I thought one of Ezeiruaku's strength was his run defense? He may be small, but he is instinctive and that might make up for the lack of size. Lawrence was bigger, but he managed to get himself out of position a lot which led to success on those outside runs. If Ezeiruaku can avoid that he might be stronger against the run than Lawrence.
This D is geared up to play vs pass first offense.
PFF in their “biggest steals of the draft” article touts his snap count and run defense with stats to support.
Draw up the middle, FIRST DOWN!
Williams was a first round talent as a rusher. Might have gone 1st round period if not for his off the field stuff. However he has never been a good run defender. He pretty much projected as a Robert Quinn clone. Ezeiruaku is much more skilled run defender than Williams was when he came out
There was only the lightest of interest in big DT's. Collins was the only 1T they had for a visit. Like it or not, I think plan was always to see if Mazi develops more there. They did look at alot of 3T's, so they may only see Smith as a run down player. At this point all we can do is hope Mazi improves. He play did trend upward all year. However he went from one of the worst DT's in football, to a below average starter. But hey at least its something lol
Not buying it
Forgive us if we rely on experts who have actually watched the tape and are paid to make evaluations.
Exactly Revel could make Diggs or Bland expendable also. Hopefully the man they use to call "Seatbelt Carson" can show some improvement this season. We need a nickle corner. And don't forget Josh Butler looked good when he came in. Too bad he tore his ACL on Thanksgiving last year. He might miss most of this coming season. Maybe Kaiir Elam can show something, though we basically have him on a 1 year rental.
Forgive me if i rely on 50 years on NFL history and common sense
I don't think they get rid of Sam Williams this season (last year of his rookie contract), but Ez allows them to let Williams walk after the season.
And vulnerable to the run at the ends as well.
And he doesn’t seem to have issues with bi-polar disorder either!
If this is the case, might as well tank all of this 2025 season in order to draft in the Top 3 of 2026 in order to get the best picks from each round. I mean if everyone is going to blow expectations right now in order to cover for Jerry's overdrafting and costly picks once again.
In obvious passing situations you want both out there. He’s not big but he doesn’t play the run as bad as you’d think. He uses his quickness to avoid blockers. He had 80 tackles
has little value. He has speed but he needs to develop pass moves. The new kid has more pass moves than many vets. Sam has raw talent and he has had a few brain farts but main thing is he needs to be fully healthy. If he shows something in pre season he might earn some trade value
