Smith isn’t a quick-twitch, explosive pass rusher — like Robert Quinn — who bursts off the edge and wins purely with speed rushes. Instead, Smith wins with hands, length and technique. In the last four games of the season, his development was clear to see.

Here, Smith lines up against the Bears’ left tackle. Smith waits for the tackle to try and initiate contact. As soon as the tackle reaches with his left arm, Smith pulls it away with his left hand and uses his right to club the tackle’s upper arm. That move allows Smith to turn the corner, but it does expose him slightly and the tackle lands a punch to the chest to knock him back. However, by that point, Smith has the tackle turned around from the line of scrimmage completely and attempts to close the gap on quarterback Jay Cutler. The tackle manages to make enough contact on Smith to allow Cutler to step up and out of the pocket to avoid the rush.

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While Smith couldn’t get the sack, the rush shows how well he uses his hands. That resulted in pressure that forced the quarterback to scramble. He had a number of similar plays against the Bears and appeared to gain confidence that he took into the next game against the Bills.

On this play, Smith lines up a little wider. The Bills have a tight end outside the left tackle, which forces Smith to play further outside and gives him a better angle to the quarterback. Smith has good hand placement again here, getting his hands inside on the chest of the tackle. He then shows off his length, keeping the tackle from reaching him as he turns the tackle around. The tackle has to lunge forward to try and get his hands on Smith, but that leaves him vulnerable. As soon as the tackle leans forward, Smith disengages and uses his left arm to shove the tackle off balance. Smith then works back inside of the tackle to help Ryan Kerrigan secure the sack.

Smith’s most productive game of the season in terms of sacks came the following week against the Eagles. Smith lined up opposite Eagles left tackle Jason Peters for much of the game. Peters has long been regarded as one of the top left tackles in football, but Smith recorded two sacks against him and added one more after Peters left the game injured.

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Peters looks to quick-set Smith here. Directly off the snap, Peters moves out toward Smith, instead of dropping back and waiting for Smith to come to him. Smith reads the block quickly. He responds with a step inside to stop Peters’s feet. Smith then drives off that inside foot to the edge. By stopping Peters’s feet, Smith forces Peters to reach with his arms to try and engage. Smith uses his right arm to bat away Peters’s hands and keep himself clean. He then rips through with is left arm, disengaging with Peters completely before he closing on the quarterback for the sack.

It’s clear to see Smith’s development from a mental standpoint in this game. Peters used different methods to try and disrupt Smith’s pass rush. Peters did a good job mixing up his sets, occasionally throwing in quick-sets like we saw previously. But Smith countered with different moves.

Like before, Peters looks to engage with Smith early with a quick-set. But Smith immediately reacts with an inside rush, taking advantage of the gap created by the quick-set. Smith surprises Peters with the inside move, who has to quickly open up his inside hip to try to cut off Smith’s pursuit of the quarterback. Smith tries to use a rip move to break through, but Peters does just enough to hold off Smith and allow his quarterback to get the ball away. While he couldn’t prevent the throw, Smith’s pressure arrived quickly enough to force the quarterback to check down straight away.

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Down the stretch, Smith did a good job varying his rushes. He wouldn’t stick to just one move or one side of the tackle. He’d alter his rushes, sometimes going to the edge one play and then rushing inside the next. Being able to rush either side of the tackle gives Smith an advantage. You can see from those two plays against the Eagles that he was starting to understand the mental process of reading a blocker and setting him up with different types of rushes. He was also learning and correcting himself during games, which was evident against the Cowboys the following week.

Here, the Cowboys run a play-action fake. Smith squares up Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith, landing his hands inside as he reads the quarterback in the backfield. Once he reads pass, Smith drops his hands and attempts to rip through as he turns the corner. But Tyron Smith is perhaps the best left tackle in football and keeps his feet moving, hooking Preston Smith and stopping him from getting around the edge. The outside linebacker manages to push the Cowboys left tackle back towards the quarterback, who is eventually sacked, but not by Smith.

Preston Smith learned from that rush that he could get his hands inside and had the power to drive Tyron Smith back. Later in the game, he had another attempt against the Cowboys tackle.

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This is an example of how Preston Smith will win a lot of his battles at the NFL level. He uses his hands to fight for leverage, eventually landing his left hand inside and on the chest of Tyron Smith. He also does a good job staying low, while forcing the tackle up with his hand. Smith converts his speed into power. His length is key here; Tyron Smith can’t get his hands on Preston Smith simply because he can’t reach him. The outside linebacker drives the tackle back toward the quarterback. As soon as the quarterback steps up in the pocket, Smith disengages and works inside to complete the sack.

Smith has the tools he needs to take a step forward this season. Reports suggest he has come on well this offseason, but we’ll see a true sign of his progress when the pads go on at training camp. Smith faces competition for playing time from Junior Galette, who is eager to prove he’s healthy and worth a long-term contract. But if he picks up from where he left off last season and continues to develop not only his arsenal of pass rush moves, but his understanding of how to set up a blocker, then Smith should be set to take the next step forward.

Mark Bullock is The Insider’s Outsider, sharing his Redskins impressions without the benefit of access to the team. For more, click here.