New KC Chiefs TE Irv Smith Jr. Confident in Fit With Travis Kelce and Noah Gray
The Kansas City Chiefs have a new tight end in town as Blake Bell and Jody Fortson enter unrestricted free agency. Irv Smith Jr. is the latest member of the position group, joining Travis Kelce and Noah Gray on the depth chart via a one-year contract.
While Smith won't play a massive role in the Andy Reid-Matt Nagy offense in the 2024 season, he's still excited to have an opportunity nonetheless.
Speaking on Thursday, Smith was introduced to local media on Zoom to kick off getting acclimated to a new city. According to him, his choice to join the Chiefs stemmed from a few different things. The usage of tight ends was one of them, and Smith is thrilled to learn from the league's best and chase some wins as well.
"With Kansas City, the history they have using the tight ends," Smith said. "Running a lot of 12-personnel, 13-personnel [and] using multiple-tight end sets. Being able to get behind a guy like Travis Kelce and learn from him and pick his brain with anything. And just win football games. That's my favorite thing to do is be a part of winning teams and help teams win. Whatever I've got to do to help this team win games and succeed, I'm going to do my part."
Smith's football journey has been an up-and-down one. After leaving Alabama, he was selected with the 50th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft and had back-to-back 300-plus-yard seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. After missing all of 2021 with an injury, he played in just eight games during the ensuing campaign and struggled to make as much of an impact. Last season was spent with the Cincinnati Bengals, seeing Smith haul in 18 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown in 12 games.
Despite the lack of high-level production, Smith remains an intriguing fit in Kansas City's tight end room. As he mentioned, Reid is a major proponent of getting into heavier sets. It helps diversify the offense and keep opposing defenses guessing, also assisting in the run game due to more (and better) blockers being in the bulk of the formation. Smith, a versatile "move" tight end who can line up in a variety of spots, believes this is the perfect scheme for him. He thinks he'll complement Kelce and Gray well.
"I see myself bringing some youth to the room, some juice," Smith said. "I see myself being an impact in the run game, in the pass game, any way I can help the team. For me, I feel like I'm a versatile player and I can make a lot of plays on both sides of the field. With Travis and Noah Gray, using those 13-personnels and 12-personnels, figuring out each other and how we mesh well with each other. At the end of the day, we're going to be getting each other open and feeding off each other. I'm an unselfish guy and I've been a part of a lot of heavy 12-personnel teams and 13, and I feel like that's what I strive best in."
Last, but certainly not least, Reid is one of the most creative play designers in the league. His football mind is historically good, as evidenced by the unique reps his offense runs throughout the season. Trick concepts, in addition to pre-snap motion and leaning into multiple sets, are a minor staple of a modern Chiefs offense. With players like Kelce and Gray involved in the offense, Smith will slot in and play a supporting role. He appears just fine with buying into the system of what will be his third career NFL team.
"It's definitely exciting," Smith said. "Watching the Chiefs, I mean, the games are electric. The type of playmakers are on the field, the type of plays Coach Andy Reid is calling. He's getting his playmakers involved. Whatever the team can do to win games, they're going to do it. Those trick plays, those are always fun because it keeps the defense on their toes and they don't know what to expect type of thing. And also, it gets to highlight some players and certain things they usually wouldn't get to do. Super awesome."
