Vikings' Harrison Smith Undergoes Offseason Surgery to Repair Ankle Injury

The Minnesota Vikings' Pro Bowl safety, Harrison Smith, has undergone a surgery to "clean up" a high left ankle sprain, reported Adam Caplan and Ben Goessling of ESPN.com.

The injury is not expected to impact the 2017 season at all.  

Smith has established himself as one of the best safeties in the NFL over his first five seasons. While he didn't pick off a pass in 2016, he did register two sacks and anchored a defense that allowed the sixth-fewest yards.

Before the 2016 season started, Josh Liskiewitz of Pro Football Focus deemed Smith to be the best player at his position because of his ability to do everything on defense:

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While arguments can be made that Kansas City's Eric Berry and Seattle's Earl Thomas are better pure-cover safeties, or that Miami's Reshad Jones is a better run-defender, Smith is the only safety besides Philadelphia's Malcolm Jenkins to finish in the top-10 in both run defense and coverage last year. He is also the only safety with positive grades in all three major categories (coverage, run defense, and pass rush) in both 2014 and 2015.

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Smith started each of Minnesota's first 12 games in 2016 before exiting Week 13 against the Dallas Cowboys and leaving U.S. Bank Stadium using crutches while wearing a walking boot. 

Despite playing in the Pro Bowl and saying he wouldn't need surgery back on Jan. 2, Smith ultimately decided it was necessary to have the procedure.