Three years after Mason Crosby's departure, the Green Bay Packers are still trying to find his long-term replacement. Crosby kicked in Green Bay for 16 consecutive seasons. The Packers have worked through three kickers since then, and they may have just found their fourth.
Enter Trey Smack, whom the Packers traded up to land on Day 3 of the draft. Brian Gutekunst clearly rated him highly, as he punted away both of the team's seventh-round picks to move back into the sixth round for Smack.
While the Florida kicker could replace veteran Brandon McManus, Packers fans understandably have concerns that the team has walked into the same mistake as when they drafted Anders Carlson in 2023.
Crosby calmed those fears. While hosting his show on the Wisconsin Sports Radio Network, the Packers' all-time points scorer explained why the trade-up for Smack makes sense.
"He was the No. 1-graded kicker in this draft. He's the best kicker in this draft," Crosby said. "If you don't think you're going to add value in that seventh round or in that area, why go and just get somebody that you're going to have to maybe release or figure something out with? Get a guy that can and go and compete right now and maybe bolster that position for a long time to come."
The question is whether Smack is good enough to win the job ahead of McManus. The Packers have already been burned by one recent draft pick at the position. Only time will tell, but Crosby sees a clear difference in technique between Smack and Carlson.
"Everyone's going to compare this draft to the Anders Carlson one, but this kid's productivity speaks for itself. He had a really good career there at Florida. Hits a great ball. When I watch him, he has all the skill set to go and get the job done. Carlson kinda had that weird--he was a little more straight-on vertical, a lot of movement with his ball. Smack doesn't look to have any of that."
Mason Crosby is 100 percent correct with his take about Packers' trade-up for Trey Smack
Crosby is spot-on here.
Unlike Carlson, Smack was the clear No. 1 kicker in this year's class. The consensus board backed it up. In 2023, two kickers, Jake Moody and Chad Ryland, came off the board multiple rounds before Carlson. The consensus boards had Carlson as an undrafted free agent, not even a late-round pick.
And Smack has the college production behind him. According to Wes Hodkiewicz of Packers.com, Smack converted 82.8 percent of his field goals during his time at Florida while setting a new school record for booting through 10 kicks from 50-plus yards on only 13 attempts.
As Rich Eisen said repeatedly on the TV broadcast, Trey Smack can "Smack It!"
Carlson, meanwhile, had converted just 71.8 percent of his field goals during a five-year stretch at Auburn before arriving in Green Bay, including records of just 66.7 percent and 70.6 percent in his final two seasons.
Crosby also makes a great point about the thought process of trading up. We repeatedly heard about how thin this draft class was, so the risk of trading away two seventh-rounders is minimal. Smack might not make it work in the NFL, but he at least has a shot of becoming an important starter who directly impacts games.
There's also a good chance the Packers ended up with the players they would've targeted in Round 7. Green Bay signed 11 undrafted free agents, including four prospects they hosted for pre-draft visits. It's likely that the Packers would've drafted at least one of their undrafted signings in the seventh round.
And even if not, taking a swing on Smack is a risk worth taking. Crosby's analysis is 100 percent. Now, we hope Smack is the successor to Crosby that the Packers have been searching for.
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