Mazi supreme disappointment

Bullflop

Bullflop

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DTs don't become solid contributors anywhere near two preseason games. It's a position that requires far more experience than that to become proficient at that position. It's a far better idea to wait until any rookie DT has had time to learn his craft than to declare one a bust at this juncture.
 
DuncanIso

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KJJ said:
Have you not been watching preseason? He’s slow to get off the ball and he’s being pushed around by second and third stringers. He’s not creating any havoc upfront. He’s been far from the war daddy we’ve been hoping for. The training camp reports on him have been blah. Stephen was asked what young players have stood out so far in camp, and he never mentioned Mazi. He’s received more criticism from the fanbase and some in the media than any first round pick I can remember in a long time. I don’t remember Taco getting roasted this much as a rookie. McCarthy was asked about his performance in the first preseason game, and all he said was he’s a young player and needs work like everyone. You could tell he was disappointed in his play. Even Mazi admitted he didn’t play well in the first preseason game, and he looked worse this past week.
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He seems to have one move…

Lock up and push forward.
 

morat1959

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Cowboys22 said:
No one is expecting sacks from him. The issue is he is not clogging the middle. He is being easily moved wherever the OL want to take him. There were gapping holes for the RB in Seattle just like there has been in years past. He is at least supposed to hold his ground even when double teamed so that the LBers can flow cleanly to the ball. He isn’t doing it often enough for the draft capital spent on him. It is foolish to call him a bust after 2 preseason games but it’s equally foolish to act like there should be no concern. He was supposed to be strong enough to be NFL ready to at least hold his ground. Instead he looks like he’s on roller skates much of the time.
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This is exactly what I saw but I’m a hater.
 
ESisback

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1)IMHO, a rookie DT, no matter what round he’s drafted, takes awhile to find a groove.
2)Mazi’s forte is filling lanes and keeping guys occupied, letting the LBers clean up. We’ll never see big sack numbers from Mazi.
3)Too many fans are impatient, and kind of illogical. I think we’ll still have our hands full with good running teams, causing many to overreact with their ‘Taco Talk’.
 
coult44

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KJJ said:
Have you not been watching preseason? He’s slow to get off the ball and he’s being pushed around by second and third stringers. He’s not creating any havoc upfront. He’s been far from the war daddy we’ve been hoping for. The training camp reports on him have been blah. Stephen was asked what young players have stood out so far in camp, and he never mentioned Mazi. He’s received more criticism from the fanbase and some in the media than any first round pick I can remember in a long time. I don’t remember Taco getting roasted this much as a rookie. McCarthy was asked about his performance in the first preseason game, and all he said was he’s a young player and needs work like everyone. You could tell he was disappointed in his play. Even Mazi admitted he didn’t play well in the first preseason game, and he looked worse this past week.
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He’s getting blasted by people who don’t know anything about football, and expect him to have 2 sacks and 4 TFLs e Rey game. The people who do know are saying some good things and some bad things. But exactly what a rookies hours have happen. He was never going to be a big stat guy and although I understand why you folks think he should be, the bottom line is he’s not gonna have monster numbers.The fact that you’re comparing him to a DE or DT tells me everything I need to know.

When it’s all said and done, DQ will have him where he needs to be.
 
KJJ

KJJ

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coult44 said:
He’s getting blasted by people who don’t know anything about football, and expect him to have 2 sacks and 4 TFLs e Rey game. The people who do know are saying some good things and some bad things. But exactly what a rookies hours have happen. He was never going to be a big stat guy and although I understand why you folks think he should be, the bottom line is he’s not gonna have monster numbers.The fact that you’re comparing him to a DE or DT tells me everything I need to know.

When it’s all said and done, DQ will have him where he needs to be.
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I’m not expecting a bunch of sacks from him, but I do expect him to get off the ball quicker and not get pushed around by second and third string players. We’ll find out if he ever gets to where he needs to be. I certainly haven’t given up on him, it’s still early.
 

Starstruck22

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Flamma said:
That's how most DTs work when they get drafted. They don't show up for a year or two. I don't know why this surprises people. Vita Vea sucked in his rookie year. It took Quinnen Williams the better part of two years before he started playing as expected. That's to be expected from a DT.
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yeah like we have the depth to wait 2-3 years for some mojo to develop….we are going nowhere fast!
 
b0xZZ

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Could have had Jaylin Hyatt, Hendon Hooker or any number of high ceiling skill players and they reached for this bum
 

Stairwayto7

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Starstruck22 said:
Mazi has in my opinion looked awful in both preseason games. For all the touting his size, strength, and so on just dont see it here. He is pushed around willy nilly on the line and dont believe this is befitting a first round draft pick. I am predicting a bust of Taco proportions here. Just one of the worst pics in Cowboys history. And now with the possibility of Overshown being gone for the season a disastrous 2023 draft. We cannot get to the next level with misses like these and that has been the history in Dallas.
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All, Steeler fan here. New to the board. I swear I am not coming to troll or be a jerk. I only joined to talk football. I like Micah (PA guy) plus I think he is smart and a great player. So when I saw him on a draft show he discussed how he wanted Mazi. I knew nothing about Mazi so this has led to me following the Cowboys a little this summer (but not real close). I originally came to talk about the Mazi debate to see if he really is doing as poorly as I am hearing or is just a work in progress.

I've read some of the debate in a few places including a few of the posts on this board and it seems like a good many of you feel he is not demonstrating good fundamentals and is under performing but I can't really tell since there is debate and I have also watched some youtube clips that were more positive.. So I wanted to ask cowboy fans whaat the real deal is. Was he doing well in camp but having some problems in game? Has he flashed in some ways but failing in others?

For context, we like our rookie NT Keanu Benton. He's been good. Positives coming out of camp and he had some good plays in our PS game against Tampa (collapsed the pocket, stuffed a run on 4th and 1) but got hurt and din't play in the second game. It's minor so he should be fine. But he will still need to keep progressing and developing. But we like his trajectory.

A little lower on the spectrum is our first round LT, Broderick Jones. He has had his ups and downs. He's not bad but he is not winning the starting job at the present time. We knew he would be a project having only started 19 games in college before being drafted. He needs some work. He's been average but I'm not unhappy with him. Most of the fanbase is pretty good with that though since our incumbent came back to camp much improved and isn't making it easy for the kid to unseat him.

So is Mazi like Benton, making some good plays but has to keep showing continued progress? With him being a first rounder I could see how him needing more work is cause for concern even if he is doing somewhat well but not showing dominance that the fanbase expected. Or, has be been average - some good plays but beaten on some and is going to take a bit longer in his development like Broderick? Or, is he really under performing at this juncture?

Everyone won't progress at the same time. People spoke poorly about rookie Troy Polamalu for a while and we know how that turned out. Patience is needed for rookies But sometimes these guys really just don't have it and you can see that. So I am honestly curious about where Mazi falls on this spectrum.
 
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rambo2

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Bamx said:
Just like how some are saying it's to early to anoint Deuce it's also still to early to claim that Mazi is a bust.
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They also claimed that Tyler Smith wasn't good last year and that Tolbert was a bust.
 
Rockport

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FuzzyLumpkins said:
That has us at 10 and I question the methodology particularly as to how they determine expected values.
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