BTB:BTB Talks With Draftek, Part IV: Cowboys Defensive Needs (DL, LB)

[cowboyjoe]

by rabblerousr on Mar 17, 2011 9:30 AM CDT in Dallas Cowboys 2011 Draft
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http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2011/...efensive-needs

For the past two days, it has been my pleasure to share with you the first two parts of my interview with Longball from Drafttek In part one, he shared some insights about the big board and cooked up a few draft scenarios. Yesterday's second part showcased his areas of expertise, the bouncing behemoths along the offensive front. If there was any doubt about that, his most recent posts in his "big uglies" series for Drafttek will dispel it. Go here to absorb some of his deep knowledge about this years crop of left tackles; you'll find some equally juicy info on right tackles here. Today, our discussion shifts gears to the other side of the ball; LB and I talk about players of interest at Dallas' areas of defensive need--in this edition we talk defensive line and linebackers. In the final installment coming later, we'll talk secondary.

BTB: Lets start up front, with your type of guys, the "big uglies" on the DL. Dallas is set at NT, where Jay Ratliff and Josh Brent provide a good 1-2 punch. But, given that the Cowboys had three guys playing on one-year tenders last year and won't be re-tendering Marcus Spears, it's a good bet that they'll be looking at the DE position closely and picking up at least one five-technique guy-a 3-4 DE-assuming that they haven't already penciled in Sean Lissimore as a replacement. Luckily, this is a great draft for defensive line talent. Moreover, there are a lot of guys who can play that 3-4 DE position. Longball: Due to the flexibility of Jay Ratliff and the promise of Josh Brent, I'm saying DL instead of DE. I haven't forgotten that Spears, Bowen and Hatcher are all free agents, but I have to believe that Dallas will hold on to at least one if not two of them - and if a quality NT is there to be drafted, do you consider moving Ratliff? It would be nice to return to the days of a solid DL rotation.

BTB: No kidding. I'll always remember that Jimmy Johnson once said his teams won because of good defensive line and quarterback play. We saw with the Giants playoff run in 2007 how a dominant defensive line can take over games. So, tell us about some of your favorite five-technique players. How about an off-the-radar guy?

[supercowboy8]

I'm looking forward to seeing Brent play more. I'm not sure about him as a NT, he needs to add some bulk. I would like to see him at LDE.