FRISCO, Texas – The expectations surrounding a first-round pick in the NFL can become a burden at times – with the presumption the player is ready to excel right away.
For some, more accurate expectations can be placed after it takes time to them to develop and adapt to the pro game.
Defensive tackle Mazi Smith is hoping that time has come.
Smith put together his best game as a pro in Week 4 with a pair of run stops and an all-around confidence builder in the game as the Cowboys stopped the run and beat the Giants 20-15. Paired with Smith's fourth quarter performance against Baltimore, there are signs that he's turning his season around.
"Getting more confident, comfortable. Those are two things that I see from him each and every day," head coach Mike McCarthy said. "More of a consistency, particularly the nose stunt, he hit two of those nicely in the game. It's a game of consistency, but I definitely see a more confident Mazi Smith."
It boils down to technique. Smith, who has struggled to anchor the defensive line, finally had success in doing so against the Giants.
"Just trusting the people around me," Smith said. "The pieces around me and trusting the game. I've been playing for a long time. It's finally come to fruition in my play and have to keep building, stay low with my pad level."
Over the first three games, Mazi was graded as the 123rd defensive tackle out of 124 total in the NFL by Pro Football Focus. He went from a 33.0 grade in Week 3 against Baltimore, to the highest grade of the Week 4 matchup with a 88.4 overall defensive grade.
"I think Mazi has a lot more confidence right now," defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer said. "When we got to training camp, I'm not sure he had that kind of confidence, but I think it's continued to grow. More times you catch him doing things right, the better he does things. Hopefully he's walking around with his head high and his chest out this week."
It's only going to get tougher for Smith as DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons will miss time these next few weeks. His assignment from snap-to-snap doesn't really change much without those two. However, all the attention that they would receive from a game plan or pre-snap standpoint, now shifts to the other 11 on defense.
"It's part of the season," Smith said. "We all got to step up and support the people who aren't available and make sure that we don't miss a beat in their absence. They are integral parts of the defense, so it's probably going to be a little different."
Smith's consistency, and the Cowboys defensive front, will face another tough test this week against Pittsburgh.
