Granite Bay's Smith drafted by Vikings

After a quiet first two days of the NFL Draft Thursday and Friday, Granite Bay's Cameron Smith finally heard his name called on Saturday. The 2015 Granite Bay grad and University of Southern California linebacker was chosen in the fifth round (162nd overall) by the Minnesota Vikings. "It's an honor to be a part of the Vikings," Smith said in a Twin Cities media conference call after he was drafted. "It's been a long weekend, but I just can't wipe the smile off my face." According to current Granite Bay head football coach Jeff Evans, Smith becomes the sixth former Grizzly to be drafted to the NFL, joining Adam Jennings out of Fresno State (2006), Dallas Sartz of USC (2007), Sammie Stroughter of Oregon State (2009), Devon Wylie of Fresno State (2012) and Miles Burris of San Diego State (2012). Peyton Thompson, a 2008 Granite Bay alum, was undrafted out of San Jose State but enjoyed four seasons in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2014–17. Smith, a 6-foot-2, 238-pounder, made a reputation early on as a fourth-grader mixing it up with eighth-graders on the football field. At Granite Bay, Smith helped bring a CIF State Championship to the Grizzlies' program during his sophomore season. He received numerous All-Metro and All-State honors during his junior and senior seasons. Smith earned Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year honors at USC and made the Conference of Champions' First Team honors after his junior season and the Second Team after his sophomore and senior seasons. Smith is projected by NFL scouts to become a consistent starter in his career. Alabama offensive lineman Jonah Williams, formerly of Folsom High, was chosen 11th overall in the first round by the Cincinnati Bengals. A 2017 National Champion with the Crimson Tide, Williams won a State Championship with the Bulldogs in 2014, protecting quarterback Jake Browning, who was not drafted last weekend but immediately signed a free agent deal to become teammates with Smith in Minnesota. The trio of local products has fought with and against each other for years. Williams, Browning and the Bulldogs battled with Smith's Grizzlies in the Sierra Foothill League in the early part of this decade. Browning and Smith faced off in the Pac-12 when Smith and the Trojans played Browning's Washington Huskies. Williams' Crimson Tide got the best of Browning and Washington in the 2016 College Football Playoff semifinal. Also coming out of the Sacramento area on the draft board was Arizona's PJ Johnson, formerly of Burbank High School, to the Detroit Lions in the seventh round as the 229th overall pick. Roseville and American River alum Jordan Kunaszyk went undrafted out of Cal but signed a free agent deal with the Carolina Panthers late in the weekend.