Mazi Smith's performance

[gimmesix]

Lol 4 yards is progress? Our opponents will take that everytime

If every play was 4 yards, sure. Most of them were not. I think the only point of that play being included is that Mazi made it.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Lol 4 yards is progress? Our opponents will take that everytime

If he had not the athleticism and handwork to get off the pin inside -mind you he was comboed on the play- and work his way back to playside then it would have been a much greater gain.

I am talking about his ability to recover when he gets beat off the snap. That is really good stuff in line play.

You just going to fixate on the outcome and ignore what happened?

 

[LACowboysFan1]

He was playing against some stars. And maybe I didn't watch the plays yoi watched but I didn't see him getting shaved around all game. And playing with other stars DOES have an effect on things especially when the C or G has to worry about Parsons etc lining up there

Parsons didn't even play in this game, so the Rams o-line worried about him anyways? Man, Parsons is even effective when he's on the sideline!

I'm not giving up on Mazi, and I didn't say he got pushed around all game, but he did at least some. For a first-round pick with a full season behind him he should be more effective, remember they were counting on him to plug the middle, that's his job.

It was just one preseason game, I'll give him every chance, and if he did better later in the game that's good.

Let's review again, say game 8 in the regular season?

 

[jwitten82]

If he had not the athleticism and handwork to get off the pin inside -mind you he was comboed on the play- and work his way back to playside then it would have been a much greater gain.

I am talking about his ability to recover when he gets beat off the snap. That is really good stuff in line play.

You just going to fixate on the outcome and ignore what happened?

Because the outcome is all that matters

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Because the outcome is all that matters

Hey, you asked how that was progress. If you want to say recovering after losing off the snap is not progress then okay.

 

[jwitten82]

Hey, you asked how that was progress. If you want to say recovering after losing off the snap is not progress then okay.

Lol after 4 yards is not progress

 

[Loso86]

Parsons didn't even play in this game, so the Rams o-line worried about him anyways? Man, Parsons is even effective when he's on the sideline!

I'm not giving up on Mazi, and I didn't say he got pushed around all game, but he did at least some. For a first-round pick with a full season behind him he should be more effective, remember they were counting on him to plug the middle, that's his job.

It was just one preseason game, I'll give him every chance, and if he did better later in the game that's good.

Let's review again, say game 8 in the regular season?

Obviously that's why I said when the games matter

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Lol after 4 yards is not progress

You just lack imagination. There are many examples of when a 4 yard gain is a favorable outcome in and of itself.

But yes continue with the 4 yard means bad analysis.

 

[Cowboys5217]

You can't fix what's wrong with this guy. He'll be out of the league after his rookie contract is up.

 

[Beast_from_East]

To all those saying he is too slow getting off the ball. How many are expert DC's to know what his assignment actually is? He is not pass rusher, so he needs to react to the run so he needs to read then react as to the direction of the play.
So is he really that slow, or is it just a thing against a player.

How many can really tell from watching him on a TV screen with the camera half way up the stadium when you see the entire offense and defense at the same time.

I will give him more time, it is his 2nd year, and he had no offseason work due to shoulder surgery.

If his role is just to stuff the run and eat up blocks with very little to no pass rush, then you can draft those type of guys in the 2nd round.

See T'Vondre Sweat from my beloved Longhorns.............2nd round draft pick of the Tennessee Titans.

You dont draft guys like that in the freaking first round unless you have no clue what you are doing. Of course this is the same organization that thought Taco Charlton was better than T.J. Watt so I rest my case your honor.

 

[gtb1943]

You just lack imagination. There are many examples of when a 4 yard gain is a favorable outcome in and of itself.

But yes continue with the 4 yard means bad analysis.

you lack lots of things

 

[Playmaker3128]

This was a questionable pick to begin with and I wonder how much Quinn and his defensive system was the driving force behind the pick.

For all the love Quinn got around here, people don't realize Micah parsons basically made that guy look way better than maybe he would have been. Quinn relied on pressure from his front 4, and when teams took that away by getting the ball out quickly.... and or running it at us we had no answers. He never made adjustments mid game either. Micah basically got him a head coaching job.

Was mazi a poor pick, we'll see this year. If zimmer can't get anything out of him then it's probably best to let him go.

 

[Hawkeye19]

Last year they were playing a sell out 1 gap scheme. This year they are not. You can see where guys are supposed to hold their ground to give lanes for the LB now as opposed to last year's FFA.

Nothing you say here is wrong but I think our expectations were off.

DT take time to develop. He is putting in the work and using techniques that are new to him to positive effect.

I hope you’re right. But the strength and power he was supposed to possess simply haven’t been consistently displayed.

Hopefully Zimm breaks through and Mazi becomes a monster in the middle, but for now— this pick looks dubious at best IMO

 

[Playmaker3128]

One thing I’ll say about mazi…. He isn’t there to get sacks. He’s there to take up blockers…. And maybe get the occasional sack. Actually from what I just saw last game he wasn’t bad at all.

If our run d improves this year it’ll be worth it. That’s how teams beat us last year… neutralized our pass rush.

 

[jazzcat22]

If his role is just to stuff the run and eat up blocks with very little to no pass rush, then you can draft those type of guys in the 2nd round.

See T'Vondre Sweat from my beloved Longhorns.............2nd round draft pick of the Tennessee Titans.

You dont draft guys like that in the freaking first round unless you have no clue what you are doing. Of course this is the same organization that thought Taco Charlton was better than T.J. Watt so I rest my case your honor.

The case has 2 more years to evaluate.
You may not be an expert or else you would not be here posting. As you should know many players take 2 to 3 years to develop.

 

[jwitten82]

You just lack imagination. There are many examples of when a 4 yard gain is a favorable outcome in and of itself.

But yes continue with the 4 yard means bad analysis.

Please tell where 4 yards on second or first down is favorable

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Please tell where 4 yards on second or first down is favorable

That is not what I said. But easy enough:

when the formation gives leverage to the offensive blocker at the poa and the DT at the poa is able to fight through the block and limit it to a 4 yard gain that is a good play.

 

[blueblood70]

Oh yea there a huge diff between someone on the inside shade of the 3 and the outside shade of the 3. I never saw Mazi lined up on the center, in my book that makes him a 3T and with 4 down DL I would say the story checks out. They were both getting double teamed all plays…who looked better?

Doesn't matter they play too far and I mean far apart positions you are off you're wrong you can't look at mazzy Smith the same way he is a nose tackle and this is a different defense than last year Mike Zimmer will have his nose tackle doing whatever it is on either gap not right over the center you either have to eat up the gap with two guys coming at you or just simply stand up to center and not allow him to get to the second level but this is completely different their positions are different there's a lot more than a three techs asked to do you literally just need to be a space eater just don't allow a lot of push from either the center or the double team that is it most of the time you just stop in the rug and you're just there to try to basically create a roadblock keep your linebackers clean it knows tackle that's it they don't expect you to be a pass rusher hell they don't even expect you to make the tackle on the running back you're just supposed to create a problem in the middle to free up your linebackers and to make sure guys don't get to the second level... But no one's perfect you're trying to break down tape in a preseason game I will take Mike zimmer's word for it over years because you can't even differentiate that they are in a different position,,, and right now Fehoko completely failed to be a defensive end he's too big too slow that was when he was drafted to be Gholstons way better they're going to kick gholston back outside when needed in certain packages and that's why you're seeing them use fehocco and Mike Zimmer's defense because he's not good enough to be a defensive end he's a three tech..

Let me finish with this this is preseason you're gonna see guys playing all over we call it position flex and right now Mike Zimmer is gonna play around with a lot of players in different positions to see who fits where that is what preseason is for not to win games not to see who's the best player on the field literally it's the coordinators just looking at players and seeing where they can use them throughout the year... So a lot of what you see is not what you're going to see in the regular season and by the way Smith just came off a shoulder surgery gaining weight back and they are working his **** off grinding him in practice we've seen it I think he's gonna be better once he only plays nose tackle and once they're only practicing very lightly during the week and not going through this grind he will get his game shape and he will look a lot better because they're gonna be rotating a lot and he's not gonna be practicing as much Annie will have all this time getting in shape..

 

[Jfconrow]

I appreciate your feedback. It is true diff DT positions are different, just as Lg is not the same as a RG depending on the scheme

 

[HungryLion]

Please tell where 4 yards on second or first down is favorable

Well,

Speaking in terms of success rate. Most stat models would say that a successful rush on first down gains 40% of yards needed for a first down.

A successful rush on 2nd down needs to gain 60% of the yards needed to gain a first down.

So,

If it’s 1 and 10. A 4 yard gain exactly would be on the very edge of being considered successful.

If it’s say 2nd and 8 for example. Then 4 yards would be considered unsuccessful because it only gained 50% of the yards needed for a first down.

So depending on when it happens. A tackle for a 4 yard gain is a successful play for the defense.

https://www.sports-reference.com/blog/2023/09/success-rate-comes-to-pro-football-reference/