Name: Mazi Smith
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 326 lbs.
High school: Grand Rapids (MI) East Kentwood
Position: Nose tackle
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #58
Last year: I ranked Smith #28 and said he would be a backup defensive tackle (LINK). He made 3 tackles and 1 tackle for loss.
TTB Rating: 86
Michigan fans have been longing for an impact defensive tackle basically since Maurice Hurst, Jr. moved on to the NFL. For the past few seasons, the Wolverines have been lacking true defensive tackles, resulting in the team playing people like former linebacker Carlo Kemp on the interior. In the class of 2019, Michigan recruited a couple highly regarded, beefy tackle types, and fans have been salivating for them to play. Unfortunately, it's been some slow going with Smith and Chris Hinton, Jr. Smith played in a couple games in 2019 but didn't do much, and last season he made just 3 tackles in five games as a backup.
With the move to more of a 3-4 look under new defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, Michigan needs a nose tackle to step up. Smith is the obvious top choice considering his size and recruiting pedigree. The concern continues to be his conditioning. How long can he play at one time or in any one game before his performance falls off drastically? Michigan did bring in help in the form of Oregon State nose tackle Jordan Whittley, but reports coming out of practice are saying he's probably not going to help much. (Whittley sat out the 2020 season and is in the 350 lb. range.) Beyond those two players, Michigan is looking at the likes of Donovan Jeter, Jess Speight, and Jack Stewart. Ideally, Smith and Whittley would provide a nice 1-2 punch on standard downs, perhaps with a sub package coming in on passing downs to get a better pass rusher on the field.
Prediction: Starting nose tackle; 15 tackles, 3 tackles for loss
Man, I WISH my concern was conditioning. I'm still just wondering if he can play at a high level, for any number of snaps.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the high rank is warranted and he isn't another Jeter - a guy whose ranking a couple years back was based on 80% hope, 20% hype and 0% performance-based projection.
My expectations are low quite frankly. The DL was a disaster last year when Smith was a sophomore and reports are that Jess Speight is still expected to feature prominently in the rotation. Jeter is still getting more preseason hype than either Hinton or Smith. The red flags, they are being waved.
Hopefully the size talent and hope translate to the field this year.
All we need from Whitley is to sub in, and eat blocks. That'll earn his scholly. From Mazi we are expecting more than is realistic. Not only is conditioning an issue, he's not going to all of a sudden be able to grapple with P5 OL, at least not good ones
ReplyDeleteDT recruiting & development continue to doom. Need the offense to score in bunches!
Just win.
ReplyDelete