Anthony Smith landed on the Big Ten's preseason honors list, the latest recognition in a summer that's turned into a steady stream of accolades for Minnesota's star defensive end.
The bigger news broke a day earlier, when the conference named Smith its Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, picking him over a field that included his former teammate Koi Perich. Smith earned the honor off a 2025 season in which he racked up 38 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks, leading the Big Ten in sacks and becoming the first Gopher to top the conference in that category since Karon Riley in 2000. That production also landed him First-Team All-Big Ten.
Smith, a redshirt senior defensive end out of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, turned down the chance to enter the NFL Draft as a projected top-100 pick and came back for one more season in Minneapolis. He's made his intentions for this defensive line clear. "I think of the bad boy Pistons," Smith said. "When they talk about Minnesota Golden Gopher D-line, think of the bad boy Pistons."
The Big Ten honor is just the latest entry on Smith's resume this offseason. The Walter Camp Foundation named him a Preseason All-American, Phil Steele Publications tabbed him First-Team All-American, and Athlon Sports named him one of nine Gophers on its preseason All-Big Ten list. Between the individual hardware and the program's expectations for its defensive front, Smith heads into his final college season as the centerpiece of a Minnesota defense that's betting he can carry that 2025 form into the fall.
