A Dallas Cowboys player in his third year will have a breakout season and eliminate the bust status he is currently developing.
The Cowboys are known for drafting well, but defensive tackle is one position that is tough to evaluate in the first two years. Mazi Smith will prove his doubters wrong this season.
Mazi Smith has had a tough time keeping up with the NFL’s speed, which is evident in his career’s production so far.
This article will examine Mazi Smith and the production of other defensive tackles to see when they started coming into their own.
The defensive tackles mentioned alongside Mazi Smith later in the article will all be over 320 pounds. This should show similar production to other one-technique defensive tackles.
Mazi Smith: His First Two Years
Mazi Smith was drafted in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft with the 27th pick.
When Mazi Smith was drafted, he weighed 337 pounds, and Lance Zierlein’s overview from NFL.com said,
Dontari Poe might be the physical and athletic player comparison for Smith, but more consistency from Smith is needed before he finds the Pro Bowl, as Poe did twice in his career. Smith’s blend of size and quickness is rare. He can punch and control a base block with relative ease. However, he struggles to match the initial movement of move blockers, which diminishes his effectiveness. He has space-eating potential but needs to become more consistent at taking on double teams and securing his gap. Smith’s size and testing could give his draft slotting some juice but he’s more of a Day 2 talent with exciting upside than a plug-and-play starter.
Dontario Poe is some pretty big shoes to fill and to this point Mazi Smith has not lived up to that title.
One of the issues could be the lack of consistency on the defensive coaching staff.
Dan Quinn called the defense in his first year with the Cowboys and had Mazi Smith drop weight. Reports said Smith lost approximately 30 pounds.
Why would a coaching staff finally draft a one-technique defensive tackle and have him drop 30 pounds? No one knew the answer to this question.
This caused Smith to struggle to get off blocks in his rookie year and to be overmatched in one-on-one situations.
According to PFF.com, these were his grades for the 2023 and 2024 seasons:
These grades are not promising, but two differing defensive schemes could have stunted his defensive growth.
Losing 30 pounds in one year and regaining weight the next year could have also hurt him, as he had to become re-accustomed to the weight.
These grades should increase in year three, but let’s look at three other first-round one-technique defensive tackles and see if their grades increase after a few years.
Year 3️⃣ Mazi Smith will look like a totally different player.
As I and many others continually preach, it almost always takes a DT 3 years to fully develop in the NFL.
Mazi was virtually sabotaged his rookie season by placing an emphasis on developing him as a pass rusher when… pic.twitter.com/ikeZAFzriG
— Outl✭w (@OutlawCowboyNFL) March 28, 2025
One-Technique Defensive Tackles
Three tackles were chosen based on first-round pedigree, and one based on the draft comparison to Mazi Smith.
Those defensive tackles are Vita Vea (2018), Dexter Lawrence (2019), and Dontari Poe (2012).
These three defensive tackles will be used in the three-year progress tracking because of their first-round pedigree.
Vita Vea of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was the 12th pick in 2018. Since he was drafted, he has become one of the premier one-techniques in the league.
At 6’4” 347lbs, Vita Vea in his rookie year (2018) had an overall grade of 73.2, a pass rush grade of 75.4, and a run defense grade of 69.2.
In year two (2019), his overall grade increased to 78.7, his pass rush grade to 77.7, and his run defense grade to 73.8.
In year three (2020), his overall grade increased to 90.1, his pass rush grade increased to 90.3, and his run defense grade increased to 77.3.
Dexter Lawrence came into the league in 2019 as the 17th pick. Currently, he is listed at 6’4”, 342lbs.
In year one (2019), he had an overall defensive grade of 76.2, a pass rush grade of 64.5, and a run defense grade of 76.4.
In year two (2020), his overall grade increased to 79.7, his pass rush decreased to 73.2, and his run defense decreased to 73.1.
In year three (2021), his overall grade dropped to 68.6, his pass rush increased to 73.9, and his run defense grade dropped to 56.9.
These two players saw increases yearly, except for Lawrence’s year three, in which his pass rush increased and run defense plummeted.
Dontari Poe was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs with the 11th pick in 2012. He is listed at 6’3″and 346 lbs.
In year one (2012), he had an overall defensive grade of 55.5, a pass rush grade of 51.5, and a run defense grade of 57.0.
In year two (2013), he had an overall grade of 72.3, a pass rush grade of 58.8, and a run defense grade of 75.2.
In year three (2014), Poe had an overall grade of 57.5, a pass rush grade of 54.4, and a run defense grade of 58.6.
Two of the three did see decreases in some grades in year three, but they seem to be pretty consistent with above-average grades after year three.
Mazi Smith’s Trajectory
Mazi has had two terrible years in the NFL, and year three will see an increase in every category.
If we look at the one technique mentioned above, the Cowboys should see a production increase in Smith’s run grade.
The pass rush could increase slightly if he has gotten used to the weight he has put back on, but he should not be pressured to get sacks so that he can focus on the run.
Overall, year three of the Mazi Smith experiment should be good, and fans will see why the Cowboys selected him with a first-round pick.
The Cowboys’ defense as a whole should take a big step forward this season, with players returning from injury and newly signed free agents bringing a new look.
Mazi Smith still has a bright future, and year three will be the first step toward becoming a major part of the defensive identity.