A few days ago, I took a swing at trying to identify possible draft targets for the Bucs at the defensive tackle position based on the athletic profile and testing of this year’s draft class. During that exercise, I was able to reasonably rule out a few players while also discovering four players who line up really well with what Bucs head coach Todd Bowles has historically looked for in draftable tackles.

Since then, I have started to review the college tape of these players, and today, I will be profiling the first of those four players. Let’s dive into the draft profile of Michigan defensive tackle Mazi Smith.

Mazi Smith’s Background

Michigan DL Mazi Smith Photo By: USA Today

Smith is on the younger side of the spectrum among this year’s draft class. He is currently 21, and with a June birthday, he will be just 22 on the opening day of the season. Smith was originally a four-star recruit out of high school in Grand Rapids, MI, who was heavily recruited before ultimately deciding to stay in-state by attending Michigan.

A redshirt junior, he played a very limited number of snaps in 2019 (seven) and 2020 (51). In 2021, Smith broke out, playing 544 snaps before rounding out 2022 with 632.

Over his career, Smith logged 88 total tackles, six of those tackles for a loss, and 0.5 sacks, with three passes defensed, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. His best year was his platform season of 2022, when he logged 48 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss. That was also the season when he got both his forced fumble and fumble recovery.

Beyond football, Smith was a team captain for the Wolverines, which is something that holds positive weight with the Bucs brass. But he does have a legal history and will continue to have to speak about it with teams for them to consider him as a potential Day 2 pick.

Back in October of 2022, Smith was pulled over for a traffic stop. During the course of that stop, it was revealed Smith was carrying a concealed gun for which he did not have a permit.

Smith has since pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and his record will be cleared if he meets certain criteria stemming from the plea. Smith has maintained that he had completed a concealed carry course and had simply not filed his paperwork for the carry permit at the time of the stop. Ultimately, the Bucs, just like every other team, will have to make a determination whether they believe that charge could be foreboding of other potential issues as he becomes a pro or not.

Mazi Smith’s Profile

Smith profiles as a true nose tackle. He is a chiseled 323 pounds of pure muscle. He took the number one spot on Bruce Feldman’s “Freaks List” this past fall due to his 22 bench press reps at 325 pounds, a 33-inch vertical and 4.41 short shuttle time. For his size, Smith shows off power and agility that can allow defensive coordinators to do a lot around him.

Based on his reported measurables (Smith did not test at the NFL Scouting Combine), his Relative Athletic Score would be 9.93. His profile checks every box for what the Bucs tend to look for in a defensive tackle as he hits their needs for height (6-foot-5), weight, arm length (33.75 inches), vertical jump (29.5 inches at his pro day), broad jump (8’11), 3-cone (6.95 seconds) and short shuttle (4.41 seconds).

Mazi Smith’s College Tape

Smith’s tape belies a player who should be able to enter the NFL ready to contribute with a high floor. He is physical at the point of attack and can maintain gap integrity against the run. Here is a great example from his first rep against Penn State last year.

This should allow him to play immediately on early downs. He is comfortable playing heads-up against centers as well as in the “A” gap as a one-technique. And where traditional nose tackles have struggled to evolve with the NFL’s current iterations of run games (outside zone/wide zone), Smith has the lateral movement skills to get horizontal and still make plays as ball carriers try to win to the sidelines. This should make him attractive to almost every team in the league.

As a pass rusher, Smith is more of a pocket pusher than a true threat to get to the quarterback at this point in his career. That is easily evidenced by his lack of sack production over his collegiate career. However, there is a tremendous amount of upside when it comes to Smith due to his physical profile and the fact that he had 46 pressures over his final two years at Michigan.

This gives him a lot of potential if he can figure that part out at the next level. He currently lacks any type of pass-rush plan and has an extremely limited repertoire of moves to try to win with. Right now, his go-to to get past opposing offensive linemen is an arm-over swim move that he tries to varying degrees of success.

Michigan DL Mazi Smith Photo By: USA Today

One area that can greatly help Smith become a much more effective pass rusher is improving his get-off at the snap. He currently shows an inconsistency there that kills his ability to have any effect on the passer on many snaps. I don’t believe this delay at the snap is due to a lack of athleticism, as he looks twitchy for his size and has plenty of leg drive to be explosive. To me, it just seems to be a combination of poor timing and a lack of efficiency in how he moves at the snap.

Sometimes he launches late, and when he does launch, he has a tendency to drive up before he pushes forward. This loss of fractions of a second reduces his ability to get into opposing offensive linemen’s chests and forces Smith to then have to contend with hand fighting to win the rep. These are things that can be taught and developed, leading to the high ceiling I previously mentioned.

The launching up before forward also leads to another issue he will have to continue to improve upon to really become a plus defender at the next level. Smith can be inconsistent with his pad level. When this happens, you can see him get driven backward by double teams as it kills his normally very powerful anchor.

When Smith does win as a pass rusher, it is usually due to him timing up the snap correctly, shooting a gap and winning with his swim. He can be fast and violent in these situations. He is so violent that he often bursts through the line in such an uncontrolled fashion that he has trouble tracking the quarterback and is often side-stepped easily. As he works on his ability to rush the passer, Smith is going to have to be able to play with more control to allow his pressures to turn into sacks at a much higher rate.

How Mazi Smith Could Fit In With The Bucs

Despite some recent movements in free agency, the Bucs could still use help on the defensive line. The current depth chart sports only four players who are reasonable locks to be on the roster: Vita Vea, Greg Gaines, Logan Hall and Pat O’Connor. Vea and Gaines both have the versatility to play both three-technique as well as nose tackle. Hall is really more of a three or a five-technique. O’Connor is a late-game depth piece at best.

Bucs DT Logan Hall – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Were the Bucs to draft Smith, he would give the team increased versatility with Vea and Gaines, as well as a potential handcuff to Hall. Smith could be the early down nose or end when the Bucs are in a 3-4, while Hall could come in for later downs in true pass rush scenarios. He would also help shore up the Bucs’ early-down run defense, helping put opposing offenses into a more disadvantageous position on third down, which is exactly what Bowles is looking for out of his defense.

Ultimately, Smith represents a high-floor player with a similarly high-ceiling. However, the likelihood he reaches that ceiling is lower than that for players with similar upside. As far as the Bucs are concerned, Smith could be an ideal complement to their changing defensive line and a good pairing for last year’s second-round pick Logan Hall as a part of a rotation that could produce more in 2023 than it did in 2022.