He can’t hide, so he’s not going to try.

At 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, the Raiders’ Sean Smith stands out among NFL cornerbacks. He knows some of the weight of the team’s lofty expectations falls on his shoulders, and he welcomes that.

Smith can’t hide, especially when the big free-agent signee walks in and sits down in Oakland’s quarterbacks meetings. Derek Carr did a double-take the first time.

“He’ll come in the quarterback room when he doesn’t have a meeting and sit in,” Carr said. “He’ll ask questions, and we’ll bounce ideas off each other. It’s the first time I’ve ever had a defensive back do that.

“He’s by far one of the smartest defensive players I have ever gone against or been around.”

Carr’s no dummy himself, evidenced by his not being goaded by the then-Chief’s trash-talking the past two years.

Smith, 29, has taken to yelling at quarterbacks because most receivers don’t engage in trash-talking — maybe Smith’s saddest discovery about the NFL.

“It’s crazy, I thought there would be much more trash-talking than there is,” Smith said. “But it’s quiet out there. Guys show up, do their jobs and go home. In college, you used to go back and forth.…

“So I talk to the quarterbacks. They have the ball anyway. I used to always talk to D.C. Between plays, yelling at him, ‘Come at me! Let’s do this!’ We used to go back and forth.”

As Smith would tell the receivers, it’s not easy looking this good. Never has been.

Smith didn’t even have a position to look good at his first two years in college at Utah.

It wasn’t until he was moved to cornerback that Smith started to emulate a famous Raider and thought about a future in the NFL.

“At that time, Nnamdi Asomugha was hot,” Smith said. “He was the big corner. There weren’t a lot of big cornerbacks at that time; everyone wanted that next Nnamdi, a corner over 6-feet tall. … I used to always watch Nnamdi, seeing how he played and trying to imitate that on the field.”

Smith has an inch and 10 pounds on the since-retired Asomugha, and with the move of Brandon Browner to safety in Seattle, he is the biggest starting cornerback in the NFL. He is a big reason that Raiders teammates, coaches and fans are talking playoffs.

“I love his competitiveness,” head coach Jack Del Rio said. “Sean’s a long athlete. He is a veteran with an understanding of who he is and where he fits in this league. He brings that knowledge of playing that position at a high level for a long time in this league.”

Some point to Smith’s size and aggressiveness, but his quick feet have paved this road for him.

“I always had good feet. I was a running back in high school, ‘offensive weapon’ I believe was the term we used,” Smith said, smiling.

Smith was one of 18 players on the Blair-Pasadena football team, and had 2,500 all-purpose yards his senior season.

“I never had any intention of playing running back at Utah. That just wasn’t the position for me,” Smith said. “I begged and pleaded if I could move to receiver.”

The Utes’ staff moved Smith during his redshirt freshman year, but he got into a heated argument with his position coach.

“The situation carried on, and I said, you know what, I am done with offense,” Smith said. “I went to my coach and said, ‘I am a big guy, let me play safety.’”

Roll credits?

Nah.

“I wasn’t a good tackler,” Smith said. “So they said, ‘Let’s try corner.’ I was like, ‘Corner?! I don’t know if I can do that.’ But it ended up working out. I picked up the technique pretty fast, and having played receiver, I understood the splits and what routes a guy might run, so I was ahead of the curve on that.”

Smith had four interceptions his sophomore season, and five interceptions and nine passes broken up the next year in Utah’s 13-0 2008 season.

Smith was drafted by the Dolphins in the second round in 2009, and it was with Miami that he learned again that being a very good football player doesn’t come easy. Another former Raider, 2014 interim coach Tony Sparano, played the starring role.

Sparano was the head coach and current Jets coach Todd Bowles the secondary coach, and neither loved Smith’s attitude.

“I smiled at everything, good and bad,” Smith said. “Just having the time of my life.”

A benching his second year awakened Smith to the extra work needed in the NFL.

“They were patient with me, and worked with me to become the player I am today,” Smith said. “They would call plays out before they happened, and taught me how to watch film.”

Smith watches so much film now, he can see the future.

“Have to, dealing with the smaller, shiftier receivers,” Smith said. “Those guys come out of their breaks so well, it forced me to watch more film and try to understand tendencies and formations. What routes do guys run 2-by-2 versus 3-by-1, so I can anticipate when to stop (running) versus just reacting.

“Bigger guys take longer to stop, so you can just use athleticism to cover those guys.”

Smith is able to get his hands on a receiver right away and control him, as opposed to letting the receiver get a clean break on his route.

As far as trying to throw the ball over him, forget about it.

“It’s really hard,” Carr said. “If you want to throw a go-route, especially in the NFL, 90 percent of the time it has to be before 40 yards. Because the safeties are so fast, anything past that they are going to kill your receiver.

“With Sean, you can’t really throw that ball on a line because he is so tall. If you want to drop one in on him, you have to bring it from the sky … and that just gives the safety more time. It’s just really hard playing against him.”

Smith will pull the chair out, too, backing off and not pressing so that he can jump the route and go for the interception.

“If you already know where the guy is going to be,” Smith said, “you might as well play off and keep your eyes on the quarterback and try to beat your man to the spot.”

So, don’t tell Smith that he’s a good fit for Ken Norton’s in-your-face defense.

“I fit any defense,” Smith said. “Is that a compliment or are people trying to say I can only play a certain way because I am big? I am a very smart individual that works on my technique every day.…

“This is a good defense. It allows you to press. We have great edge rushers, so as long as I give those guys a few seconds, we’re good.”

Briefly: Safety Reggie Nelson, who missed the offseason workouts coming back from ankle surgery, was on the side at practice working with a trainer for a second straight day. ... Receiver Amari Cooper was back practicing after a day off Tuesday.

Vic Tafur is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vtafur@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VicTafur

Covering his teammates

Raiders cornerback Sean Smith has his hands full going against receivers Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree in practice every day. “Two guys who love to compete.” Smith said. “Two big talents but very different. (Derek) Carr really trusts them both.”

Smith on Cooper

“Amari is a very quick, very explosive young player. He is very shifty off the line, so that is teaching me to be patient.”

Smith on Crabtree

“His hands are very strong, man. It’s tough guarding him because he is very good at making those contested catches. You can be all over the guy, but he has very strong hands, and trying to knock it out of there is tough.”

— Vic Tafur

Sean Smith

Age: 29

Ht./Wt.: 6-3, 220

Draft: 2nd round (Miami, 2009)

Career: Signed four-year, $40 million deal with Raiders in the spring. ... Has started 100 of 108 games in his seven-year NFL career, including 76 of 77 in the past five seasons. ... Has 10 career interceptions with at least one in each of the past six seasons. ... Had four interceptions in his junior year and five in his senior season at Utah.