VFL and Tennessee native Trey Smith will become the fourth former player in Tennessee program history to compete in three Super Bowls when his Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night in Super Bowl LIX.
Moreover, Smith would become the first Tennessee player to win back-to-back-to-back Super Bowls with a victory on Sunday night.
Smith has been a perennial starter with the Chiefs during his time in Kansas City and might’ve put together his best professional season leading into Sunday’s big game this year.
According to Pro Football Focus, Smith is the 14th highest-graded offensive guard in the league and has the 10th-highest run-blocking grade among all guards. Additionally, Smith has not allowed a single sack this season and has played the ninth-most snaps (1,115) of all guards in the NFL.
So why is ESPN calling Smith a “backup” ahead of the Super Bowl?
During a recent episode of ESPN’s Get Up program, former NFL player Bart Scott shared a confusing take on the former Vol ahead of his third Super Bowl in four years.
“They had to take their best interior guy (Joe Thuney) and move him outside,” Scott said when discussing the impact of the Eagles’ defensive line. “So now, Jalen Carter is going against a backup in Trey Smith and (Mike) Caliendo. That’s going to be a lot to have to deal with.”
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Scott’s take isn’t as bad as some on social media have made it but he clearly either got confused or wasn’t researched enough on national television.
Chiefs’ All-Pro guard Joe Thuney did move from left guard to left tackle this season which currently has Mike Caliendo in the starting left guard role instead. But on the right side, though? Smith is in his normal right guard spot, a position that he has dominated at in the past few seasons.
There’s no doubt that Carter could wreak havoc on the left side of the Chiefs’ line with the replacement player at the guard position, but Smith is far from a backup in the right interior position.
Smith was named to his first career Pro Bowl this past year but was unable to participate due to Sunday’s Super Bowl.
Perhaps it was an accidental slip-up while mixing up the interior players, which could happen to anyone, or perhaps it was just bad research. Either way, it doesn’t stop the fact that a former Tennessee Volunteer will be looking for his third career Super Bowl in just a few hours.
Trey Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs will take on the Philadelphia Eagles at 6:30 p.m. ET on FOX in Super Bowl LIX on Sunday evening from New Orleans.
Check out the full conversation from ESPN below:
“Jalen Carter is going up against a backup in Trey Smith… I like the Philadelphia Eagles.”
— @BartScott57 | @GetUpESPN pic.twitter.com/sqPZZbFQ7j
— Chiefs Receipts (@ChiefsReceipts) February 9, 2025
