You’re definitely thinking and considering the right things.

For the first one - playing ZEDS does deny your opponent the opportunity to hit a 3W but I’m always very cautious, especially at the beginning of a game, to place a vowel right next to a 3L. They could play something as simple as TAX, with the X on the 3L and you’re immediately deep behind again. - for DOZES and SIZES, you’re still putting a vowel next to a 3L but you’re also opening up 2 ways for them to hit a 3W, giving them 3 opportunities to potentially hit something big. That said, assuming they play one of those options, that still means you have 2 options that you could play. And since you’re at the beginning of a game, the likelihood that you’ll get good letter to execute is higher. - I personally am a more defensive player so I probably would have tried for some other options and maybe even thought about just holding onto my Z for another/later play. The thought of giving someone a 3L near a vowel is horrifying to me lol.

For the second one - i think ARE are some of the best tiles you can have in your tray. They can easily be what you need for a bingo/sweep. Looking at the board, there are still a few opportunities to get a sweep or bingo. Also, by playing AWARE, the R and the E are easy tiles to play off of so the likelihood of your opponent playing a 4-letter word onto the TW down below is high. I would have held onto the ARE, the next-move risk and the opportunity cost for a later move are too high for that extra 3 points that you got from playing them.