Who do you have more confidence in Mazi or Guyton moving ahead?

[big dog cowboy]

I could see Guyton losing out to Richards

That's not happening.

 

[darthseinfeld]

That's not happening.

I know because they will just hand Guyton the job

It should happen though

 

[Fmart322]

To me, Guyton. Mazi reminds me of a guy who will be really good in year 5 or 6.........on another team.
Probably the Ravens.

 

[speedkilz88]

Totally agree. More for Guyton than Mazi on the pure coaching side because I think what he needs most is learning and coaching and developing and I think our OC is kind of an OL guru and I like what I read about our OL coach and I love how the OC says they are going to play to the players strengths not try and force them into what his vision of a blocking scheme is. With Mazi I don't think it is the coaching itself that will help as much as the scheme. For whatever reason and contrary to what we were sold when he was drafted he has showed very little strength and has trouble holding his ground and both Quinn and Zimmer's defenses needed him to stand his ground and control the gap (one or two depending on which). Eberflus is going to have more of a Marinelli scheme where Mazi is going to take on more of a penetrating role. So let's see how he does with that. He can't be worse than in the last two schemes.

When you lose 20 pounds quickly as a rookie, you lose strength. The body will eat it's own muscle. He was still trying to gain it back last year.

 

[Cowfan75Lives]

Guyton actually shows potential. Maxi was a bust day one, still a bust.

 

[My3Sons]

A redraft on Mazi would land him as an UDFA.

A redraft on Guyton would drop him to the 3rd round imo.

Both bad picks, but Guyton has potential to get into NFL starter caliber. Mazi is crap.

 

[Aerolithe_Lion]

Mazi Smith has 830 career snaps. John Ridgeway has 900

That is crazy

 

[CWR]

I really did not like either pick and nothing they have done since joining the Cowboys has changed that.

Guyton has never looked like an NFL tackle to me. I think the only chance he has is to move him to guard and hope he gets better by next season.

You might be right, but we got spoiled by Tyler Smith. Guyton was raw and we didn't put him in a great spot. He also supposedly didnt have the work ethic. I think part of drafting Booker is to have a leader who demands others be accountable. We will see.

 

[Cowboyny]

Smith and I dont think its close. Smith actually showed consistent improvement to the point you can project him as an average starter. I think he has just become the forums whipping post. Guyton get healthy DNP's late in the season. Seemed tl confirm reports that he was soft. If a real competition was held, I could see Guyton losing out to Richards

I agree, must have legitimate competition and don’t hand out starting jobs cause they were high picks. If Richards plays better, he should start

 

[baltcowboy]

Both players were healthy this offseason so I expect improvement in both. Both will be isolated by opponents so we will see real quick if either one can have an impact.

To answer the OP question I would go with Mazi because he has no replacement currently on the roster. Between Richards and Smith, I don’t think the team misses a beat if Guyton is replaced.

I know Broaddus can be all over the place with his opinions on players but it does concern me that a player that he had as a top 18 prospect in 2024 draft, he now has no faith in after one season. Supposedly like Mazi with his shoulder in year one, Guyton played his first season with an injury. High ankle sprain.

 

[Whiskey Cowboy]

Guyton. Both were considered projects when they were drafted, but Guyton looked more like a starting LT in year 1 than Mazi looked like a rotational 1T in year 2. That is not to say there is no hope that Mazi develops. He did flash some last season but the high points were few and far between, whereas Guyton showed steady improvement as the season progressed. We need both to make big jumps this offseason. If at least one of them does not, the season could be D.O.A.

 

[gtb1943]

When you lose 20 pounds quickly as a rookie, you lose strength. The body will eat it's own muscle. He was still trying to gain it back last year.

BS. Modern weight training programs can do that easily in six months.

 

[gtb1943]

I know because they will just hand Guyton the job

It should happen though

Have not seen enough or Richards to tell me if he is a decent starter or just a good backup. He keeps getting injured.

 

[xwalker]

-Mazi Smith had a better 2nd season where he flashed at times, but struggled with consistency. He did miss a good portion of the offseason coming back from injury. Run defense was bad last season as a whole, they also were dead last in red zone D and allowed the most rushing TD's in the entire league. 3rd DC in as many years, but his clock is ticking to make that jump.

-Tyler Guyton was a penalty machine, had 18, the 2nd most in the entire league. Keep in mind, he was in and out of the lineup due to injuries and poor performance. He was one of the main reasons why they were among the worst red zone offenses with drive killing penalties. His play did improve as the season progressed and we have to put it into perspective, Tyler Smith had 15 as a rookie, so there is hope. Also, factor in the switch to Left Tackle, where he played Right Tackle the majority of his college career. It isn't that easy for a young player to make that transition. Tyron Smith played his whole rookie yr as a RT before he made the switch.

Guyton will be good if he stays healthy.

He had a lot of good snaps last season but at LT 4 bad snaps out of 60 is failure. The margin of error is very very small at that position. He showed the physical ability but mental mistakes were inevitable considering he played RT in college and started college as a DE / TE until he grew into an OT.

Mazi had a couple of really good games in 2024 and showed some aggressiveness that seemed to be lacking his rookie season. He likely be decent this season but I'm skeptical that he'll be as good as we would like to see.

 

[kskboys]

I wasn't saying he was a guard.

I said I don't think he's a tackle so the only other position he might be able to play is guard which is why I said his best shot would be to switch to guard and get better by next (2026) season.

I really do hope I'm wrong and he improves considerably with the new offense and coaches.

I don't think he has the build for guard. In his case, I'd have to say it's tackle or nothing.

 

[kskboys]

Yeah, what did he have, like, 11 starts at Right Tackle in college? I expected growing pains.

Protecting the blind side of a left handed QB. Yes, he was not ready. Just needs to adjust his technique and footwork.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Both bad picks

No. Guyton wasn't a bad pick.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Between Richards and Smith, I don’t think the team misses a beat if Guyton is replaced.

If the staff felt that way, Guyton wouldn't have been drafted.