Mazi Smith 2023 Stats

[cnuball21]

I'm concerned. The production in college wasn't substantial, and in the league, my Guy, loses a noticeable amount of weight. I guess, my question is what's the plan for Mazi?

I’m his defense DTs usually take a year or 2 to hit their stride, but man, there were practically zero flashes.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Of course every drafted player you hope will get better, the NFL is at the very least different than college football, how many players have remarked how much faster the pro game is? Takes a bit of adjusting for probably 95% of new players.

But there's a huge difference between hoping (actually it's expecting, not hoping) a player will get better vs. a first round player who seems hopelessly overmatched most of the time. Despite the Packers running up the middle against Dallas all day, Mazi got FOUR snaps. Four!

For a first round pick, that's abysmal.

You are also talking about a DC who had 6 DB's on the field for 54 run snaps including a 205 pound MLB.. I have no idea what he was thinking last Sunday.

 

[Pessimist_cowboy]

We’re atrocious as an organization evaluating DT. It’s honestly unbelievable how bad those scouts are.

 

[reddyuta]

one of the worst draft picks of the cowboys all time,no reason to believe he will get better or help in anyway next season.not only did we miss drafting Laporta because of him but we compounded that problem by drafting another loser Michigan TE.

 

[TheBigEasy]

Rookie QB Stats:
0-11 record, 155 of 293 for 1,749 yards, 9 TDs, 18 INT.

I'm sure OP stated that this guy wasn't great, either. 3 SB rings later, he has a Troy Aikman poster hanging above his bed.

Moral of the story...some guys improve after their first season in the NFL.

 

[morat1959]

Randy White wasn't that good as a rookie. He needed time to develop. Too early to pass judgement on Year 1 wait till Year 3.

Randy White was moved from LB to DT. That’s when he went from not good to exceptional. There’s no other position to move the bust to.

 

[LACowboysFan1]

It’s honestly unbelievable how bad those scouts are.

Or how little our beloved owner/gm listens to them...

 

[cnuball21]

Or how little our beloved owner/gm listens to them...

There’s video footage of McClay recommending we take Mazi last year…he gets a pass for drafting well prior but man last years draft ain’t looking great early.

 

[MarkP88]

Rookie QB Stats:
0-11 record, 155 of 293 for 1,749 yards, 9 TDs, 18 INT.

I'm sure OP stated that this guy wasn't great, either. 3 SB rings later, he has a Troy Aikman poster hanging above his bed.

Moral of the story...some guys improve after their first season in the NFL.

This is not even an apples to oranges comparison, it's more like apples to watermelons, or something. Troy had a tough rookie year, to say the least, but he had his moments where he demonstrated his potential for greatness. Mazi had no such moments. If you simply watched him and had no idea he'd been drafted in the first round, nobody at all would be expecting anything from him next year. Hopefully he improves, but at this point we'd be lucky if he becomes a serviceable starter.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

I’m his defense DTs usually take a year or 2 to hit their stride, but man, there were practically zero flashes.

Yeah, that’s the thing, my brain says it’s too early to give up on him (which I’m not) but my eyes are telling me the guy did not flash all that much and was neutralized the vast majority of the time. People start in with the usual “DTs don’t register big time stats” which we all know, but what you saw was a guy that was a non-factor on most snaps and easily handled.

 

[Gambit]

I still think it’s too early to declare him an outright “bust” but his rookie season was forgettable. The issues I saw with him at Michigan were apparent (ex. slow off the snap, complete lack of ball awareness, etc.) despite my best efforts to rationalize away.

I can’t call him a bust yet but there’s got to be noticeable marked improvement in Year 2 from him.

Trade him to San Diego since the Much DC has told players he's going there to be DC

I jest, but do agree with you need to see improvement and suspect we will

 

[Gambit]

Or how little our beloved owner/gm listens to them...

In this case the owner listened directly to McClay. There is video evidence no need to rewrite history.

The way we are set up coordinators/ HC tells the scouting dept what traits they want scouts go find them.

Some scouting departments put premium on traits others on production.

Unclear if this is Will's philosophy or Jerry/Stephen's direction.

And Ive shared before the general league wide expectation on how long each position takes to fully develop and DT is one of the longest.

 

[cristglo]

It's early.

The issue was they drafted him to help the Run Defense.

He didn't and he also decided to lose 30 plus lbs.

Did he do this on his own? If so, why?

Was he instructed to do this? If so, fire that person.

Also, only the Cowboys think throwing a single draft pick at this will fix the run defense. No need for LB's who weigh over 220 lbs, we have Mazi!

I still haven’t figured out why in the world he would lose all that weight the rumor is so that he could get quicker seem like a very ill advised plan in my opinion be curious to see if he puts this weight back on during the off-season and work on his technique

 

[cnuball21]

Yeah, that’s the thing, my brain says it’s too early to give up on him (which I’m not) but my eyes are telling me the guy did not flash all that much and was neutralized the vast majority of the time. People start in with the usual “DTs don’t register big time stats” which we all know, but what you saw was a guy that was a non-factor on most snaps and easily handled.

Yea…and it’s not like I’m expecting him to turn into pass rush guy just blow up a few run plays. ZERO.

 

[LACowboysFan1]

I still haven’t figured out why in the world he would lose all that weight the rumor is so that he could get quicker seem like a very ill advised plan in my opinion be curious to see if he puts this weight back on during the off-season and work on his technique

Jimmy valued quickness on his draftees, including DTs. Jerry is still in some ways trying to follow Jimmy's formula for the Cowboys, which was a somewhat undersized team but one loaded with speed....

 

[LACowboysFan1]

There’s video footage of McClay recommending we take Mazi last year…he gets a pass for drafting well prior but man last years draft ain’t looking great early.

Yeah, though the key word you said was early. Genrealy it's said by many NFL people that you can't really judge a draft for 3 years.

Though to me Mazi underperformed for a first round draft pick...