Cowboys DT Mazi Smith: 'Biggest Shoulders Ever on a Man!' - NFL Draft
The Dallas Cowboys' Achilles heel over the last few seasons has been stopping the run. For all the good coordinator Dan Quinn's unit does, stopping the significant gains on the ground was a consistent problem.
With the addition of Michigan defensive tackle Mazi Smith, it is hoped that the 6-3, 337-pound run-stopper will help ease the burden on Johnathan Hankins and allow the pass-rushing skills of Micah Parsons and Demarcus Lawrence to go to work.
And how does he stack up in the Michigan locker room? Teammate Luke Schoonmaker - Dallas' second-round pick - is here to testify.
"His power,'' Schoonmaker said. "He’s got the biggest shoulders I’ve seen on a man ever. So the power he can generate and the movement he can get and then his quickness off of that - it was a sight to see every game.''
It was a glaring issue that needed to be addressed immediately in the offseason, and Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy is pleased with the selection of Smith.
"Clearly the focus, when you go through evaluation post-season, we wanted to improve our run defense," McCarthy said. "It was a focal point; I think it's clear he does that. We love everything about Mazi; he was here on the 30 visits, everybody had high grades on him, and he was great fit for us."
Dallas struggled against teams with a good running game last season.
Justin Fields and the Chicago Bears rushed for a total of 240 yards despite losing; the Green Bay Packers, with A.J. Dillion and Aaron Jones, rushed for 207 yards; the New York Giants (167), the Jacksonville Jaguars (192), and the Washington Commanders (142 in Week 4 & 151 in Week 18) all ran the ball at will against Dallas.
For the great work the much-vaunted pass rush had done throughout the season (54 sacks), teams knew running the ball was relatively easy to do which rendered the pass rush non-existent at times.
Despite the obvious strength of the Cowboys pass rushing attack, McCarthy knew that stopping teams running the ball down Dallas' throat needed to be addressed.
"One of our strengths, take the ball away, pass rush, we just wanted to get better on earlier downs, and we think this is an excellent fit for us," McCarthy said.
It wasn't the much-talked-about tight end that many had envisioned Dallas taking - that came in Round 2 with Michigan teammate - Schoonmaker - but with Smith, his potential to be a run-stopping force while also showing the ability to be a viable pass rusher is ultimately what led Dallas to his selection at No.26.
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