Trey Smith has been one of the best interior linemen in football for the last half decade. The former Tennessee Vols standout has anchored a Kansas City offensive line that’s been to three Super Bowls and won two of them.

Smith received a notable acknowledgment on Sunday by those around the league. ESPN polled NFL executives, coaches, and scouts, and Smith checked in as the No. 7 interior offensive linemen in the league. Smith was ranked as high as two in one voter’s poll and as low as unranked in others, which is hard to imagine.

Still, despite the honor, Smith caught a bit of a stray from one coach, according to ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler.

Trey Smith ranks No. 7 on ESPN list of top 10 IOL, but gets a bit of bulletin board material from one NFL coach

“You can knock him back in the pocket or beat him backward,” Fowler quoted a veteran NFL defensive coach as saying. “That’s how we felt last year.”

Fowler also noted that “several voters said he had a down year in 2025.”

Smith had his lowest Pro Football Focus overall offensive mark of his five-year career last season with a 68.5 mark. His run blocking mark was also a career low at 63.0. However, his pass blocking mark was a career best at 75.1. That seems to jive with Fowler’s assessment of the positives of his 2025 season.

“By the numbers, though, Smith held up well in pass coverage in 2025, allowing zero sacks in 389 pass-block attempts,” Fowler wrote.

That all being said, the comments about Smith being knocked back in the pocket are a direct challenge to Smith’s physicality, and that’s something he should take as a personal challenge going into training camp later this month.

Because if the Chiefs are going to get back to the playoffs and push for the Super Bowl again, they’ll need their veteran guard to be the most powerful and dominating version of himself.