Dallas Cowboys pick defensive tackle Mazi Smith with their first-round draft pick

After one of the most volatile and uncertain drafts in years, the Dallas Cowboys found themselves with a bevy of potentials options when it came their turn to pick with the 26th selection in the 2023 NFL Draft.

They simply trusted their draft board and took the best player available in Michigan defensive tackle Mazi Smith, who was ranked 14th by the team’s scouts.

“We did have options. We had a bunch of players ready two or three guys that were rated the same,” vice president Stephen Jones said. “We had a really good debate over who’s the best guy for us. We were talking about Mazi at length all week as a guy who would be in that range and mind to be there when we pick. He obviously brings you know an element to our run game stopping the run that we don’t have.“

“So we just felt like a great fit for us. We really did something that makes us a better defense at the end of the day.”

The Cowboys turned down trade down offers from Kansas City (31) and Las Vegas (38), but they resisted and made the 6-foot-3, 337-pound Smith the first defensive tackle taken in the first round by the franchise since Russell Maryland in 1991.

“We had to turn down a trade right before we picked after having the discussions regarding player and it just took off,” owner Jerry Jones said. “We had a trade that we could take, hanging with a couple of rebuttals to that as we were getting. So as we made this pick we had a trade in the works.”

It was a nod to defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and continued to quest to shore up the team’s run defense and give them a pass-rushing push from the up the middle.

“[The Cowboys] told me that the first and foremost my job is coming in and be that elite run defended they need for the defense,” Smith said. “And my second job is to show everybody that I can affect the quarterback. That is something I need to work on, I got to hone in on. But I can’t lose sight of the first goal first goal to make sure I stopped that run and make sure that I’m stout in the middle.”

The Cowboys drafted Smith despite re-signing nose tackle Johnathan Hankins to a one-year deal in free agency.

It speaks to their interest relying on the defense to be the foundation of their quest make a Super Bowl run for the first time since 1995.

Led by All-Pro linebacker Micah Parsons, the Cowboys defense was third in the NFL in sacks, first in turnovers and 10th against the pass in 2022.

But they ranked 22nd in the NFL against the run in 2022, giving up an average of 129.3 yards per game. They gave 2.7 yards before contact per rush, ranking 21st.

And Cowboys defensive tackles ranked 28th in interior Run Stop Win Rate last year (28.5%).

“Clearly, the focus when you look at when you go through evaluation postseason, and it’s clearly that we wanted to improve our run defense,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “And I think it’s clearly does that. We love everything about Mazi. He is great fit for us. But the strength of defense is we take the ball away and we pass rush. We just want to get better on early downs.”

Smith is a big and athletic, run-stopping nose tackle. He is expected to be able to shrug off chip blocks and absorb double-teams.

“I got power in my hands,” Smith said when asked what makes him so good against the run. ”I have been strong my whole life. And I’ve been strong. My mom said when I came out the womb like I did push ups in there. I have been strong my whole life. I figured out how to how to use it on the field. So you got the right techniques and get the right stance to get into it just started striking blocks and throwing my key and making sure they went back.”

He had 85 tackles, 4.5 tackles and a half sack the past two seasons as the anchor of one of the best defenses in college football at Michigan.

Smith has a 33-inch max vertical jump, a 9-foot-4.5 broad jump, and an absurd 6.95 three-cone time. It all means that he could be solid pass rusher on the next level.

“Since Mike [McCarthy] has some here, he’s talked about building a bigger, stronger, faster football team,” scouting director Will McClay said. “We’ve continued to do that. And when you look at the NFL you got teams that run the football now. You look at our division, a guy that can stop that a guy that can add that value to our defense. I think there’s ability for him to be able to rush the passer. You watch the Michigan tape he’s playing in flat stance. He doesn’t get after the passer. You change things up and you put him with Dan [Quinn] within our defense not only can you stop the run but we feel like there’s upside in rushing the passer and you know being a disruptive force.”

So what are the Cowboys getting in Smith?

A guy who loves football and loves contact.

“A dog, a big dog,” Smith said. “A big physical guy. Never been afraid to contact. Never been afraid to ball. A guy who’s gonna get somebody’s face. A guy who ain’t going to make it easy.”

“I love the physicality of football,” Smith continued. “Football has taken care of me my whole life. I have been playing since I was 7. I don’t what I would do if I couldn’t put that helmet on and hit somebody. that’s just my nature. That’s in my blood.”

Smith has been on the team’s radar since the start of the draft process and he did visit the team’s headquarters among their 30 pre-draft visitors.

The Cowboys took Smith even though coveted tight ends Michael Mayer and Sam LaPorta were on the board. Tight is a deep position in the draft and they most likely will address in the position in the coming days.

The draft resumes on Friday with the second and third rounds. The Cowboys own picks 58 and 90.

They have four picks on Saturday when the draft concludes with rounds four through seven.

“We feel good we can get you know we can get some really good players, as we move through the draft,” Stephen Jones said.