mazi smith

We literally hired a bear photographer to capture Mazi's career and his name is [Patrick Barron]

Hello, fan of an NFL team. MGoBlog excruciatingly scouts every Michigan play, and scores them to inform our coverage. Since mi atleta es su atleta now, here we share what we're sharing.

QUICKLY: Bear-strong, non-fat, no frills nose tackle.

DRAFT PROJECTION: Late 1st to 2nd Round.

NFL COMP: Haloti Ngata. Huge, strong, freakishly athletic doubles-eater who could get low, and created a lot more sacks than he collected early in his career, but developed as a pass-rusher as he went along.

WHAT'S HIS STORY? Poke a Michigan fan in 2018-'20 and you'd get a lecture on (the history of Western warfare and) defensive tackle recruiting. Mo Hurst graduated after 2017, they recruited a couple of guys for 2019, and we sat around wringing our hands for a few years asking when the couple of the guys from 2019 would be ready. Mazi Smith was the lower ranked, and the one expected to be further from the field because he needed to slim down before building back up. The recruiting profile was essentially "Is Bear." Since the players on the field were getting clubbed with Duo, we got in this cycle through the curtailed 2020 season where we'd ask "Where Bear?" and the program would put fellow 2019 recruit Chris Hinton out there to demonstrate why young DTs shouldn't be playing. Insiders hinted the issue was conditioning.

Bear arrived in early 2021, and WMU promptly hit him with a slip screen that involved a ton of running afterwards. To our amazement, Smith stayed on the field. To our greater amazement, Washington decided to play into our slow and methodical hands, and were eaten alive. By a good measure, Mazi was the better of the 2019 pair; we were shocked when Hinton (undrafted) was the first to go pro.

Various strategies were tried to defeat this. Nebraska gave single-blocking him a shot. Iowa and Ohio State tried stretch zones. Rutgers had a good plan built around Belly and Bash to grind Bear down, but nobody else (with a prayer of an OL) had the running QB to do that.

The big question for 2022 was can Mazi have a Suh senior year? He was #1 on Bruce Feldman's freaks list because the strength and athleticism in a 340-pound dude is unreal. With Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo off to the pros, Michigan needed pass rush in the worst way. They didn't get it. Smith could get push, but usually he hung out at the line of scrimmage. He also let scrambles get past him. One of the enduring nightmares of the Fiesta Bowl was Smith turning down a free run at Max Duggan, then falling down and allowing an uncanny 3rd down conversion. Balanced against Smith's constant doubles-eating, around which the rest of the defensive structure relied, this only made him a star instead of a superstar. Michigan played with safeties back and clean linebackers, and his teammates routinely reminded the fans why that could be. Occasionally we'd come across a bad offensive line—CSU, UConn, Maryland, Indiana, MSU—and the fans wouldn't need a reminder. Both years The Big Ten Championship Game was decided in the first defensive series, when Smith announced there would be no running on Michigan today.

Deeper into the season though Smith started to look like he was wearing down; and teams that can run tempo especially were able to get movement. Extended drives cascaded into redzone shoving matches that Michigan fans, so used to the Good Bear, were unprepared to go against us. This can be overstated—Smith would also proverbially *Summon It*—many a 1st & Goal at the six resolved into tough 4th down decisions. It's not a "motor" thing. It's a 340-pound human seeing 30 double-teams a game thing.

POSITIVES: Freakishly strong, freakishly athletic, fantastic teammate, and warrior poet. Dominates single-blocking, flipping sides quickly enough to be trusted to two-gap. Insanely strong punch and low center of gravity allow him to routinely defeat doubles and clog up the LOS. Excellent push-pull technique, doesn't get locked onto blockers. Can drop into coverage—M loved to use him to take away mesh on 3rd downs.

NEGATIVES: Two things: Gets worn down, and Pass-rushing is way worse than it should be for his quick feet. Comes in from twists out of control to open scramble lanes, tends to panic when he's got a QB in his crosshairs, leading to bad results from sack-worthy rushes. Mostly stayed at the LOS as teammates rushed, but not agile enough to spy.

[After THE JUMP: When Bear?]
[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

Harbaugh gonna Harbaugh. I'd be more surprised if this story ended up involving anyone else:

I went to Home Depot once and the first person I saw was Harbaugh, wandering around looking for something like he was just a person, a normal person.

Your new punching bag. The NCAA has a new president. Here he is not saying "absolutely not" to a thing:

Asked if SEC football players should be paid—a question that his predecessors would have answered with a resounding “No”—Baker took a different tack. He paused, then said it was something he planned to address with his member schools and conferences. Pressed on what those conversations might entail, he remained vague.

“I guess what I would say is that I’m planning to have a conversation with the membership about change,” he said, adding that he preferred to have those talks before saying more. “We’ll see what that kind of change can look like. But I certainly believe there will be change.”

This may be more about the writing on the wall than any genuine change of heart from Generic Suit in Charge Of NCAA. But at least that's something? Baker also says you "don't have to treat everyone the same… and probably shouldn't," which is sensible enough.

[After THE JUMP: we are willing to compromise on toe length.]

[Bryan Fuller]

Why can't you just be in one place? Well, offseason coaching attrition may not be done yet:

Not-yet-mothballed SB Nation blog Bleeding Green Nation has an overview of the Eagles DC search, which is currently up to six candidates. Math indicates Minter is likely to remain Michigan's DC, but the interview indicates we shouldn't get too comfortable with him in the role. If Minter goes you have to figure Jim Leonhard gets a phone call, right?

Photo choice: not inspired. So when you draft an offensive lineman the perfect thing to demonstrate his prowess is to show a picture of him getting his ass beat by Mike Morris:

Probably the best one they could find from that game.

[After THE JUMP: nobody's buying it anymore.]

Had to talk about Mazi so.

2nd half champions 

Leave it to a Michigan fan (this one) to find something to fret about after Nebraska

i'm perfectly calm, dude 

Shine on you crazy diamond.

michigan state has been possessed by a fey mood

i'm perfectly calm, dude 

Gemon Green is apologized to. The first Mazi Smith game.

just win baby

ah hell chips in the middle