Zimm on Mazi: "He's doing a really good job"

[RonWashington]

Belt & Broadus are at the practices in Oxnard they see first hand . According to Broadus late round draft pick Justin Rogers is outplaying # 1 pick Mazi Smith. Cowboys may have over reached with Smith but may have a rotational DT in Rogers .

 

[speedkilz88]

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Cowboys DC Mike Zimmer on DT Mazi Smith: “What we’re asking him to do, he’s doing a really good job. You might not see him make flash plays, but we see him taking on double-teams, getting his hands in the right place. I see him understanding where he’s supposed to be. He’s not gonna be a speed rusher by any stretch. “He’s gonna have to be a power rusher and push the pocket. But as far as the run game, what I’ve seen so far I’ve been impressed with him. He’s doing a really good job. Now he’s gotta keep it up. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen with him, along with the rest of the defensive line.”

If he can just occupy 2 blockers when he’s in there then he’s doing his job.

Exactly, at that point, it's up to the linebackers to make the plays with the holes that Mazi opens up.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Mazi is a huge bust.

Yeah! It's hard to believe he has been a Cowboy for 15 months and hasn't made ALL-Pro yet isn't it.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Will MClay is more wrong than right, though. Let's pull up his draft history and show us how many terrible picks he has made.

McClay doesn't run the draft.

 

[big dog cowboy]

The player was absolutely crap all last year

Considering the way he was coached are you really surprised?

 

[Tangle_Foot]

I'm just sayin i trust what the beat writers will say more than what a coach will say at this point of camp....Zim isnt gonna trash the kid this early. The beat writers are saying the 7th rd kid from auburn is looking better than mazi....

 

[JBS]

Considering the way he was coached are you really surprised?

Yeah, sure. All the coaches fault.

 

[gtb1943]

Belt & Broadus are at the practices in Oxnard they see first hand . According to Broadus late round draft pick Justin Rogers is outplaying # 1 pick Mazi Smith. Cowboys may have over reached with Smith but may have a rotational DT in Rogers .

just how hard is it to get a trashcan full of dirt? Or how expensive? Cannot understand why the Boys act like the Keystone Kops on this

 

[CWR]

Beat writers/scouts at camp know what they're looking at since they've been doing it for years....We're a week into camp, don't read too much into what Zimmers said, what did you expect Zimmer to say, Mazi sucks, why is he even on the team? Ofcourse he's trying to stay positive about the player..

There's absolutely nothing to stop him from saying a player needs work. Of course it's coach speak, but he's happy with the effort and retention from Mazi.

It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for him to say we just need to get blank to focus or work on this or that or any other weakness. He's called out players before.

Hes not doing that, so I'd say he's fairly happy with what's been done so far. To be clear I'm not saying throw the kid under the bus, but he does NOT need to outright lie.

 

[plasticman]

Okay, Mazi isn't progressing as quick as we would like because he still has some things to learn. According to one draft profile:

"And even now, there’s still work to do before Smith is completely ready for the NFL."

https://www.profootballnetwork.com/mazi-smith-dt-michigan-nfl-draft-scouting-report-2023/

I'm not giving up on him and it sounds like Zimmer wants to work with him.

 

[DuncanIso]

....who wanted Mazi anyways? Jerry or coaches?

That draft pick always felt rushed.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for him to say we just need to get blank to focus or work on this or that or any other weakness. He's called out players before.

Hes not doing that, so I'd say he's fairly happy with what's been done so far. To be clear I'm not saying throw the kid under the bus, but he does NOT need to outright lie.

+1......I think Zimm is being as honest as he can. Of course he's not throwing Mazi under the bus, NO coach is going to do that a few days into training camp. Notice he talks about a few specific technical issues he's looking for from Mazi. My point is we all agree Mazi was a disappointment last season, that's no secret but maybe Zimm can help the kid find his game. I'm not sure why we can't give Zimm and the coaches a chance before playing the same ole Mazi card. God knows we need him.....

 

[starfan1]

I m certainly willing to get behind Mazi but I think Zimmer is just doing lip service. Most of what I have heard on the flagship radio station 105.3 the fan has been not so pleasant for Mazi. In fact i heard more positive from Justin rogers (the the rounder?) The DT has the potential to once agin be the bugaboo that holds us back but since we havent played a meaningful snapIll wait.

 

[Rayman70]

Pray Zimmer is right and we keyboard warriors are wrong about Mazi.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Yeah, sure. All the coaches fault.

We all know what happened to him last year. That is 100% on the coaches.

The coaching staff failed some players last year. Mazi is in that group.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Will MClay is more wrong than right, though. Let's pull up his draft history and show us how many terrible picks he has made.

Lets go for it but remember the context of average hit rate. Your entitlement is all I see.

 

[thunderpimp91]

Lets go for it but remember the context of average hit rate. Your entitlement is all I see.

Yeah I truly don't know if people are that ignorant to actual draft success rates or if they need to blame someone whos last name isn't Jones to give them some sort of hope for change. By almost any metric you go by the Cowboys have been a top 10 if not top 5 team in draft success over the past decade.

 

[speedkilz88]

Yeah, sure. All the coaches fault.

They played Mazi almost exclusively at 3T, so yeah they should take a load of the blame. He should have been learning proper 1T technique all of last season to prepare him to stop the run by this season.

With the offseason shoulder surgery he's missed a lot of those technical on hand teachings.

 

[McKDaddy]

Beat writers/scouts at camp know what they're looking at

I mean you don't have to be an expert to see whether the guy is getting pushed around or if he's holding his ground.

It would be great if he actually turns the corner ... but coach speak a week into camp isn't going to persuade me. I'm going to need to see it.