed with how Smith has carried himself like a veteran through the first week. It's very reminiscent of his comments about Winfield during his rookie camp in 2020.

"I bring a lot of different versatility to the position, being able to play in the box, cover the slot and set an edge," said Smith. "I've been having real fun playing [in the slot] but also cross-training at safety."

Smith played two seasons at West Virginia before transferring to Georgia in 2021. He soon became a leader on one of the nation's best defenses, and in 2023 he racked up 70 tackles, 2.0 sacks, 8.5 tackles for loss, four interceptions and six passes defensed. He led the team in each of those last three categories. Now that camp is in full swing in Tampa, Smith feels fortunate that the Bucs' defensive system bears a lot of similarities to what he got used to in Athens. He can already tell that his hours working with Georgia Head Coach Kirby Smart, former Defensive Backs Coach Will Muschamp and Linebackers Coach Glenn Schumann are paying off at the next level.

"Training camp has been going really well," he said. "I'm getting adjusted to the Florida heat, not something I'm used to from where I'm from. I've been getting adjusted real well. We ran a similar system to what I ran at Georgia. It's different terminology but similar system, very similar.

"The system that they ran there is very similar to here, so being able to talk ball with [the Georgia coaches], I think that kind of helped me be prepared for that moment."

Smith said he's always looking forward to the next challenge. It was that motivation that spurred his move from West Virginia to Georgia, so that he could compete against the best, not only in the SEC but in practice every day. He's taking it up yet another level in his transition to the NFL, and he feels like his path to this spot prepared him well.

"I went to the University of Georgia, so I kind of went against a lot of top guys every day," said Smith. "That was another reason why I transferred to Georgia, to get that exposure and be on that level and go against that competition every day. I think that definitely helped me at this level."

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TAMPA, FL - July 29, 2024 - Outside Linebacker Yaya Diaby #0 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during 2024 Training Camp at AdventHealth Training Center. Photo By Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers