What they're saying: Mazi Smith not a 'sexy' pick for Dallas Cowboys, but a 'safe' one
Michigan Wolverines football defensive tackle Mazi Smith was drafted No. 26 overall in the first round to the Dallas Cowboys Thursday night. Here’s a look around the internet at what they’re saying about the pick.
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Bob Sturm, The Athletic: Cowboys drafting Mazi Smith shows they want to win in the trenches
After we have spent years detailing how the Cowboys’ front office does not believe in taking defensive tackles in Round 1 and how famously former DL coach Rod Marinelli once actually argued in the war room against taking a player (Florida’s Sharrif Floyd in 2013) at his position that high because he believed you can coach up lesser players and he preferred that route. Trust me, in all of our years covering the draft, we do not recall a time where a positional coach did not want a more talented player at his spot and actively campaigned against it. Positional coaches stay employed by their department doing their job well and you need better players to do this. Knowing all of that, this was a real departure from the norms.
Every year, we know you can look at the top tackles all you want, but the truth is you are wasting your time. Since Russell Maryland in 1991, this Cowboys’ personnel department just won’t take a big road-block type. If they invest in a defensive lineman at that height of the draft, they better feel he has 10-sacks-a-season potential which is likely only found off the edge.
Perhaps, we can forget all of that, because Dan Quinn is not turning down any solution players.
Kevin Sherrington, The Dallas Morning News: Drafting Mazi Smith wasn’t sexy, but Cowboys have earned the benefit of the doubt
What became clear late Thursday night was that the Cowboys wanted to fix their defense, and if a defensive tackle isn’t exactly sexy, it’s sound football strategy. Which hasn’t always been Jerry’s strong point in the war room.
Remember when he admonished Stephen that passing up Johnny Manziel to take Zack Martin was “hitting it down the middle”? The wildcatter in Jerry still itches for the big play. Ten years ago, he said Thursday, he probably wouldn’t have picked Smith.
But a lot has changed in the Cowboys’ draft room over the last decade, most of it for the better. Jerry trusts Will McClay. So should you. He’s been right more often than not since taking over the draft in 2014. He was right last year about Tyler Smith, an offensive tackle out of Tulsa mostly famous for leading all of college football in penalties. All Smith did as a rookie was bump Tyron Smith to the other side of the offensive line.
Could Mazi Smith make the same kind of immediate impact? He’s got all the tools you want in a defensive tackle. Big, nimble, smart. NextGen stats ranked him second only to Georgia’s Jalen Carter in athleticism among DTs, even if his production didn’t live up to it. NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein, who’s been doing his thing a long time, compares Smith to Dontari Poe, a brick wall in his prime.
Nick Harris, DallasCowboys.com: Gut Feeling: Writers React To Mazi Smith Draft Pick
When buzz started to circulate around The Star on Thursday evening that Michigan defensive tackle Mazi Smith could be the pick, my initial reaction was, “Well, it certainly makes sense.” Sure, there was that one missing piston of offensive firepower that could’ve been addressed immediately in the first round, but when you can round out a defense whose only strong negative from a season ago was stopping the run, you do it. When you pair Smith’s athleticism with his size, you have a truly unique prospect that can plug either hole you want to put him in along the interior of the defensive line. Was it the flashiest pick the Cowboys could’ve made? Certainly not. But was it the safest? I would say yes.
John Owning, PFF: 2023 NFL Draft: How Michigan NT Mazi Smith fits with the Dallas Cowboys
Impressively, Smith plays with good pad level despite his size, enabling him to leverage his massive lower half to hold his ground at the point of attack and swallow up gaps against the run. The former four-star recruit pairs that lower-body strength with Deontay Wilder-esque power in his hands, as he routinely bludgeons offensive linemen on contact, putting himself in a great position to stack and shed blocks with ease against the run. Smith’s 11.6% run-stop rate ranked 15th among all interior defensive linemen in college football in 2022. Moreover, notice how Smith continually plays from a rooted and constant base, as it enables him to maximize his power input at the point of attack, which will be the catalyst for him occupying and defeating single and double teams in the NFL.
Many will lament Smith’s delayed get-off as a reason to deflate his draft stock, but that ignores the fact that Smith was playing a read-and-react role as a head-up defender on a majority of his snaps. Instead of firing out of the ball and penetrating his gap as a shaded defender, he was tasked with mirroring and controlling blocks to help Michigan fit all the necessary gaps while playing with light boxes. Put Smith in Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn’s scheme, and the Michigan defensive tackle’s athleticism will enable him to shine.
Nick Eatman, DallasCowboys.com: Don’t Ignore History in Judging Mazi Pick
I seriously hope the reason fans are not high on him isn’t because he went to Michigan, where Taco Charlton went? If so, ever heard of Jacob Rogers? He was a second-round offensive tackle from USC in 2004 and he never could stay healthy or figure out to be a swing tackle. Good thing the Cowboys didn’t get scared away of Tyron Smith because they were both USC Trojans seven years apart.
Or if you were one of those who wanted to draft Michael Mayer out of Notre Dame? Even when the Cowboys took Anthony Fasano back in 2008?
My point is that there is no real comparison at all to drafting players from the same colleges. That’s a lazy take and it’s almost never accurate.
So let’s see how this one plays out. But before you get all crazy about the guys the Cowboys didn’t take or could’ve taken – just remember their track record in the first round.
It’s worth the benefit of the doubt.
