Minnesota Vikings outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith was revered for his performance for about the first two months of the 2022 season.
Smith stockpiled 9.5 sacks in 10 weeks and seemed like a marvelous free-agent addition, even garnering fringe Defensive Player of the Year attention. But after the Vikings wild win over the Buffalo Bills in Week 10, Smith’s sack total simply ceased, tallying just 0.5 from Week 11 to Week 18. Smith was still a QB-pressure machine, but folks evidently don’t care about those if sacks aren’t flying onto the statsheet
The Odd Little Fact about Za’Darius Smith in 2023
So, the sizzle over the former Green Bay Packer faded, and Smith somehow wound up in the 2023 offseason “cap casualty” conversations among fans.