Cowboys just fell for Mazi Smith because they had Larry Allen, Tyron Smith dreams

[America's Cowboy]

On the very first play of this video hit the pause button on the two second mark and toggle back and forth from 0:02 to 0:04. He is slow, and he was beaten by his teammates and the opposition to contact.

Also toggle between 1:07 to 1:08. It's even worse! Those reaction times should have been picked up by the scouts. I'm sorry, but that was a serious miss, and we must have thought seeing the hype video of him jump climbing all those stairs in a straight line was an indication of winning line play.

In this league if you are late you are negated.

Yes, he was slow on 2 plays, but he also was quick on others. Mazi probably needs better coaching/training and to better understand the playbook and opponent. Need more reaction and less hesitation thinking.

 

[America's Cowboy]

That is why its called a HighLight Reel. You can make a bum look good with creative editing

Of course, but it still shows he has the ability to get off the ball and not be so slow when he puts effort.

 

[Coogiguy03]

I’ve been reading a lot about Mazi lately and wanted to clear up a few things.

- Mazi was drafted to be a nose. Cowboys said he was a first year starter and they expected him to quickly take snaps away from the older Hankins.
- EVERY scout profile pointed out that this guy was slow off the ball AND poor leverage! HUGE. RED. FLAG, Absolutely stops anyone in the NFL from being successful if not improved so I’m not sure why the Cowboys didn’t realize he was a project? He was #13 on the draft board!
- In TC, it became obvious he wasn’t going to take any of Hankins’s playing time, the team started playing him as a three tech… remember that? We all thought that Dan Quinn was just trying to add some wrinkles for the rookie to get him more time, but I think it was because he realized he wasn’t going to succeed as a nose. I just think they gave up already on him and maybe they thought Hankins was going to be that good and not hurt? BTW, these are early bust alerts, sort of reminds me of things we saw with Bobby Carpenter early on. Team desperately trying to get anything out of their first round pick.
- The team told him to lose weight. Why do we know? Because the players get fined if they don’t meet weight and we would’ve heard about it. A lot! He lost a ton!
- I think where a lot of the confusion started was fans did not realize he was already getting a lot of snaps as a three tech, saying it takes time for a nose to develop…. someone here posted a thread that showed the numbers mid-season (some premium stat sites provide that info) but he was barely played as a true nose until Hankins went down because they had no choice.

So here we are, the team hopes that if he gains his weight back, he will be reborn, but it still does nothing to fix his deficiencies. I would be interested to hear from you coaches, if that can be fixed at the pro level. With Zimmer the crafty experienced defensive coordinator, if anyone can do it, he can. Zimm can also ride his butt if there are some motivation issues because sometimes I wonder. But going back to the title, I just think the Cowboys got caught up on Mazi’s physical WOW factor. He sort of looks like Tyron Smith, just a natural gorilla giant who carries his weight well…. and gives off the Larry Allen vibes of upper body strength. But unfortunately, that’s not all it takes to succeed in the NFL. Here is hoping he works out, but I would not start investing in MazI futures anytime soon. I think the Cowboys are setting themselves and our linebackers up for failure if they don’t find at least a younger Hankins type somewhere before the draft.

Later we're going to find out that Mazi went through depression his first season or something that caused him to lose all this weight

 

[Coogiguy03]

Basically he can’t play football….

it's obvious

 

[jazzcat22]

Sure are a lot of self proclaimed scouts and coaches on here that don't really know a thing.

Sometimes it really does take 2 or 3 years for most players. I will wait to see any progress in year 2.

 

[VaqueroTD]

Sure are a lot of self proclaimed scouts and coaches on here that don't really know a thing.

Sometimes it really does take 2 or 3 years for most players. I will wait to see any progress in year 2.

Just like we can wait and see on our Owner/GMs figuring out how to build a Super Bowl franchise again.

Sometimes just have to call it like it is. Dude is looking like a dud. Hope I’m wrong.

And for the record, no self proclaiming here, in OP I asked if any coaches would give their insight on if these issues can be fixed.

I‘m not sure if we have anyone above Pee Wee level though. LOL. I think we’re all fans.

 

[1942willys]

Sure are a lot of self proclaimed scouts and coaches on here that don't really know a thing.

Sometimes it really does take 2 or 3 years for most players. I will wait to see any progress in year 2.

Not often you get a lot from a player that shows nothing his first year.

 

[gimmesix]

I'm concerned that learning techniques will not be able to overcome his:

1. Slow mental reaction.
2. Explosion out of the stance.
3. Quick hands.

If we could dissect Mazi (invasive muscle biopsy) I wonder if he genetically lacks "fast twitch" 2A and 2X muscle fibres that results in slower reaction?

I can't say that he will. But I would think they put him through some tests, and he wasn't slow off every snap last year, so I would think he can.

 

[CATCH17]

I’m all for the super athlete but you have to show something on the field.

Mazi Smith didn’t impact games in college.

 

[Brooksey]

I’ve been reading a lot about Mazi lately and wanted to clear up a few things.

- Mazi was drafted to be a nose. Cowboys said he was a first year starter and they expected him to quickly take snaps away from the older Hankins.
- EVERY scout profile pointed out that this guy was slow off the ball AND poor leverage! HUGE. RED. FLAG, Absolutely stops anyone in the NFL from being successful if not improved so I’m not sure why the Cowboys didn’t realize he was a project? He was #13 on the draft board!
- In TC, it became obvious he wasn’t going to take any of Hankins’s playing time, the team started playing him as a three tech… remember that? We all thought that Dan Quinn was just trying to add some wrinkles for the rookie to get him more time, but I think it was because he realized he wasn’t going to succeed as a nose. I just think they gave up already on him and maybe they thought Hankins was going to be that good and not hurt? BTW, these are early bust alerts, sort of reminds me of things we saw with Bobby Carpenter early on. Team desperately trying to get anything out of their first round pick.
- The team told him to lose weight. Why do we know? Because the players get fined if they don’t meet weight and we would’ve heard about it. A lot! He lost a ton!
- I think where a lot of the confusion started was fans did not realize he was already getting a lot of snaps as a three tech, saying it takes time for a nose to develop…. someone here posted a thread that showed the numbers mid-season (some premium stat sites provide that info) but he was barely played as a true nose until Hankins went down because they had no choice.

So here we are, the team hopes that if he gains his weight back, he will be reborn, but it still does nothing to fix his deficiencies. I would be interested to hear from you coaches, if that can be fixed at the pro level. With Zimmer the crafty experienced defensive coordinator, if anyone can do it, he can. Zimm can also ride his butt if there are some motivation issues because sometimes I wonder. But going back to the title, I just think the Cowboys got caught up on Mazi’s physical WOW factor. He sort of looks like Tyron Smith, just a natural gorilla giant who carries his weight well…. and gives off the Larry Allen vibes of upper body strength. But unfortunately, that’s not all it takes to succeed in the NFL. Here is hoping he works out, but I would not start investing in MazI futures anytime soon. I think the Cowboys are setting themselves and our linebackers up for failure if they don’t find at least a younger Hankins type somewhere before the draft.

He was the highest rated D tackle on the board last year when we picked and we were desperate for help there. Don't look to deep into it, you're over thinking

 

[fivetwos]

I’m all for the super athlete but you have to show something on the field.

Mazi Smith didn’t impact games in college.

At the end of the first round, especially in a not very deep draft, when you attempt to fill premium positions it gets dicey. You can get quality starters at non premium positions like interior OL, off ball LB. Maybe a CB2 or a RT. Safety.

That’s why there’s a such thing as windows to win, because the system is set up to not allow consistent success. They clearly do not understand this at all, as evidenced by blowing what was actually two different windows with Daks rookie deal, and the last three years of Mike being not great but miles better than Garrett….as well as getting lucky with Lamb then Parsons. They had a window and 2-3 veteran FA would have greatly helped. They chose to save a few million.

I really have no hope for the future since when Jerry is gone and the kid gives in and hires someone to run it all, he will still veto any significant FA signings and stick it in the bank. Giggle at everyone else thinking how dumb they are. Maybe he is right.

 

[jazzcat22]

Not often you get a lot from a player that shows nothing his first year.

Actually that is not true.

 

[CWR]

I believe they saw a power player in Mazi and felt they could fix the snap issue. I'm sure they still fill they can because technique can be improved. We'll see if they are able.

Honestly, I never thought of a 1 tech who's supposed to eat up blockers and keep the lbs/ss clean so they have lanes to get to the ball carrier as someone who needs to fly off the snap.

 

[1942willys]

Actually that is not true.

A player who started most of the year and was not injured.
Go ahead and try and claim there are lots of examples of duds in the first year becoming stars.
Go ahead and provide some examples

 

[gimmesix]

Honestly, I never thought of a 1 tech who's supposed to eat up blockers and keep the lbs/ss clean so they have lanes to get to the ball carrier as someone who needs to fly off the snap.

It kind of depends on the scheme. If it's more read and react, then you don't want him just shooting into a position that allows the offense to wall him off and run by him. Quinn, however, favored an attacking scheme that generally had the DL on the move on virtually every snap. He kind of believe like Wade Phillips does, that if you have your linemen attacking on every play and getting penetration that's going to disrupt the blocking and the play.

 

[RoboQB]

They made the kid lose 25lbs.
That's crazy! I'm gonna give him a pass.
Let's see how Zimmer uses him.

Imagine showing up for work after your new boss
is hired and he greets with a bag of burgers and
says "I need you to gain some weight"...lol

 

[McKDaddy]

That is why its called a HighLight Reel. You can make a bum look good with creative editing

And playing against inferior opponents.

 

[Aven8]

Mazi slow off the ball so DQ puts him at the 3T?!? Lol

 

[thunderpimp91]

I know I'm in the minority, but I think Mazi will be fine in the long run. The biggest mistake the Cowboys made was thinking he was a day 1 starter. He really improved off the ball as the season went on. His biggest issue was simply reading blocks, and you would see it clearly as he would routinely get destroyed on trap plays 90% of the time. Physically though I think he's shown that he can play in this league, even after the weight loss. My big hope is that his offseason surgery doesn't keep him from participating completely in drills this offseason. This is a guy who clearly needs reps.

 

[jazzcat22]

A player who started most of the year and was not injured.
Go ahead and try and claim there are lots of examples of duds in the first year becoming stars.
Go ahead and provide some examples

He did not start most of the year.