There was a trade made in the National Football League on Friday between the Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars. Interestingly both players were involved in the trade were underachieving defensive tackles who were both selected in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft according to the Associated Press. The Jaguars have traded Maason Smith of Houma, Louisiana to the Falcons for Ruke Orhorhoro of Lagos, Nigeria.
Smith is joining his second NFL franchise after two seasons with the Jaguars. In 2025, he had 15 combined tackles (11 assisted tackles and four solo tackles) along with one pass deflection. The pass deflection came in a 26-21 Jaguars win over the San Francisco 49ers on September 28. For his career, Smith has 32 combined tackles (14 solo tackles and 18 assisted tackles), three tackles for a loss, four quarterback hits, and four pass deflections.
Like Smith, Orhorhoro is joining his second NFL franchise after two seasons with the Falcons. In 2025, he had 25 combined tackles (12 solo tackles and 13 assisted tackles), four tackles for a loss, six quarterbacks, three and a half sacks and one pass deflection. The pass deflection came in a 29-28 Falcons win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on December 11. The Falcons’s win over the Buccaneers will be best remembered by the outstanding performance of Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts Sr., who had 11 catches for 166 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
For Orhorhoro’s career, he has 36 combined tackles (16 solo tackles and 20 assisted tackles), five tackles for a loss, seven quarterback hits, 3.5 sacks and one pass deflection. He is one of 36 players in NFL history to come from Nigeria.
