Mazi Smith
Mazi Smith is an American professional football defensive tackle for the New York Jets of the National Football League. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines and was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft.
Early life
Smith was born on June 16, 2001. He attended East Kentwood High School in Kentwood, Michigan. He was rated by ESPN as the No. 38 recruit in the Class of 2019 and the year's second best defensive tackle. He is of Nigerian descent.College career
During the 2021 season, Smith started all 14 games for Michigan. He had 37 tackles, two tackles-for-loss, four pass breakups, and four quarterback hurries.In August 2022, Bruce Feldman of The Athletic rated Smith as the top-ranked player on his annual list of college football "freaks". Feldman cited Smith's size, speed, and his "rare power and agility". Feldman called Smith "so rare, in fact, it's hard to find the right superlative to begin with." He was also credited with being the vocal leader of Michigan's 2022 defense. At the end of the season, he was selected as a first-team player on the 2022 All-Big Ten Conference football team.
On October 7, 2022, Smith was stopped for speeding by police in Ann Arbor and was arrested after a gun was found in his possession without a concealed pistol license. Two months after his arrest, he was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, a felony. That count was dismissed on December 8, 2022, during a hearing as part of his guilty plea on the lesser charge of a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle.