Trey Smack, the only kicker selected in this year’s NFL draft and a sixth-round pick (No. 216 overall) from Florida, was identified while playing club lacrosse in Maryland and later trained by former NFL kicker Matt Stover, according to ESPN. The report says Smack did not consider football until his sophomore year of high school and arrived at kicking after a series of unlikely events.
Smack played soccer and lacrosse at Severna Park High School, and one of his lacrosse teammates, Joe Stover, told his father about Smack’s ability with a football, per the report. Matt Stover agreed to evaluate Smack after hearing the recommendation and offered his customary two-option assessment to visiting kickers.
The report says Smack accepted the single-kick option, produced a strong boot without a warmup and immediately impressed Stover enough that he alerted Smack’s mother. Stover concluded that Smack possessed a professional leg as a teenager and subsequently took on a role in his development, the report adds. Stover also compared the intervention to his earlier work with other kickers named in the report.
The COVID-19 pandemic played a role in Smack’s transition to football, the report says, when lacrosse goals were locked and he began practicing placekicking. He attended a camp about nine months later and was ranked 13th nationally; less than a year afterward he rose to No. 1 in the high school kicker rankings, per the report. Stover worked with Smack on technique, identifying and correcting a power-driven flaw that threatened accuracy, according to the report.
Per the report, Smack converted 53 of 64 field-goal attempts and all but one of 101 extra-point attempts during his college career at Florida. The Packers acquired him amid a prolonged search for a stable kicker: the report outlines turnover since Mason Crosby’s last season in 2022, mentions Anders Carlson’s 2023 stint and a playoff miss, Brayden Narveson’s brief 2024 run, and the later signing of Brandon McManus following a strong second half of the 2024 season and a multi-year deal the report says was finalized last offseason.
