Mazi Smith has not elevated his game against the run or the pass as hoped

[Redsfan_83]

He’s just an overweight Taco Charlton.

Welcome back! Haven't seen much of you?

 

[Mcsports]

I said immediately after preseason last year that this dude is not a starting caliber player in this league. Not once did he flash, even playing against backups and guys now out of the league. Never once have I seen a player go on to do good things without flashing in his inaugural preseason appearences. I don't care if you're young, raw, still learning a system, etc, if you have legit talent you will beat the man in front of you at least some of the time. He was manhandled by everyone he lined up against, which was scrubs and never was's and never will be's. He did have a nice outing against NY this year; I will give him that. Maybe he can still be depth, but he will never be a legit starter on a decent NFL Dline.

Well said.
Agree with all.
Mazi's body language on field tells me he doesn't want to be out there. He's just passing time.

 

[HungryLion]

Up till now, it appears his peak was his stairs jumping video

Crushing blow to those that have long wished for a 1st rd baller DT here

Man I was so excited they finally seemed to take DT position seriously. And then……. The pick ends up being a bust.

My fear is they will just use this as an excuse to not bother trying again.

 

[Praxit]

.. it was really obvious this guy was good against kids but when it came to men that's a different scenario.

 

[buybuydandavis]

I said immediately after preseason last year that this dude is not a starting caliber player in this league. Not once did he flash, even playing against backups and guys now out of the league. Never once have I seen a player go on to do good things without flashing in his inaugural preseason appearences. I don't care if you're young, raw, still learning a system, etc, if you have legit talent you will beat the man in front of you at least some of the time. He was manhandled by everyone he lined up against, which was scrubs and never was's and never will be's. He did have a nice outing against NY this year; I will give him that. Maybe he can still be depth, but he will never be a legit starter on a decent NFL Dline.

To be fair to Marzi, they obviously didn't know what to do with him last year and destroyed his body, he's built it back up, but is surely worse off for the transformation. New system this year too.
I consider this year for him a rookie year coming off of injury, which what they did to him last year amounts to.

 

[Proof]

No kidding, but, this upcoming draft has some really good looking NTs. This is the year to try again there.

it's lining up to finally be our time to grab a stud in the middle. if they target jeanty or some nonsense, i am legit going to lose it.

 

[buybuydandavis]

Man I was so excited they finally seemed to take DT position seriously. And then……. The pick ends up being a bust.

My fear is they will just use this as an excuse to not bother trying again.

Already the case this year that drafting Mazi in the first last year likely kept us from drafting/signing even a plausible starting 1T/NT.

We *obviously* didn't have one.

 

[Proof]

Exactly, all I wanted from him was to be able to stop the run. As long as he could clog the middle, the rest of the team could take it from there. He can't even do that.

right. like we were so desperate to be able to clog the middle, stop (or even impede the run) that they practically made a concession. we know he doesn't offer pass rush juice, but we NEED meat in the middle. so it's worth a first rounder to us to finally address it even if all he gives us is 2 down run stopping. Ooops. not even that. ARRRGHHHHH

 

[Proof]

I said immediately after preseason last year that this dude is not a starting caliber player in this league. Not once did he flash, even playing against backups and guys now out of the league. Never once have I seen a player go on to do good things without flashing in his inaugural preseason appearences. I don't care if you're young, raw, still learning a system, etc, if you have legit talent you will beat the man in front of you at least some of the time. He was manhandled by everyone he lined up against, which was scrubs and never was's and never will be's. He did have a nice outing against NY this year; I will give him that. Maybe he can still be depth, but he will never be a legit starter on a decent NFL Dline.

shouldve listened. but i was so desperate for hope. and our defense has been pretty ferocious outside of needing some beef in the middle. so in my mind, even if he wasn't great, his presence and strength would provide enough to allow the rest of the defense to do more of the things they were good at. NOPE. it's so damn frustrating.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

it's lining up to finally be our time to grab a stud in the middle. if they target jeanty or some nonsense, i am legit going to lose it.

I'm all for Jeanty actually. I think we can get both Jeanty in round 1 and a NT round 2. We should have a high enough 2nd round picks to maybe have a play at Kenneth Walker if Kentucky. If not, I'd love Nazier Stackhouse NT Georgia. He's 6'3" 320 lbs. He looks like an absolute behmouth! Getting him and Jeanty would be an amazing draft.

 

[Manster_Mash]

shouldve listened. but i was so desperate for hope. and our defense has been pretty ferocious outside of needing some beef in the middle. so in my mind, even if he wasn't great, his presence and strength would provide enough to allow the rest of the defense to do more of the things they were good at. NOPE. it's so damn frustrating.

I didn't hate the pick at the time. I never really watched him in college, and they did need to address DT. But after that miserable preseason, I knew this guy wasn't the player we needed.

 

[gtb1943]

To be fair to Marzi, they obviously didn't know what to do with him last year and destroyed his body, he's built it back up, but is surely worse off for the transformation. New system this year too.
I consider this year for him a rookie year coming off of injury, which what they did to him last year amounts to.

those are fairly lame excuses for showing NOTHING at all except a couple of plays against the 31st ranked center in the NFL

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

right. like we were so desperate to be able to clog the middle, stop (or even impede the run) that they practically made a concession. we know he doesn't offer pass rush juice, but we NEED meat in the middle. so it's worth a first rounder to us to finally address it even if all he gives us is 2 down run stopping. Ooops. not even that. ARRRGHHHHH

Exactly, but, I think we can fix both our run game and NT in one draft. Jeanty and Stackhouse are the ways to do it imo. I might even double on NTs getting Stackhouse round 2 and Toia from UCLA round 4. Get a guard or tackle round 3, and we should be in much better shape next year.

 

[blueblood70]

wow 2 Mazi posts right near each other on the same topic..lmao ughh right hes the issue because a pure NT isn't great PR specialist!! the off seasons are bad a close second are BYE WEEKS

 

[Proof]

Exactly, but, I think we can fix both our run game and NT in one draft. Jeanty and Stackhouse are the ways to do it imo. I might even double on NTs getting Stackhouse round 2 and Toia from UCLA round 4. Get a guard or tackle round 3, and we should be in much better shape next year.

jeanty is otherworldly, but enough with the high prices disposable toys. there are some monster dts next year when we need one

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

jeanty is otherworldly, but enough with the high prices disposable toys. there are some monster dts next year when we need one

I understand your position. However, I'm pointing out it's possible to do both. I think Stackhouse and Toia in rounds 2 and 4 would be incredible picks, and getting Jeanty means we get the best back we've had since Emmitt. We'd be able to BOTH run the ball and stop the run. In other words, we'd be getting both an otherworldly running back and monster NTs that you can put next to each other. Letting them swallow all the blocks and push the line means we can be a much more physical team. Then you add in Jeanty who brings back the play action, I think we should be able to win the division next year with that.

 

[Proof]

I understand your position. However, I'm pointing out it's possible to do both. I think Stackhouse and Toia in rounds 2 and 4 would be incredible picks, and getting Jeanty means we get the best back we've had since Emmitt. We'd be able to BOTH run the ball and stop the run. In other words, we'd be getting both an otherworldly running back and monster NTs that you can put next to each other. Letting them swallow all the blocks and push the line means we can be a much more physical team. Then you add in Jeanty who brings back the play action, I think we should be able to win the division next year with that.

i get it. i disagree though. go for the blue chip dt and a great back later. far far far easier. especially with the resources invested in the OL already. the top 5 running backs in the league this year (currently) are 3 free agents, and two backups. you can get stud running backs all over the draft, and on the wire. gamechanging dts require early investments (typically) i don't care about missing out on jeanty.

 

[thunderpimp91]

i get it. i disagree though. go for the blue chip dt and a great back later. far far far easier. especially with the resources invested in the OL already. the top 5 running backs in the league this year (currently) are 3 free agents, and two backups. you can get stud running backs all over the draft, and on the wire. gamechanging dts require early investments (typically) i don't care about missing out on jeanty.

I agree, high end DTs are a lot more difficult to find. High end RBs are regularly found throughout the draft and really not even that expensive in free agency. Nothing against young Zeke, he was a great player, but that selection had a really bad ripple effect on this organization as time went on. Ideally with 1st round picks you want a player you can lock up to a 2nd contract, with RBs that 2nd contract has a fairly high miss rate.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

i get it. i disagree though. go for the blue chip dt and a great back later. far far far easier. especially with the resources invested in the OL already. the top 5 running backs in the league this year (currently) are 3 free agents, and two backups. you can get stud running backs all over the draft, and on the wire. gamechanging dts require early investments (typically) i don't care about missing out on jeanty.

I mean, if we can't go Jeanty, then the other back I'm wanting is Gordon from OK State. I'd be happy with Walker (NT) Kentucky round 1, a guard, and Gordon. I'm just saying that Jeanty and what I suggested is perfectly fine too. Either works well imo. The nice thing about where we are likely to pick is we can't go wrong either way. Heck, we could trade back, get some extra picks including maybe an extra 1st round pick next year, and still get Walker. That'd be great. Any of those 3 options are great.

 

[gtb1943]

wow 2 Mazi posts right near each other on the same topic..lmao ughh right hes the issue because a pure NT isn't great PR specialist!! the off seasons are bad a close second are BYE WEEKS

thank you for not writing another useless novel