Irish in the NFL: Notre Dame football alum Harrison Smith comes in at No. 21 in PFF Top 50

Former Notre Dame football player and current Minnesota Viking Harrison Smith got some love from Pro Football Focus recently.

As we recently reported, Pro Football Focus — one of the most well-respected football sites on the planet — is in the process of releasing its annual “PFF50”, counting down the Top 50 players in the NFL. Former Notre Dame football player and current Minnesota Viking safety Harrison Smith made he list at No. 21. He joins Zack Martin, who came in at No. 40.

Smith — the 29th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft — has been regarded as one of the very best NFL players at his position for most of his career. He’s a four-time Pro Bowler, a First Team All-Pro in 2017 and a Second Team All-Pro in 2018.

So far in his career, Smith has logged 573 tackles, 12 quarterback sacks, 20 interceptions and 46 pass deflections. He has also scored four defensive touchdowns.

In 2017, he won Pro Football Focus’ Dwight Stephenson Award, given by the site to the best player in the NFL that season — regardless of position.

PFF lauded Smith’s elite skill set against both the run and the pass, with their analytics ranking him as a top-five player at the safety position in both of those categories.

Something else to consider when discussing Smith and his ongoing dominance at his position is the division in which he plays in and the quarterbacks he faces six times per year. Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford and Mitchell Trubisky operate some of the most high-powered offenses in the league — and Smith and the Viking defense face those teams six times every season.

Not an easy task.

Pro Football Focus is not done with its PFF50 just yet, as they still need to reveal their Top 20 players. I have a hunch at least one more former Notre Dame football player will make the list. If and when that happens, I’ll break it down right here at Slap The Sign.