The Cowboys had a real need for an interior hole-plugger with penetrative potential in the middle of Dan Quinn’s defense, and Smith certainly fits that bill. Smith is more than just a big dude who soaks up blockers so that others can shine — at his best, he can wreck top offensive lines by himself, and he brings Dontari Poe to mind as a quick, nimble big man who should reinforce all the Cowboys want to do with their pass-rush, and add a lot against the run. Smith also can stunt well, and the Cowboys do a ton of that under Quinn. His new DC should also be able to bring a bit more juice to Smith’s game.
Height: 6′ 2¾” (35th percentile) Weight: 323 (87th)
40-Yard Dash: N/A
10-Yard Split: N/A
Bench Press: 34 reps (88th)
Vertical Jump: N/A
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Wingspan: N/A
Arm Length: 33¾” (70th)
Hand Size: 9¾” (37th)
Bio: A four-star recruit out of East Kentwood High School in Kentwood, Michigan, Smith chose to stay close to home with the Wolverines, made an impact on the scout team as a freshman and sophomore, and started to make a serious impact as a started in 2021. Over four seasons with Michigan, Smith totaled two sacks, 11 quarterback hits, 33 quarterback hurries, 70 tackles, 55 stops, and one forced fumble. He had 834 snaps in the B-gaps, 346 in the A-gaps, 46 over the tackles, and two outside the tackles.
Stat to Know: Five of Smith’s 25 pressures last season came off the edge, or to the inside shoulder of the offensive tackle, which is pretty interesting for a guy his size.
Strengths: Not that you’d want to put Smith on the edge all the time at his size, but the ways in which he’s able to truck some really good offensive tackles from outside should make his NFL defensive coaches think evil schematic thoughts.
here's 6' 2¾", 322-pound mazi smith beating half of ohio state's offensive line, including paris johnson jr.
(off the edge, ftw) pic.twitter.com/fv9BZXSOkf
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) April 6, 2023
Back to the inside, where we can see Smith using swipe moves to scoot past blockers, along with a nasty snatch-and-grab, showing his estimable upper-body strength.
As a run defender, Smith can erase blockers with those strong hands (if he gets those hands on you, your rep is done), but I’m a bit more intrigued with his movement skills at his size to displace opponents with short-area quickness. He’s more than just an earthmover.
Weaknesses: Too often, especially in power situations, Smith will be late off the snap, and then, you see just how quickly even a massive athletic freak can lose all of his leverage advantage. Someone with his athletic profile shouldn’t get thrown around like this.
There is an occasional lack of urgency to Smith’s game that will get him wiped out even against single blockers. Obviously, he’ll have to ratchet that up if he wants to make the most of his outstanding tools.
Conclusion: Were you to compile a reel of Smith’s best plays from the 2022 season — and there are enough of them for that to take a while — you might wonder why he isn’t talked about as a potential first-round pick. Then, you see the stuff that needs work, and the bursts of plays in which the required urgency just isn’t there, and then you know. Smith has every attribute to be a plus disruptor and run defender from multiple gaps, which makes him an ideal prototype for today’s NFL. You would just like to see the juice level a bit higher at times.
NFL Comparison: Dontari Poe. Like Smith, Poe was an athletic marvel whose best work showed every bit of that physical prowess, and whose lesser snaps left you wondering what might have been. At his best, when he made the Pro Bowl in 2013 and 2014 for the Chiefs (who took him 11th overall in the 2012 draft based on those traits), Poe put it all together in a fearsome package. But there is a caveat emptor element to Smith’s tape that some NFL teams will likely minimize or ignore, based on what they think they can coach him up to be… and maybe they’re right!
