The Cardinal Countdown: 43 Days Until Kickoff

#43 Damien Smith

Class: Junior

Ht/Wt: 6-1/240

Position: Linebacker

Hometown: Louisville, KY (Product of Manual High School)

Twitter: @__djsmith

Thoughts: Damien is a local kid who has worked his way from being a full time practice player to a guy getting a decent amount of live reps in 2016, appearing in 7 games on both defense and special teams.

While still very talent rich at linebacker one would anticipate Smith continuing to get quality reps on special teams and maybe getting to lay a hit or three on some fools at linebacker when games are well in hand. Glad to see a young man like Smith grow over the last few years from a talented local prospect to someone who the Cards count on to know his role when called upon in two different phases of the game.

Nice little example to look at for any local kids about how hard work can put you in a position to succeed. Speaking of recruiting…and linebackers…check out this inside look with Cort Dennison, the inside linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator for the Cards.

Sweet Tweet:

Not sure if I’ve ever hit on this on the Countdown or not but I’d assume most of us at least have some general interest in the NFL, even if college football is your go to. As a Bears fan…well, things have certainly been better for me than watching that product on the field the last 3 or 4 years. Curious as to what the distribution among the other Cards fans on here is in terms of who you root for in the pro game. Take a second and drop your team in the comments so we can all ridicule you and/or laugh at your misfortunes.

It’ll be a blast.