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Why Reuben Foster can become Washington Football’s Jaylon Smith

By Damien Bartonek

CHICAGO, IL - DECEMBER 03: Daniel Brown #85 of the Chicago Bears carries the football against Reuben Foster #56 of the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth quarter at Soldier Field on December 3, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Chicago Bears 15-14. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - DECEMBER 03: Daniel Brown #85 of the Chicago Bears carries the football against Reuben Foster #56 of the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth quarter at Soldier Field on December 3, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Chicago Bears 15-14. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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ARLINGTON, TEXAS – DECEMBER 29: Jaylon Smith #54 of the Dallas Cowboys reacts in the second quarter against the Washington Football Team in the game at AT&T Stadium on December 29, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS – DECEMBER 29: Jaylon Smith #54 of the Dallas Cowboys reacts in the second quarter against the Washington Football Team in the game at AT&T Stadium on December 29, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

Comparing and contrasting Reuben Foster and Jaylon Smith

Before Jaylon Smith’s catastrophic leg injury, he was a sure-fire first-round talent coming into the NFL, as was Rueben Foster. Their play styles are very similar in the sense that they’re superb run-stopping linebackers with some limitations in pass coverage.

Both had very similar leg injuries as well, both being catastrophic with a high chance of nerve damage in play. In Smith’s case, it derailed his track into the NFL, due to the severity of his injury. In Foster’s case, it put his return back to football on a stout pause after suspension and a release from his former team after alleged domestic violence incidents.

With their catastrophic injuries derailing their careers at entirely different moments, one thing that finds both of them in the same boat is the fact that the injuries they suffered could’ve very well taken their careers away.

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Their time after injury, however, couldn’t be any more different. Jaylon Smith has been a model franchise cornerstone piece for the Dallas Cowboys. After taking a season off to rehabilitate his leg injury, Smith’s improvement in the trainers’ room and on the field has put him near Pro Bowl status.

Smith has been one of the best middle linebackers in all of pro football. Being a Pro Bowler in his second season as a full-time starter in Dallas, Smith has etched his name as a perennial Pro Bowl candidate with seemingly immense potential every season, and a dark-horse for All-Pro teams for years to come.

Smith has been voted a captain for the Dallas Cowboys, he’s appeared in every game since missing the entire 2016 season, and has rebounded from dubious moments to fringe-stardom in the NFL.

Reuben Foster has been the opposite since entering the NFL. The injuries started for Foster in his rookie year, when he missed games two through six with an ankle injury.

But even through injury, he put on an encouraging rookie season through 10 games with 72 combined tackles, seven tackles for loss, five QB hits, and one pass deflection. Also, he was given an analytical grade from Pro Football Focus of 90.7, which put him No. 1 among all rookie linebackers and No. 4 among all linebackers.

His sophomore season in the NFL started as badly as it could have, with an arrest in the offseason and an arrest during the season keeping his total games played at six. Despite the shortened season, Foster did perform well on the field with 29 tackles, three tackles for loss, two QB hits, and one pass deflection.

After a controversial arrival to the Washington Football Team, he suffered a similar injury to Jaylon Smith (ACL-LCL tear) in their first week of practice in 2019. But, why would Ron Rivera still think so highly of a player coming back from this track record and from that injury?

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