Michigan football at the NFL Combine, Thursday live blog: Mike Morris, Mazi Smith
Two Michigan Wolverines football players are set to go through measurements, testing and on-field drills Thursday afternoon and evening at the 2023 NFL Draft Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. Defensive end Mike Morris and defensive tackle Mazi Smith will look to impress scouts and boost their draft stock today.
Smith did not meet with the media Wednesday as he was scheduled to, due to delays with his medical examination. It’s unclear if that will impact what drills he does this week. Morris, meanwhile, was banged up at the end of Michigan’s 2022 season but said he will “do something” at the combine.
Thursday’s on-field coverage of the combine is televised on NFL Network from 3-8 p.m. ET.
More Michigan players will go through drills throughout the next few days. Here’s the full schedule
- March 2 (3 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET): DL (Mike Morris, Mazi Smith), LB
- March 3 (3 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET): DB (DJ Turner), PK/ST (Jake Moody, Brad Robbins)
- March 4 (1 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET): QB, WR (Ronnie Bell), TE (Luke Schoonmaker)
- March 5 (1 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET): OL (Ryan Hayes, Olusegun Oluwatimi), RB
This live blog will have the latest on how they all do in their on-field drills, what’s being said about them by analysts and more. Follow along below for real-time updates on Michigan players at the combine.
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• 6:35 p.m. — Other than some “conversion drills” — linemen going through linebacker drills — Morris’ group is done for the evening.
• 6:25 p.m. — Morris’ vertical jump is 28.50″ (28th of 31 defensive ends). He had a 9’2″ broad jump (29th of 31 defensive ends).
• 6:20 p.m. — Official 40-yard dash times are in, and Morris’ is 4.95 seconds. That’s the 20th-fastest out of 21 defensive ends. His 1.72-second 10-yard split was 19th of 21.
• 5:55 p.m. — Morris slips a couple times in the four bag agility drill.
• 5:48 p.m. — Morris goes through the “wave drill.”
• 5:43 p.m. — Morris and his group are beginning drills.
• 5:31 p.m. — Morris clocks a 5.11-second (unofficial time) 40-yard dash on his second try.
“If you’re looking for a base end, somebody who can really just sit there, stack blocks and hold the point of attack, Mike Morris is going to be able to do that all day,” Jeremiah said.
• 5:30 p.m. — With Morris about to run, Eisen and Jeremiah discussed Michigan. The latter pointed out how many talented prospects the Wolverines have still on the roster.
“Your Wolverines are going to be good next year, too,” Jeremiah said. “Doing all these players’ [evaluations], watching all this tape, a lot of guys, you look at, ‘Wow, he’s coming back. Oh, he’s coming back!'”
• 5:13 p.m. — Morris runs a 5.04-second (unofficial time) 40-yard dash on his first run. He will run one more.
“Productive for the Wolverines. He was just a big-hearted whirling dervish who’s very difficult to block,” Eisen said on the broadcast.
“Well, he’s huge,” Jeremiah added. “They stand him up there on the edge at over 6-5, 275 pounds.
“There’s a tackle from Maryland, Jaelyn Duncan, who we’re going to talk a lot about — he’s going to test really well — and he went right through his pads.”
• 4:20 p.m. — The first defensive line group has concluded its workouts. The second group, the edge rushers, including Morris, are up next. Linebackers will close out the night.
• 4 p.m. — NFL Network’s Charles Davis revealed that Smith told him he tweaked his hamstring, which is why he’s not working out with the rest of the defensive tackles. Smith told Davis, “I have to kill it” at Michigan’s March 17 pro day.
• 3:38 p.m. — Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell joined the broadcast booth along with Rich Eisen and Daniel Jeremiah. He discussed former Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, the No. 2 overall pick in last year’s draft, and what impressed the organization so much.
“I had a man crush on him,” Campbell said of Hutchinson. “I had a major man crush on him. He fit everything about us. It just happened to be, he was in our backyard. We were fortunate there. But everything about the way he plays, the way he trains, the way he prepares … he’s a smart football player, he’s instinctive, he’s relentless, high motor. You name it, he’s us.”
• 3:10 p.m. — Defensive linemen have begun running the 40-yard dash. Morris is expected to take part in drills and testing.
• 3:08 p.m. — According to multiple reports, Smith will not participate at the combine. He will, however, work out at Michigan’s March 17 pro day.
• 2:30 p.m. — Measurements are in for both Morris and Smith.
| Prospect | Height | Weight | Arm Length | Hand Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Morris | 6-5 | 275 pounds | 33 1/2″ | 10″ |
| Mazi Smith | 6-3 | 323 pounds | 33 3/4″ | 9 3/4″ |
Morris was listed at 6-6, 292 for his senior year at Michigan. That means he’s down some weight and actually one inch shorter than the Wolverines had him at. Smith, meanwhile, also cut some weight, after weighing in at 337 pounds last season. He was listed at 6-foot-3, the same height as he was measured at in Indianapolis.
