I hope Mazi Smith is a hit

[KJJ]

Hankins and Smith will provide a good rotation on our DL.

 

[zrinkill]

He will be.

 

[CouchCoach]

I will settle for solid and able to maintain positioning within the DL and not get moved around by OL just as large as he is.

I also hope one of the OL they could have taken doesn't shine and the Cowboys OL struggles. Going in with Tyron Smith's injury history is dicey, very dicey with little quality depth.

 

[Rockport]

If he's not, they may never use prime capital to get a DT ever again. LOL.

Smith is the most important draft pick we made this year. If he can play his impact is greater than any other player we drafted, including the TE. Schoonmaker is a decent pick but I wonder if he's going to be any more effective than Ferguson, at least for a year or two. The offense also should have Pollard back and with the three WRs, TE is likely a tertiary target in this offense.

But Smith could instantly change the defense if he can anchor the middle.

Wait, you said it was a meh pick? Having 2nd thoughts?

 

[basel90]

If he's not, they may never use prime capital to get a DT ever again. LOL.

Smith is the most important draft pick we made this year. If he can play his impact is greater than any other player we drafted, including the TE. Schoonmaker is a decent pick but I wonder if he's going to be any more effective than Ferguson, at least for a year or two. The offense also should have Pollard back and with the three WRs, TE is likely a tertiary target in this offense.

But Smith could instantly change the defense if he can anchor the middle.

or stop the michigan defensive linemen experience ( remember taco ? what a bust)

 

[gimmesix]

Stop. Don't do that.

Even if he does super well Mazi will be unnoticed 95% of downs. He will not have sacks. In his best game of the year he might get two tackles.

His role as DT will be limited and he's not the prospect that Parsons was. It will take time and patience. Hyping him only hurts him.

I do think expectations often are too high for rookies, partially because we have to play them because we don't make full use of free agency. I mean, many are mad at Tolbert and have given up on him because he wasn't ready to be the No. 2 or No. 3 receiver as a rookie coming from a smaller school. Most third-rounders aren't asked or expected to do that. Instead, it's a pleasant surprise if they overtake veterans and show they are ready to go as rookies.

 

[gimmesix]

or stop the michigan defensive linemen experience ( remember taco ? what a bust)

Yep. We may have to switch over to Georgia if Mazi busts.

 

[conner01]

I think his strength this year is against the run. Maybe he has some success pushing the pocket a little but next year as he develops more technique he will bust out. For now I'll be happy him stomp rb's

That he’s ready to do day one I think. It will take some development in technique to effect the passing game but mcclay and Quinn sure seem to think he can and they have a solid track record.

 

[Verdict]

So far Dan Quinn has been pretty solid when it comes to getting the most out of a player. Mazi has a lot to work with so I think we'll see a marked increase in our run defense this season. The rest of our picks I am luke-warm at best on. I think we burned a 2nd on Schoonmaker as we have two clones of him already on the team so I really didn't get that one.

Yes. It’s hard to be excited about the tight end. It is possible that he turns out to be a progress stopper.

 

[BEARCATSKLZ]

I'm interested in seeing if we'll go side-by-side with him and Hankins in the middle on first downs. That's some beef and power in there for our run defense, and depending on who they play at the 1-tech, leaves one of those guys with some 1-on-1 matchups to defeat. If it's just a rotation of him and Hankins at 1-tech, the pick holds much less value to me. We've got the beef up the middle now and we need to use it, put teams in passing situations and bring in the pass rushers.

I actually would like to see if Mazi will eat up double teams to allow us to run 3-4 alignments... this will display our Speed at the LB position...

 

[Motorola]

I do not believe there is a quantifying number fans can put on the character of a player which indicates what to expect going forward. But, it seems to me, from watching the press conference, this young man is articulate and has a nature to be appreciative of those who got him where he is. Surely his work ethic should be obvious. But add to that his thanking the Cowboys for drafting him and his impassioned plea about showing his mother a side of life she has never experienced, and to me, that adds up to a kid who will give 100% to be the player this team needs.

Of all the words I have read about his skill set, I think he has the potential to be the Rock of Gibraltar in the middle of the line. But factor in the above indications of his character, and what appears to be a new found mentor in Micah Parsons, and I am more excited about this pick than I have been for previous selections in the first for Dallas over the past few years.

'TwoDeep3' -- kudos for your well-thought-out and articulate post.

 

[Motorola]

The Cowboys have done really well drafting guys named Smith over the last few decades.. Emmitt, Darren, Tyron, Tyler and who can forget the greatness of Jalen. Okay nobody's perfect.

The Cowboys' previous dozen 1st round picks___
Dez Bryant
Tyron Smith
Morris Clairborne
Travis Frederick
Zack Martin
Byron Jones
Ezekiel Elliott
Taco Charlton
Leighton Vaner Esch
CeeDee Lanb
Micah Parsons
Tyler Smith

75 \ 80 % success rate?