UDPATE: Why It Was the Right Time for the Dolphins to Kick the Tires on Another Former First-Round Pick

The Miami Dolphins, at the risk of repeating ourselves, are on a quest to find core players for the future this season as much as they are looking for wins.

This is not bold statement because we've seen it manifest itself time and time again through the personnel transactions the team has made going back to the spring where the only newcomer of significant or financial commitment the team added was Malik Willis — and that in and of itself should be the only evidence anyone needs to understand he's not just a bridge quarterback.

Among the many new players brought in were a couple of former first-round picks looking to revive their NFL career and after the first experiment failed, the time has come to see about the second one.

Specifically, it's time for the Dolphins to find out what they have in defensive tackle Mazi Smith, and that's just what they made happen Saturday when they announced he was one of the two practice squad players elevated for the Week 4 game at Minnesota — just like we had suggested minutes before the move became official (and, no, we didn't get advance notice).

Also elevated was edge defender Rodney McGraw, who'll be in line to make his NFL debut, while running back Carlos Washington Jr. officially was signed to the active roster off the practice squad.

SMITH'S STORY

Smith failed as a first-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 2023 out of Michigan before he was included in the trade with the New York Jets that sent defensive tackle star Quinnen Williams to Dallas.

After they saw him for three games last year, the Jets cut Smith this offseason and the Dolphins signed him to their practice squad in the hopes that he perhaps could rediscover the form that had made him a disruptive force for the Michigan defensive line, where in 2022 one of his teammates up front was Kenneth Grant.

Smith started 17 games for Dallas in 2024, but never became that presence in the middle of the defensive line for the Cowboys.

THE DOLPHINS AT DT

The Dolphins' current interior defensive line group is down to three players after Kenneth Cooper Jr. was waived this week, though Grant could be back pretty soon from injured reserve with the Week 4 game at Minnesota being the last one he has to sit out regardless of health.

For that game against the Vikings, it was difficult to envision or rationalize the Dolphins going with only three IDLs — Zach Sieler, Jordan Phillips, Zeek Biggers — because just one injury would have put an unfair burden of the other two.

That meant the Dolphins likely needed to elevate a defensive tackle from the practice squad.

The Dolphins certainly could elevated Cooper since he did play in the first three games and was re-signed to the practice squad after clearing waivers, but the mere fact they were willing to expose him to waivers in the first place suggests his long-term future with the team isn't overly solid.

And since the 2026 season is about evaluation, why not get a look at Smith?

Head coach Jeff Hafley said Friday that Smith had made steady progress since joining the practice in the first days of September.

"He keeps getting better, and hopefully we'll be close to seeing him on a Sunday," Hafley said. "But he's making improvement, learning the defense and doing everything that (DL coach Austin) Clark asks him to do. I think he's getting himself in better shape, which is important. I've seen improvement, and I'm excited about the progress that he's made and eventually we're going to see him on a Sunday."

This Sunday will be that day.

It's worth taking a look.

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