The Dallas Cowboys could not be more thrilled with 2025 first-round pick Tyler Booker following his NFL debut. While Booker benefitted from Jalen Carter's ejection, allowing the fifth-lowest pressure rate among rookie offensive lineman in Week 1 is a fantastic start.
Unfortunately, 2023 first-round pick Mazi Smith didn't take the field to earn a grade. The former Michigan star was a healthy scratch after barely sneaking on the 53-man roster. Brian Schottenheimer made it clear Smith needs to show more consistency to earn playing time. Still, some fans are wondering if this was just a one-week punishment.
During an appearance on 105.3 The Fan, Jerry Jones suggested that Dallas will stick with the same look at defensive tackle Sunday against the Giants. That likely means Smith will be inactive once again.
Cowboys DT Mazi Smith will likely be a healthy scratch again in Week 2
"I suspect we got out of there pretty clean. My guess would be that it would look pretty similar to last weekend," Jones said, via Tommy Yarrish of DallasCowboys.com
Getting out of Philadelphia "pretty clean" would seem to suggest that Smith needs an injury to crack the rotation. Perrion Winfrey, who missed Week 1, was put on injured reserve with his back injury. That knocks Winfrey out the next four weeks, so that's one less competitor.
Regardless, it is clear the Cowboys prefer seventh-round rookie Jay Toia. Osa Odighizuwa, Kenny Clark and Solomon Thomas all fired off the ball in Week 1. They'll continue to handle the bulk of the snaps, but Toia proved against a physical eagles offensive line that he can handle his own.
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The fact that we are talking about a seventh-round rookie earning snaps over a former first-round pick who's in his third year proves the former Michigan Wolverine is on shaky ground. NBC color commentator Chris Collinsworth said the quiet part out loud about Smith during the broadcast last Thursday.
"If you're inactive with what they've got at defensive tackle, that's as close to being cut as you can be, right?" It’s quite the statement about your former number one pick," Collinsworth said.
It's possible Collinsworth underestimated the Cowboys' defensive tackle room as whole, but nobody is saying it's one of the best in the league. That Smith is behind Toia and Winfrey, who spent last season in the UFL, shows he is hanging on by a thread.
Even if Smith ends up playing in the coming weeks, it feels like a guarantee that his Cowboys tenure will end after the season, if not sooner.
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