NFL Draft Diamonds Prospect Interview: Ryan Smith, DB, North Carolina Central University

NFL Draft Diamonds and our staff have been bringing our readers Prospect Interviews over the past 2 years and this year we mixed up the questions and added some fun questions for our readers. We have tons of NFL staff that read our interviews, and we actually received several of the questions from NFL scouts we speak too. This gives them a little bit more information regarding your character. We hope to bring you more than 300 interviews of NFL Draft Prospects this season. You will be able to track them all on the front page of our website in the banner.

What is your name?

Ryan Smith


What is your Height/Weight? 

6’0 190


What is your position? 

DB & KR


Where do you play college football? 

North Carolina Central University


Football is about giving back, what is the coolest thing you have done off the field? 

The coolest event that I think I did was making cards for little kids and helping decorate all of them. 


What was the hardest college class you ever had to take?

Statistics in criminal justice


Where are you from? 

Maryland 


Who is your role model, and why? 

My mother is my role model because she is the one who has been there all my life. My biological father wasn’t in my life so my mother was like my father to me as well. Now that I have a step father who I consider my real father, I have two role models I look up to. 


Growing up I played baseball, basketball and football 
Did you play any other positions in football? 

Other positions I played were WR (in high school), Safety, and kick return
At your position, what separates you from others? What separates me from others is that I am very coachable, my drive is on another level, I am a competitor, you won’t find my speed and strength in a lot of players, I can cover slot players, my athletic ability and how I am a versatile player because I can also play safety. I am also a technician.  

When you are breaking down film, what do you look for?

When I break down film, I look for the personal that the office might come out in so I can get a good idea of what plays may come out of it. Also tendency’s that the WR may do. As far as his splits, where he lines up, where his hands are, how he comes off the line, etc.  
Who was the toughest player you ever faced? Duke WR (I don’t remember their names)
If you could compare your play to one player in the NFL who would it be and why? I would compare my play to Patrick Peterson because I try to do a lot of things that he does in the game. That goes with kick return, punt return, and checking the best receiver on the other team wherever he goes on the field. 
What was the biggest obstacle in your life you had to overcome, and how did you overcome it? 
The biggest obstacle was when I was falsely accused of something and not knowing where it was going to go. I overcame that by trusting God and staying prayed up; believing that I had nothing to worry about because I know I did nothing wrong.

Do you have any pre-game rituals?

My brother and I say our high school prayer before we leave the locker room and go on the field, and then right before kickoff, we pray over ourselves and everyone else that steps on that field that we all walk off as we walked on; injury free!


What is your biggest strength? 

My biggest strength on the field is being able to read 3 step in shotgun and playing Man. And off the field my strength is have a great personality and being able to get along with just about anybody.


What is your biggest weakness? 

My weakness on the field is not fully being able to read 3 step under center and sometimes I have poor eye discipline. 


If I were a GM and gave you a second to sell yourself, what would you say? 

I would say I am a hard worker; I am always on 100% go. I believe you practice like you play so I will always give you my best. I believe that I am a complete corner and I have everything that you need. I am very coachable and I do my job!! 


Who was your favorite player and/or NFL team growing up? 

Patrick Peterson/ growing up my favorite team were the colts. 


If you could have dinner with three people dead or alive, who would you choose? 

Obama, Patrick Peterson, and My brother Rodney McMillian. 


What will be the first big item you buy once you are in the NFL?

All my life I always wanted an Audi. So I think that would be the first big thing I buy.