Cowboys’ Mazi Smith? NFL Exec ‘Not a Fan!’
The Dallas Cowboys endured an NFL Draft where their NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles made splashes. The Eagles moved up to No. 9 overall and selected Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter before having one of the top edge-rushing prospects in Nolan Smith fall them at No. 30.
This strategy of taking players from the University of Georgia for the second year in a row has garnered them many plaudits. Meanwhile, the Cowboys are either being overlooked or questioned as to why they weren't making similar moves.
But what are the thoughts of NFL executives around the league? The Athletic shared two not-so-flattering opinions.
“I’m not a huge fan of taking a two-down nose high, but Mazi Smith is a good player,” one executive told The Athletic. “He will control the middle of the field. He gives them some needed beef, he plays with leverage, he is strong, he has enough range to go tackle to tackle. He is good at what he does, even if you don’t love the skill set early in the draft.”
Fans will be able to debate for the next decade whether or not the Cowboys should've gone defense first with the No. 26 pick, even if it wasn't taking Smith out of Georgia as he fell to the Eagles. Yet, the Cowboys did fill a big need with the selection of Mazi Smith, the nose tackle out of Michigan who will be brought in with hopes of improving a run defense that has struggled for years.
The ex-Wolverine certainly isn't the "sexy" pick, as some would like to say, but it was a needed pick. Smith become the first defensive tackle to be selected by the Cowboys in the first round since Russell Maryland, who went first overall in 1991. Since then, the Cowboys never showed much investment on the interior defensive line, mainly opting to sign veterans on cheap deals or draft them in later rounds.
It is that prior history and the buzz surrounding the Cowboys being infatuated with taking a tight end that had many shocked when they passed on Notre Dame's Michael Mayer, seeing as Utah's Dalton Kincaid was taken by the Buffalo Bills just a pick prior.
It’s been mentioned how the Bills felt that Dallas really liked Kincaid, which made them jump the Cowboys to pick. But...
“That’s a dangerous game to play, because what if Dalton Kincaid isn’t the best tight end out there?” another executive said. “What if Dallas had Mayer as their top tight end, but really wanted Mazi Smith all along? I’m old enough to remember when the Eagles outmaneuvered Houston for the tackle, Andre Dillard. How did that work out?”
Dillard, the former No. 22 overall pick in 2018, was never able to lock down a starting job for the Eagles before his rookie deal expired this offseason. Dillard is now a member of the Tennessee Titans.
That story does go to show the risk you take with any draft pick. The Cowboys know all too well what it means when a first-round pick doesn't pan out. Dallas went through that pain with Taco Charlton, the defensive end also out of Michigan who fell well short of stardom in his NFL career.
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