Mazi Smith was the No. 28 overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft as the Dallas Cowboys finally appeared to take the defensive tackle position seriously. Unfortunately, his rookie season wound up being a disappointment.
Smith hardly saw the field, and when he was out there, he didn’t do anything significant. He was often slow off the snap and played underweight—although that was said to be due to Dan Quinn’s preference.
Heading into his second season, Smith is penciled in as the starter, but that’s due to the lack of options rather than anything he put on film. With this added pressure, Smith enters the season with more to prove than any other player on the roster, according to David Moore of the Dallas Morning News.
Moore has been focusing on players with much to prove this season and finished his series with Smith at No. 1, saying the nose tackle was added to slow down the opposing team’s ground game but “didn’t make much of an impact.”
