New beginnings: A former QB, Boise State’s Smith is adjusting to life as a tight end
Riley Smith didn’t think anything of it when former Boise State football coach Bryan Harsin and tight ends coach Kent Riddle approached him during fall camp in 2019 about running some routes for the quarterbacks.
Smith was a quarterback at Bartram Trail High School in Florida, and he came to Boise State expecting to take the snaps. But playing behind Hank Bachmeier, Chase Cord and Jaylon Henderson as a redshirt freshman, he also knew he’d probably spend most of the season signaling in plays from the sideline.
So, Smith agreed to run routes in practice. He didn’t take it too seriously and just went out and had fun. But as the season began, conversations between the Florida native and his coaches went from lighthearted to him taking a serious look at moving to tight end full time.
He admits he fought the idea at first, and who can blame him?
He completed better than 60% of his passes both years that he was the starter at Bartram Trail, threw 18 touchdown passes and ran for eight more as a senior and led the team to its first state championship game in school history.
There aren’t many players who would be happy about giving up the spotlight at quarterback to get dirty in the trenches with the offensive linemen. But after a couple of season adjusting to it, Smith has not only embraced his new role, but he’s one of the favorites to replace longtime starter John Bates this season.
“As disappointing as it was in the beginning, I couldn’t be happier,” Smith told reporters on Friday. “It was a blessing in disguise.”
Smith isn’t commanding the huddle or calling audibles at the line of scrimmage these days, but he realized that he’s playing a position that is vital to the success of the offense even if it’s not as sexy as quarterback.
“Having the ball every play is nice, but blocking for your teammates and just going out and finding ways to help other people be successful is just as fun in my opinion,” Smith said.
Smith joined the Broncos as a three-star quarterback in 2018. He was rated as the No. 41 pro-style quarterback in the class, according to 247Sports composite ratings, and he had a long list of scholarship offers, which included Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Coastal Carolina among others, and he was being recruited by Ivy League programs such as Princeton, Harvard and Brown.
The early days of his transition to tight end were anything but easy, especially when it meant trying to block STUDS Sam Whitney and Demitri Washington.
“I just got destroyed by them over and over,” Smith said. “It was hard but it made me tougher and it taught me to use technique and strength.”
Blocking was obviously the most difficult part of the transition, he said, and he’s spent the past couple years focused on getting bigger and stronger to help him compete in the trenches.
It’s paying off. Smith weighed 206 pounds when he joined the Broncos in 2018, and the 6-foot-4 redshirt junior is now tipping the scales at 236.
He isn’t just using that frame to clear a path for ball carriers, though. Last fall, he recorded his first career catch — a 16-yard strike from Bachmeier in the season opener against Utah State.
A few weeks later, he hauled in the first touchdown pass of his career in the Broncos’ lopsided win over Colorado State.
“It felt like a lot of hard work was paying off and that change (from quarterback) was finally paying off for me,” Smith said last November.
Smith appeared in every game last fall and finished the season with 15 catches for 155 yards. He capped the year with four receptions for a career-high 58 yards in the Mountain West championship game against San Jose State. He also hauled in a career-long 40-yard pass against the Spartans.
He saw his snaps increase last season after Bates suffered a hamstring injury in the Broncos’ loss to BYU. Smith hauled in a career-high five passes against the Cougars, and he started the regular-season finale at Wyoming and the conference title game — both of which Bates missed.
Needless to say, Riddle expects him to take on an ever larger role this season.
“Riley has come a long way, and I can’t wait for people to see it,” Riddle said. “He’s going to be special, and I’m excited to see him pick up where John left off and continue to move that position forward.”
Smith isn’t alone in trying to replace Bates, who declared for the NFL Draft last December. Redshirt junior Tyneil Hopper (6-foot-2, 246 pounds) should also see his snaps increase this season, and the Broncos have a pair of intriguing young tight ends in redshirt freshmen Austin Bolt (6-3, 210) and Russell Corrigan (6-3, 249).
Like the rest of the Broncos’ young tight ends, he hasn’t had to figure out the position on his own. He’s had Bates to bounce ideas and questions off of.
“He was one of the biggest helps I’ve had in making the transition from quarterback,” Smith said. “I can call him with questions, and he just did a great job of setting the standard here for tight ends.”
Whether he catches five passes this season or 50, Smith said he’s already surpassed what he ever dreamed he could do as a tight end.
“I never thought I’d say it, but with the way I’ve been progressing in that role, I feel like I can take it and run with it,” he said.
Boise State’s spring game is scheduled for April 10, and the 2021 season opener is scheduled for Sept. 4 against UCF in Orlando, Florida.
This story was originally published March 22, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
