Mazi Smith PFF season to date summary and commentary

[DuncanIso]

When I saw Mazi on the field Sunday, I noticed he doesn't even look that big anymore...if you compare him and Hankins, he looks way smaller. Maybe now they're trying to slim him down and turn him into a traditional Dan Quinn (and Marinelli) 3-Tech

I believe he has been playing there some.

But he doesn’t have any pass rush tech.

 

[Coogiguy03]

What if we just got him on a new eating plan? 18,000 calories a day. No exercise. Hotdogs.... ice cream sundaes topped with hotdogs... buckets of mayonnaise... just high fat, high calorie, low nutrition diet...and get this blubber-boy up to 900 lbs.

Then just have him lay down in the middle of the line on each play.. and spread his fat out. If he got enormous enough, RBs would have no choice but to run around him...and that could take quote some time.

Still would take 3 years for him to develop

 

[Jimbo123]

Hall of Famer, 7-time 1st Team All Pro. 9-time Pro Bowler, Super Bowl 27 co-MVP Randy White would have been considered a bust his rookie season.

Randy White was a football player Mazi is not.

 

[CowboysLakerBamaFan]

Dude. You just described a perfect hockey goalie. Are you allowed to zip tie appendages to the crossbar?

We could get him to legally change his name to Cartman.

 

[Pola_pe_a]

The little I’ve watched of him his athleticism and strength doesn’t translate. Again haven’t watched a ton but what I see:
He has a poor get-off. This lets guys get into his body where his strength is negated.
He plays with bad pad level. Again he lets guys get into his body
He doesn’t bring his feet with him. Again this negates his strength.

He strikes me as a guy that overwhelmed people with power in college but never developed technique to go with it. He needs to work on his get-off and hand usage. He has the tools if he’s willing to put the work in.

 

[Cmac]

We have had zero contributions from this draft class. So between that and really nothing done in free agency. We are running it back with the same team. Other teams kno how to get better.

Preach Hennessy_King preach!!!! The Draft Room and Scouting Department appear to believe they're doing a good job. You nailed it. Our draft class hasn't done anything .......#1 & #2 picks' performances clearly show we elevated project picks and refuse to go searching in the weeds. (HBCUs/Smaller Schools).

 

[atlantacowboy]

stop drafting michigan dude

they all stink or are just jag

Hutchinson looks pretty dam good. It’s not the school. Mazi was just overrated by our scouting department. Will McClay was clear and vocal about drafting Mazi bc he was a plug and play starter, and we hadn’t invested in the position in round 1 for a “long time”. The last DT we took in round one was russel Maryland.

 

[Havic]

Tbh I’ll give some slack to year 1 dt’s but I need to see some major improvement going into year 2 and the player he is suppose to be by year 3 otherwise it’s a bust

 

[xwalker]

PICK NO. 26: DALLAS COWBOYS: DI MAZI SMITH​

Overall Rookie Grade: 41.9 (Rank: 12/13)
Principal Opponent: Landon Dickerson
Week 9 Snaps: 12
Week 9 Grade: 35.4

Though he played just 12 snaps, Smith finished with a team-low 35.4 overall grade and 40.8 run-defense grade. He struggled a couple of times with Jason Kelce’s footwork in the zone running game and with Landon Dickerson‘s strength. Smith currently carries the third-lowest run defense grade among qualified defensive tackles (30.2).

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-grading-all-first-round-picks-week-9-2023-nfl-season

Apparently weight room strength in this case not translating to football strength. A guy his size should not be handled so easily. There is time for the light to come on but.....

He'll be OK by next season. In college he could just use strength without technique or understanding of angles/leverage. That does not work in the NFL.

I had him as a mid/late 2nd round type prospect...

 

[Vabchshark]

Randy White was a football player Mazi is not.

Randy White was definitely a football player and a great one at that, but when he was drafted it didn't show in the beginning. I remember him being drafted in the 1st out of Maryland, and his first two years in Dallas he could only play special teams. I think this is what the poster was referring to, as it wasn't until his third year and position move to show he was a player worth the pick. Not to put words in his mouth, but had Dallas given up on White as some want to give up on Mazi, we would have never realized White's greatness in Dallas. So it remains to be seen if Mazi will be a good football player or not.

 

[BoysForLife]

Sometimes PFF is right (when they say Mazi sucks)

Then again sometimes PFF is wrong (for example when they say our o-line grades well)

I don't know what to believe. I guess PFF is either right or wrong depending on who they are criticizing or who they are pumping up

 

[Creeper]

I have been focusing on him with each game I can watch and record. He does not play much and he is off and on when he does play. I don't see him getting blown off the LOS much bbut I don't see him getting much penetration either.

At times I can see he has ability. But he lacks technique. He has a tendency to get off late. You can see the rest of the DL are all up and out of their stances after the sanp and Mazi is just getting up. This gives the offensive lineman a big advantage. The best DTs are quick to get up and get their hands on the offensive linemen or they are turning under the block. Mazi is nowhere near that yet.

On the plus side, I have seen him take on double teams and stand his ground. I can also see some slight improvement from the beginning of the year. What we want to see if Mazi come back next year and show some real improvement, like Terence Steele did at OT.

 

[Jimbo123]

Randy White was definitely a football player and a great one at that, but when he was drafted it didn't show in the beginning. I remember him being drafted in the 1st out of Maryland, and his first two years in Dallas he could only play special teams. I think this is what the poster was referring to, as it wasn't until his third year and position move to show he was a player worth the pick. Not to put words in his mouth, but had Dallas given up on White as some want to give up on Mazi, we would have never realized White's greatness in Dallas. So it remains to be seen if Mazi will be a good football player or not.

White had a desire to be great Mazi does not. Afterall he admittedly stated that he doesn't like football.

 

[chasecooley5308]

boy them Michigan "players" really light it up when the come in the league don't they?

 

[Blackspider214]

We have had zero contributions from this draft class. So between that and really nothing done in free agency. We are running it back with the same team. Other teams kno how to get better.

Go back even further. We traded Cooper for absolutely nothing and signed Gallup to a long term extension instead. This offense over time has gotten much worse.

This draft class is looking as bad as that special teams draft from over a decade ago. 1st and 2nd round picks should come in and make a difference very soon. Ours aren't at all. Every Michigan player we have drafted ends up being a scrub. No idea what the fascination is with these Michigan players.

 

[KJJ]

Hall of Famer, 7-time 1st Team All Pro. 9-time Pro Bowler, Super Bowl 27 co-MVP Randy White would have been considered a bust his rookie season.

That’s because the Cowboys tried converting him to LB. That was a completely different situation.

 

[Gremell12]

I know they believe he’s more than just a run stuffer but run stuffing DT’s are found throughout the whole middle rounds of the draft. Every year.