Following this stellar collegiate career, Smith was drafted by the Buffalo Bills with the first pick of the 1985 NFL Draft. (Concurrently he was also selected by the Baltimore Stars in the 1985 USFL Territorial Draft but spurned the United States Football League advances.) After a rookie season in which his poor training habits limited his effectiveness, inspiration from teammate Darryl Talley and finding love with a college counselor whom he eventually married inspired him to improve his game. He quickly became known as a sack specialist, with 15 in 1986 and a personal season-best 19, just three short of the then-NFL record of 22, in 1990. By 1989, Smith, in notching his 52nd sack, had already become the Bills' all-time sack leader, claiming a team record that he was to raise 119 times over the years. Some conjecture that his 171 sacks in Buffalo set a standard that "may be unreachable" for future Bills.