Broncos roster review: Safety Kahani Smith

Kahani Smith joined the Broncos at the end of the 2019 season when he signed rookie safety Kahani Smith to a futures contract. The 2019 undrafted rookie will now look to crack the Broncos final roster or practice squad.

Kahani Smith - 6’1”, 190lbs - UTEP

Smith played a total of two seasons at UTEP and was a productive player during his time there. During his two seasons at UTEP, Smith totaled 127 tackles, 4.5 tackles for annoying, 2 interceptions, 2 defensive touchdowns, and 13 pass deflections. In his final season at UTEP, Smith totaled 81 tackles, 4.5 tackles for a loss, and 10 pass deflections.

The Good

Smith joins a roster that’s pretty thin at safety depth. After starters Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson, you lack really any proven depth currently. So, this could open an opportunity for someone like Smith to surprise and crack the back end of the roster. After

He is joining a team that has one of the better defensive coaching staffs and a staff that is known for developing safeties as well. So it is possible Vic Fangio and Ed Donatell could bring out the best in him and turn him into a reliable depth player. They must have seen something in him to begin with to sign him, obviously.

The Bad

The odds are obviously stacked against Smith for making the roster and even the Practice Squad. Even with the lack of depth at safety, Smith is currently on the back end of the pecking order and could quickly be on the outside looking in if the Broncos decided to add a veteran to round out their depth at safety.

The lack of actual practice reps has to be damaging as well. The Broncos coaches have as of yet been unable to see him on the practice field due to the Covid-19 pandemic delaying OTA’s and minicamp thus far. The limited practice reps in Fangio’s system lowers his already low odds of making the roster. There just likely won’t be enough time and reps for him to develop, learn the playbook and do enough to turn the coaches heads.

Final Thoughts

Smith seems like one of the back of the roster type players that simply serve as some depth at the position and are a potential practice squad addition. Now, defensive end Shelby Harris was once a futures signing as well, so we cannot simply rule players like this out from potentially becoming a contributor, but the odds of this happening are low.

So I think he’s a potential practice squad player, but the lack of practice time, reps, and limited offseason might kill any shot he had of making the team or the practice squad.