Tag: Mazi Smith

Cowboys return to Michigan DL well in latest 2025 first-round mock draft

There can’t be a curse on the Cowboys when it comes to selecting Michigan Wolverine defenders. Right?

Lightning can’t strike in the same place three times, can it? After being burned twice in the last 10 years when they’ve used their first-round pick on a Michigan product, the Dallas Cowboys wouldn’t go there again. Would they?

Well, that’s the case in the latest first-round 2025 Mock Draft conducted by our friends over at DraftWire. Projecting Dallas to end up with the No. 11 overall pick in the first round, they have the Cowboys going Wolverine all over again with the selection of intriguing DT Kenneth Grant in their latest mock.

The Cowboys are currently sitting at No. 13 following Week 13’s action.

Dallas of course did not get a quality return on investment from their 2018 selection of DE Taco Charlton nor their 2023 selection of DT Mazi Smith. Or, at least not yet on the latter of the two. Smith has improved over the last month or so, looking to move himself out of “potential bust” assessments. But neither should really be considered outside of “bad luck” talk when it comes to how the Cowboys should move in 2025.

Grant seems to project as a one-gap nose tackle. Standing at 6-foot-3 and weighing 339 pounds, he took over for Smith in the middle of the Wolverine’s defensive line. He has 5.5 sacks over the last two seasons. A to Z Sports compared him to DJ Reader of the Detroit Lions.

Related: 3-Round Cowboys 2025 Mock Draft: Trade back nets WR, trench help with extra pick

Cowboys former 1st-round pick finally showing a pulse after much maligned beginning

Mazi Smith has shown a lot of improvement lately this year, could it be launching pad for his future on the Dallas Cowboys? | From @cdpiglet

The Dallas Cowboys selected defensive tackle Mazi Smith out of Michigan with pick No. 26 of the 2023 draft to the delight of many, including star edge rusher Micah Parsons.

After a poor rookie season held back by weight loss, a lousy get-off, and adjusting to a new scheme, Smith hoped to bounce back under Mike Zimmer this season. In the first nine weeks of the season, things looked like they hadn’t changed much for Smith. He had a single outstanding performance against the New York Giants, a genuinely tanking team, in their first meeting in Week 4.

Smith’s sole Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade over 80 was that week, but he was objectively a bust in all other instances. In that time, Smith had one game over 55 in overall defensive grade and one over 60 in run defense. His average was 35.2 overall PFF grade and 38 in run defense. Things look to have turned the corner for Smith though, as he’s strung together several improved outings in a row.

In Weeks 10 through 12, Smith had a 55 or higher overall defensive grade in all three games, two of them over 60.

His run defense grades have all been over 60, with two of those over 70.

His average overall grade was 62.9, and his run defense average was 70.5. That 70.5-run defense grade would put him in the top 15 in the league this year.

While Pro Football Focus grades are an essential tool for evaluation, they don’t tell the entire story. Smith has had the production to back up those improved marks. Seven of Smith’s 19 tackles have come in the last three weeks. Four of his eight assists and six of his 14 stops have as well.

These numbers still don’t scream first-round pick, but they show improvement in his second season. Smith has had his top three games this year against division opponents, and the Giants are next up. This could be the week Smith registers his first sack, and in a lost season for Dallas due to injuries, keeping an eye on him and hoping to see a starting-caliber player in the final five games, could change everything this offseason for Dallas.

You can find Mike Crum on Twitter @cdpiglet or YouTube on the Across the Cowboys Podcast.

Cowboys shouldn’t let recent draft busts cloud eval of Michigan prospects

Two of the best DTs in the 2025 NFL draft class come from Michigan so the Cowboys must put bias aside. | From @ReidDHanson

Michigan draft prospects haven’t exactly panned out for the Cowboys in recent years. Two draft cycles ago the Cowboys double-dipped from the Ann Arbor powerhouse, using their first two draft picks on Michigan players.

In 2023’s first round, the Cowboys selected defensive tackle Mazi Smith. The 337-pound interior lineman didn’t have many skins on the wall, but he had a physical skillset that couldn’t be matched. One round later Dallas went back to Michigan to snag a tight end. Unconvinced Jake Ferguson was the long-term answer, the Cowboys pounced on the experienced Luke Schoonmaker at No. 58.

Schoonmaker didn’t have a very inspiring highlight reel playing in Michigan’s run-heavy offense, but he was an accomplished run blocker and represented one of the safer picks in the Cowboys’ 2023 draft class.

Neither has worked out for Dallas.

Smith’s rookie season delivered the lowest defensive snap count from a first rounder in over a decade. His sophomore season has been decidedly worse with Smith grading 124th of 124 interior linemen in 2024.

Schoonmaker hasn’t been much better.

The second-year tight end hasn’t just been playing behind Ferguson, but he’s working behind rookie undrafted free agent Brevyn Spann-Ford as well. The 26-year-old hasn’t seen a target in four weeks and has been hit or miss in many of his blocking assignments.

Both players have fallen considerably short of expectations, and both are on the path to becoming certified busts.

Dallas, an organization known for their draft prowess, hasn’t had a first-round pick struggle like Smith since they selected Taco Charlton in 2017. Charlton, a defensive end from (you guessed it) Michigan, flamed out in spectacular fashion. He only lasted two seasons in Dallas and hasn’t played a down of football since the 2022 season.

It’s not lost on the Cowboys fanbase some of the organization’s biggest draft mistakes have come from the University of Michigan. So, it’s only natural many of those fans balk at the idea of selecting another Michigan player in the 2025 NFL draft. While this is an understandable posture, it’s a mistake to give such bias legs to stand on.

Based on the Cowboys’ current trajectory, Dallas will be picking in the top 10 of the draft next April. Picking inside the top 10 will position them well for blue chip talent. A player the Cowboys could be looking at when they go on the clock in the first round might just be another player from the University of Michigan.

Mason Graham, 6-foot-3, 320-pounds, is widely regarded as the top defensive lineman in the draft class. The well-rounded DT is a model prospect who comes with a Pro Bowl profile. He’s versatile and he’s experienced. He doesn’t come with the same degree of projection as Smith and Charlton, and as an accomplished pressure player, he offers value that goes beyond the typical run-stuffing often associated with the DT position.

Right behind Graham on the prospect list is fellow Michigan DT Kenneth Grant. Grant, 6-foot-3, 339-pounds, is a physical marvel at the DT position. Like Smith before him, Grant makes Bruce Feldman’s Freaks List. He’s stout enough to play nose tackle but explosive enough to penetrate as a pass rusher. Grant has conditioning concerns as a man his size often does, but he should not be passed over simply because there are similarities between him and Smith. He’s a different player.

The Cowboys weakest position on the field is generally believed to be their interior defensive line. Given development time and bust potential associated with the DT position in Dallas, it’s recommended the Cowboys use free agency to bring in a top flight DT this spring. But if the Cowboys don’t want to spend big on a veteran, Michigan has a couple intriguing talents who need to be considered. They shouldn’t be disregarded simply because of the school they come from.

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Trade deadline passed, fixing this position is Cowboys biggest priority

Will 2025 finally be the offseason the Cowboys address the DT in free agency? | From @ReidDHanson

Almost weekly one of my kids will approach me with unapologetic sadness on their face because their tablet has inexplicably died. Forced to now interact with society like a boomer, they express shock over how such a sad, regular-occurring event could have happened to them. Again.

In the calmest, most matter-of-fact manor I can muster, I explain to them this is all because they didn’t take the necessary steps to prevent it the night before. If they addressed this extremely predictable issue earlier, it wouldn’t be a problem right now.

In many ways, Jerry Jones and the Cowboys represent my children in this illustration. Only instead of Jones forgetting to plug in his tablet night after night, Jones is neglecting to fix the same important position offseason after offseason.

Over the past two offseasons it’s been glaringly apparent the Cowboys have had an issue on their interior defensive line. Defensive tackle has headlined nearly every free agent wish list of theirs, yet the Cowboys have repeatedly turned up their nose like DT is somehow the mini tootsie roll of NFL positions.

Halfway through the 2025 campaign and it’s clear, DT is still a major issue in Dallas, and much like my kids and their battery-depleted tablets, the Cowboys have no one to blame but themselves.

It would take nearly an act of God to salvage the Cowboys DT this season. Mazi Smith has done nothing to alter his disappointing career trajectory, Osa Odighizuwa is approaching free agency and the numerous other band-aids and Bondo Dallas has plugged into the middle are extreme longshots to become long-term solutions at any point in their careers.

The same position that headlined the Cowboys wish list the last two offseasons, is the same position that’s likely to headline it again in 2025: DT

A good DT can be an anchor in the middle for other positions to play off of. Assessing the play of linebackers, safeties and edge players in 2024, has become almost an impossible task given the struggles at DT. The trickle-down effects of the poor DT play cannot be overstated.

Luckily for the Cowboys, DT is one of the easiest positions to fill in the offseason. Majority of the top-rated DTs in the league today have either hit free agency or switched teams through free agency at some point in their careers. While it’s a costly position to fill, it’s a position that’s readily available to DT-needy teams willing to spend and desperate for instant solutions.

DT is an unpredictable position to draft and often takes time to develop. Players rarely hit the ground running so if any position is worth paying for in free agency, it’s the one. But we’ve been down this road before. Recommendations, cause and effect explanations, and not-so-polite “I told you sos.”

At the end of the day, Jerry Jones just needs to charge his tablet.

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‘No bells and whistles’: Mazi Smith, Cowboys smother Giants’ run game with impressive showing to build on

From @ToddBrock24f7: The Cowboys put up the best numbers of any NFL run defense this season, and the first-round draft pick thought to be a bust led the way.

The Cowboys run defense finally put on the performance that everyone had been waiting for.

But the star of the show was someone nobody expected.

Dallas held the Giants to just 26 total rushing yards on in Thursday night’s 20-15 win. The 1.1 yard-per-carry average they allowed represented the lowest ever in Cowboys franchise history in games where the opponent had at least 20 rushing attempts.

And garnering universal praise for the effort is none other than defensive tackle Mazi Smith, the former first-round draft pick who many in Cowboys Nation had already written off as an all-time bust.

Smith ended the night with three tackles- one of them for a loss- and was PFF’s highest-graded player (88.4) from the game. He knows his interior position doesn’t exactly lend itself to monster stats, but the 23-year-old seemed immediately aware that his Week 4 outing was an important step in what was been, thus far, a rough start to an NFL career.

“I feel like I grew. I feel better,” Smith said from the visitors’ locker room after the win. “I want to keep growing, don’t want it to be a flash in the pan.”

But Smith was even more pleased with how the rest of the Dallas defense executed their game plan on the night. Taking away any semblance of a Giants’ ground attack was instrumental in helping the Cowboys snapping a two-game losing streak in which the run defense got torched for 464 yards on the ground by the Saints and Ravens combined.

On Thursday? The unit took real estate back from the Giants over the third and fourth quarters; New York’s rushing total after the halftime break was negative-three yards.

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“Everybody was doing their job. Everybody was doing what they’re supposed to. That’s really how you stop it,” Smith explained. “It ain’t no bells and whistles to stop a run game: everybody do their job, do what they’re supposed to do. That’s how you stop it.”

After back-to-back weeks of Cowboys team leaders complaining about some of their teammates playing “hero ball” or “trying to be Superman,” Smith and the rest of the Dallas defense seemed to more faithfully stick to their assignments at MetLife Stadium. As a result, they allowed the fewest team rushing yards in an NFL game so far this season.

And that- much more than the questions and skepticism swirling around the unit the past two weeks- is something Smith believes the group can actually put to use going forward.

“People be talking and chirping. Nobody’s worried about that. And if they are worried about it, they’re worried about the wrong thing,” he said. “Ain’t nobody getting out there playing the run for us or with us; don’t care what they’ve got to say.”

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Ravens vs. Cowboys: Top photos from 28-25 win at AT&T Stadium

We’re looking at the top photos from the Baltimore Ravens 28-25 win over the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium

For one week, we thought John Harbaugh’s team would be entering the 2024 regular season.

All-world running back Derrick Henry ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns, MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson logged a passing and rushing score, and the Baltimore Ravens held on for a 28-25 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday after blowing a 22-point fourth-quarter lead.

Baltimore (1-2) scored touchdowns on their first two drives, while the Cowboys (1-2) have allowed 120 points in their past three home games.

With the final results, here are the top photos from Sunday’s massive win.

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Hazardous Conditions: Workload questions key for these Cowboys

The Cowboys timeshare at DT will likely come down to conditioning as much as performance, says @ReidDHanson

The Cowboys are a veteran-led team coming off back-to-back-to-back, 12-win seasons. At this point, starting positions are locked up and rotations and expected workloads are generally set. Dallas’ 1-tech position isn’t so clearcut.

The defensive tackle spot that lines up in A-gaps goes into the 2024 season as a rather fluid situation. The hierarchy is in place, but the workload and defined roles are yet to be determined. Overall ability and job performance will be an important factor in how the Cowboys divvy up opportunities, but conditioning may ultimately dictate workloads and snap share.

Mazi Smith, the Cowboys top draft pick from 2023, has been handed the starting job based largely on his draft pedigree. He massively underachieved as a rookie but since he has the tangible traits of a good 1-tech, the team is committed to give him every opportunity to succeed as a starter.

Training camp went as expected for the young Michigan DT. Smith came to camp bulked up and motivated, which led to far better results on the field than what happened a year ago. An allergy reaction cost him a preseason game, but overall Smith had a positive summer.

After testing some young and inexpensive depth options in camp, the Cowboys decided to invest in the veteran stability of Linval Joseph. The 6-foot-4, 329-pound 1-tech has familiarity with Mike Zimmer and his defense and provides a fairly clean fit behind Smith. Signed late in August, Joseph will take some time getting into game shape. At nearly 36-year-old, it’s unknown how many defensive snaps the 14-year veteran can give Dallas, but his, and Smith’s, conditioning will likely play a big part.

Smith, roughly 13 years his younger, has legitimate conditioning questions surrounding his workload. He only averaged 18 snaps per game as a rookie and looked noticeably less effective as games progressed. With added weight on his frame in 2024, Smith still has stamina issues to overcome and shouldn’t be expected to carry a traditional workload for a starting DT.

Joseph is new to the fold in Dallas but if he can pick up where he left off the past two seasons, the Cowboys should be able to adequately fill the snaps at 1-tech with a 50-50 split between the two. Joseph played in 15 games over the last two seasons, averaging 23 defensive snaps per game. A combined 40 snaps between the two should be enough to cover the Cowboys since in obvious passing situations there won’t be a 1-tech DT on the field.

The Cowboys want Smith to succeed, and they plan to give him as many snaps as he can effectively handle in 2024. How many that proves to be will likely come down to his conditioning and ability to hold up late into a game.

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NFL Preseason: This 1st-round pick has plenty to prove in Cowboys exhibition finale

Questions remain with Mazi Smith’s play heading into the final week of the Cowboys preseason

Mazi Smith has had a lot to prove this summer. Not only did the former Michigan defensive tackle struggle with weight, performance and reaction time last season, but he contributed less than any Dallas rookie first rounder since the Bill Parcells era.

Recovering from that course would require a strong offseason, a healthy training camp and a fruitful preseason. The first two categories earned checkmarks in the affirmative. The last one, the preseason games, remain in “pending” status.

Smith missed the Cowboys’ last preseason game with an allergic reaction. The fluke event appeared to have no lingering effects, but the opportunity was missed. Smith enters Dallas’ final preseason game with just 20 snaps of game action on film this summer. He’s improved but still has plenty to prove.

Smith’s conditioning is understandably in question. Playing on the defensive interior is no easy task. The 1-tech DT position demands effort every snap and requires its players to play every snap like it’s their last.

Against Los Angeles Smith looked improved but also certifiably gassed. The Cowboys partially addressed this situation by adding the veteran Linval Joseph to the rotation. At age 35, it’s unknown how much Joseph can spell Smith at the 1-tech spot. Joseph only contributed 161 defensive snaps for Buffalo last season and hasn’t logged more than 200 snaps since 2021. He’ll help but he can’t be expected to take on much more than a minority role.

It’s on Smith to prove he can play like a starting DT in 2024. It’s also on him to show he has the physical endurance to play the lion’s share of the snaps. If he can’t offer the endurance to stay on the field, his effectiveness as a player is significantly capped.

In the Cowboys final preseason game against the Chargers, it will be interesting to see how many consecutive snaps Smith can play and whether or not his effectiveness wanes as the snap count increases. It’s the last box to check before the Cowboys roll into the regular season and remains one of the biggest question marks on the Cowboys 2024 defense.

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Cowboys’ newest addition fits defensive puzzle in multiple ways

Adding Linval Joseph, even at 35, gives Dallas a unique interior rotation on paper. If it works, things could get intriguing for Dallas’ defense. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Cowboys must’ve really been impressed with the opposition when they got their lunch handed to them last December. On December 17, Dallas sent their representatives up north to Buffalo for a cool, rainy road trip riding a five-game winning streak, boasting a 10-3 record. In all honesty, the 31-10 shellacking they took at the hands of the Bills was the start of the unraveling of their promising season.

A close, 22-20 loss to Miami the following week made it a losing streak and they escaped by the skin of their teeth at home against Detroit in the now infamous, OL substitution foot shooting by Dan Campbell. Dallas’ lessened ceiling wasn’t masked in a blowout road finale against inept Washington, and the Green Bay Packers marched into AT&T Stadium and jigsawed the Cowboys hopes and dreams in front of the world.

That was the final shot, but the loss to Buffalo was the beginning of the end. And if the two of the three recent DL additions are any indication, that had a profound impact on the way the front office wanted to put the puzzle pieces together for 2024. On Wednesday, Dallas acquired a second Bills defensive lineman from that day, inking free agent Linval Joseph.

“Breaking: I’m told the #Cowboys are signing DT Linval Joseph, per source. – Josina Anderson

Dallas will have recently acquired two veteran interior defenders to rotate with 3T Osa Odighizuwa, and 1T Mazi Smith.

Last week, Dallas traded for Jordan Phillips, who had signed with the New York Giants this offseason after being with the Bills for the previous two campaigns.

Phillips, 6-foot-6, 349 pounds, is the bigger of the linemen, but he’s primarily been a 3T his entire career who also is a run stuffer. Joseph is a former second-round pick of the Giants… from 2010. He’s going to enter his 15th season in the league and will be the Cowboys’ second oldest player at 35, four days younger than punter Bryan Anger.

Joseph played for Mike Zimmer in Minnesota from 2014 through 2019, and has also spent time in LA with the Chargers (2 seasons) and Philadelphia (one season) before landing in Buffalo last season.

He played in seven games and had 12 tackles and one sack.

Zimmer must be reminiscing somewhat about the days of old when he had the No. 1 defense in yards and points with Joseph making the Pro Bowl.

Joseph will rotate with Smith, and possibly could see starter snaps as the first-round pick from 2023 continues to try to acclimate himself to the league and the rigors of the NFL. It hasn’t been a smooth beginning for Smith, who has made progress from last season and has likely changed targets for what would be considered short-term success in his second season.

Smith played behind another elder statesman, Johnathan Hankins, last season. Hankins was allowed to leave the club and signed with the Seattle Seahawks in free agency.

Zimmer will now be able to deploy a rotation of three functional 320-to-340 pound interior defenders, along with Odighizuwa at 285 pounds as the pass-rush specialist. It gives him numerous intriguing possibilities along with defensive ends DeMarcus Lawrence, Marshawn Kneeland and Chauncey Golston who can rotate inside as well.

Combined with the chess piece of Micah Parsons and what might be the league’s deepest secondary, things could quickly come together.

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Report: Peanut allergy caused Mazi Smith’s severe reaction, forced him to miss Cowboys’ preseason game

From @ToddBrock24f7: Smith was on the team bus, about to head for the airport, when he suffered a severe allergic reaction that sent him to the hospital instead.

It can be the smallest of things.

Defensive tackle Mazi Smith didn’t play in Saturday night’s preseason matchup against the Raiders. In fact, he didn’t even make the trip to Las Vegas, as an allergic reaction suffered on Friday kept last year’s first-round draft pick from traveling with the team at all.

Now some details of the episode have come to light, revealing that the 6-foot-3-inch, 328-pounder was frighteningly sidelined by the same common food allergy that affects 1-2% of the U.S. population.

According to an X post Monday by Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, who cited a source, Smith has a peanut allergy. A severe reaction he suffered while on the team bus- before it departed for the airport for the flight to Las Vegas- forced Smith’s emergency exit and sent him to the hospital.

Smith was re-evaluated Saturday morning and officially ruled out of that night’s game.

Saturday night after the win, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters of Smith, “He’s doing much better today than he was yesterday. … Those things are always serious when you have an allergic reaction like that.”

The incident unfortunately cost Smith valuable game reps against many of the Raiders’ first-stringers during the teams’ second preseason contest, which the Cowboys won by a 27-12 final score.

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Friday’s late-breaking development did give newly-acquired DT Jordan Phillips an opportunity to play perhaps a few extra snaps, although McCarthy explained that the plan was always to give the ex-Giant his first official game action since joining the club last Wednesday. Rookie seventh-round draft pick Justin Rogers also got some additional playing time with Smith out.

Smith reportedly felt much better by Monday and was scheduled to take part in the day’s practice session. The Cowboys travel back to the Metroplex this week and will face the Chargers at AT&T Stadium on Saturday in their 2024 preseason finale.

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