Biggest question mark can this defense improve their run def?

[fivetwos]

Since about a third of my posts are complaining about the DT room, I suppose I’ll let that stand….but I knew all along the Osa contract meant the position was solved in their eyes.

Some have mentioned getting only late RB and DT in a draft loaded with both….and yes….that’s why they needed to find an extra third and not throw away your fourth on a bust WR.

More acceptable if you make it up in FA, but….and that’s exactly why they don’t win….well, the better part of it anyway….not enough good players.

 

[CCBoy]

Like every off-season, until the regular season is played, none of us knows how good or not good we will be. At this point we can only speculate based on the info we have.

There are several ways to look at whether or not the Cowboys defense will greatly improve next year against the run:

• HOPE - looking at the players drafted and acquired through FA, can give hope that those new acquisitions will immediately make this defense better. All fans have some level of hope to varying degrees. It’s just what we as fans (fanatics) do.
• WE CAN’T GET MUCH WORSE - last year’s defense was just awful against the run, finishing 29th. It’s hard to get much worse so the odds are decent that with better health and some player additions, improvement happens.
• LUCK - since the DTs we added are 7th round long shots, maybe we get lucky and one of them comes out of nowhere to be an instant upgrade. The odds are long but it’s not impossible.

The things stacked against us regarding improvement are there also:

• NEW SCHEME AND COORDINATOR - Matt Eberflous is the 3rd defensive coordinator in three years and the 9th defensive coordinator since 2000. It’s hard to have a new DC just step in and get instant results.
• HISTORY - the Cowboys have not been good against the run in a very long time. Most teams with great run defense have sunk some high draft capital in several DTs that have hit for them. (The eaglets have two first round DTs in last 5 years, 1 a top 10 pick) JJ and SJ have rarely seemed committed to run defense.
• BAD LUCK - we’ve had our share. Other than Parsons and Osa, maybe Overshown (but hurt all the time) the Cowboys have not had good luck drafting run defenders taken early. Mazi, Taco, Trysten Hill were first or second round busts. Luck has not been great on run defense in recent drafts.

Can we be significantly better against the run next year? Yes. Better meaning “fixed”? Probably going to take more than one year.

We will see how the rest of the summer shakes out. I am actually pretty excited about what Dallas has cooking on the other side of the ball with the news of Sam Williams and what they did in the draft.

https://insidethestar.com/cowboys-te-room-needs-a-major-leap-in-2025

A strong defensive end and a strong cornerback were both added. Other work and scheme changes have taken up the current task on defense. A bunch of defensive line and linebacker experienced coaching.

 

[blueblood70]

They could of spent fa money to upgrade our run defense, but they chose to go the low budget route again with depth signings. They had an opportunity to draft a high end DT at 12, but decided to add more high resources to our OL where they already had 2 1st rd picks invested.

Last year, Zimmer was begging for DT help and signed every old NT he could find late in fa where no options were left. I understand they have time before the start of the season, but their history suggests all they do is sign aging, low cost veterans year after year without no plan.

And I'm telling you regardless of what happens there's not a game for five months and they'll work this out with this group of guys a large group of guys you never know when one of them will turn out especially one of these draft picks like I can't pronounce the guys name but he sounds like just what we need we have Rogers who haven't seen them yet and we have a new defensive staff that can work with all of them and try to figure out the defensive tackle rotation and who should be here and who should not.

I'm going to go through this one more time for you guys I realized the disappointment last year's offseason sucked last year's regular season sucked because we had a historic amount of injuries and no Derek Henry unless he's Bo Jackson and played eight positions were to help this team last year other than what make you feel good watching the games because we had a better running back with a better name? And then all the injuries happened on that side of the ball or at least a majority on defense they literally were decimated and I mean tore apart I don't care who you would have got it defensive tackle if you'd have got one of the bigger names he wasn't by himself going to cover up all the holes we had last year so I get it but we had a bad year last year mainly because of injuries if you don't see it then no matter what they would have done and I'm not letting him off the hook I'm just telling you in hindsight none of those moves would have mattered...

Every year is a one off everyone needs to calm down on saying how bad things are going to be and how they're going to be worse without actually seeing the product on the field we don't even have the roster set yet we haven't seen a single practice a single camp a single preseason game and again the rosters not set in everyone's doom and glooming already...

Let's do this understand every year is a one off it's new it doesn't matter what happened last year doesn't matter what they did or didn't do last year this is a new year.

And it's more than just a regular new year I believe we have one of the best cumulative depth of coaching, the coaching staff below Brian Schottenheimer, I am more than ready to say this is probably the best set of assistants we've had in a decade.

I'm not believing the height I just seen what they're doing they're seemingly getting some of the better ones at each one of their group positions not just a defense and offensive coordinators i'm talking about the offensive line coats the defensive line coach the linebacker coaches they all seem to be leaders they're excited they're passionate there seem to be aggressive they want to teach and get these guys all moving in the proper direction.

You don't have to believe that but I believe the two guys we just drafted one of them might end up starting and then you have now Mazzy in the rotation versus he's probably was the best one we had on the roster last year then we brought back Rogers to compete in a full offseason with the new coaching staff maybe this guy will give something and I think when you bring in sometimes guys like Thomas to rotate whenever Osama might need a blow or when they run a nascar package or something he will be better than he was from where he came from..

I completely understand what you're saying but I believe every year needs to be looked at as a one off...

 

[CCBoy]

After the first-round selection of offensive lineman Tyler Booker in last week’s draft, conventional wisdom had the Dallas Cowboys focusing on the run game in 2025.

That might have been true had Dallas bothered to follow that pick up with a three-down running back in either of the next two rounds.

Instead, the Cowboys selected another edge player in the second round and a cornerback in the third. Said cornerback is coming off of a torn ACL at that.

https://insidethestar.com/post-draft-cowboys-have-3rd-best-rb-room-in-nfc-east

Defense relevance?

 

[thunderpimp91]

And I'm telling you regardless of what happens there's not a game for five months and they'll work this out with this group of guys a large group of guys you never know when one of them will turn out especially one of these draft picks like I can't pronounce the guys name but he sounds like just what we need we have Rogers who haven't seen them yet and we have a new defensive staff that can work with all of them and try to figure out the defensive tackle rotation and who should be here and who should not.

I'm going to go through this one more time for you guys I realized the disappointment last year's offseason sucked last year's regular season sucked because we had a historic amount of injuries and no Derek Henry unless he's Bo Jackson and played eight positions were to help this team last year other than what make you feel good watching the games because we had a better running back with a better name? And then all the injuries happened on that side of the ball or at least a majority on defense they literally were decimated and I mean tore apart I don't care who you would have got it defensive tackle if you'd have got one of the bigger names he wasn't by himself going to cover up all the holes we had last year so I get it but we had a bad year last year mainly because of injuries if you don't see it then no matter what they would have done and I'm not letting him off the hook I'm just telling you in hindsight none of those moves would have mattered...

Every year is a one off everyone needs to calm down on saying how bad things are going to be and how they're going to be worse without actually seeing the product on the field we don't even have the roster set yet we haven't seen a single practice a single camp a single preseason game and again the rosters not set in everyone's doom and glooming already...

Let's do this understand every year is a one off it's new it doesn't matter what happened last year doesn't matter what they did or didn't do last year this is a new year.

And it's more than just a regular new year I believe we have one of the best cumulative depth of coaching, the coaching staff below Brian Schottenheimer, I am more than ready to say this is probably the best set of assistants we've had in a decade.

I'm not believing the height I just seen what they're doing they're seemingly getting some of the better ones at each one of their group positions not just a defense and offensive coordinators i'm talking about the offensive line coats the defensive line coach the linebacker coaches they all seem to be leaders they're excited they're passionate there seem to be aggressive they want to teach and get these guys all moving in the proper direction.

You don't have to believe that but I believe the two guys we just drafted one of them might end up starting and then you have now Mazzy in the rotation versus he's probably was the best one we had on the roster last year then we brought back Rogers to compete in a full offseason with the new coaching staff maybe this guy will give something and I think when you bring in sometimes guys like Thomas to rotate whenever Osama might need a blow or when they run a nascar package or something he will be better than he was from where he came from..

I completely understand what you're saying but I believe every year needs to be looked at as a one off...

I'm not saying to not be excited about certain aspects of this team, but we have to have some sort of balance in our evaluations. If you want to give the coaching staff that hasnt done anything of substance yet the label of "one of the best" that's fine, but I don't see how you can in the same post also say that we can't judge lower end players this early because we haven't seen them in a Cowboy uniform (Rogers/Akingbesote/Toia).

Either we can form opinions about guys early on or we can't, both side of that argument are valid, but its not fair to play both sides of it to fit a narrative.

 

[kskboys]

Been saying the same thing and get a similar response. Either you revert back to Dak's rookie season controlling the football or you FIX the RUN DEFENSE!

We had a good run D in 2016 because we had talented Terrell McClain at NT. Every time we get a decent NT our run D improves drastically. Strange how that works.

 

[kskboys]

After the first-round selection of offensive lineman Tyler Booker in last week’s draft, conventional wisdom had the Dallas Cowboys focusing on the run game in 2025.

That might have been true had Dallas bothered to follow that pick up with a three-down running back in either of the next two rounds.

Instead, the Cowboys selected another edge player in the second round and a cornerback in the third. Said cornerback is coming off of a torn ACL at that.

https://insidethestar.com/post-draft-cowboys-have-3rd-best-rb-room-in-nfc-east

Defense relevance?

I take it you're not a BPA fan.

 

[gtb1943]

More bodies at linebacker
More bodies upfront
No matter what happens, cows will have a different look

JAGS never make a difference and right now most of those bodies you are so proud of have shown nothing.

 

[Acceptablename]

Good question, and here is what I am reading from fans:

1. If the DT position wasn't so deep in this draft Toia may have been drafted earlier than the 7th round.
2. Eberflus. The coaches are going to make everyone player like they have never played in their entire lives.
3. We're going to sign Hankins, or someone like him to shore up the middle of the defense.
4. Mazi is going to improve.
5. We re-sign Odighizuwa.

There are probably others, but this is all nonsense. The Cowboys did not do much to improve the run defense and coaching alone is not going to solve the problem.

However, I do think they have the potential to be better because is Sam Williams comes back healthy, I think he is a better run defender than anyone the Cowboys have last year. He is not great, just better. I also think Kneeland has the potential to show improvement and he is better against the run than rushing the passer. If the two ends can get some containment I think the run defense could be better.

This does not solve the problems in the middle of the DL. I don't expect Mazi to play a lot better. I wish he would be I don't expect it. If Mazi doesn't love football there isn't much hope we will see him improve. We just cannot expect much from the two rookies, Justin Rogers, or the cheap free agents we signed.

My view of Williams is he's an idiot. Can he un-idiot Yes,is it likely. Ask Vegas

 

[Cowboyny]

We had a good run D in 2016 because we had talented Terrell McClain at NT. Every time we get a decent NT our run D improves drastically. Strange how that works.

They have done the same thing every year, throw either a late rd pick or a low value signing at the position. Most of the time, it fails and they are forced to search for street fa's.

 

[Cowboyny]

And I'm telling you regardless of what happens there's not a game for five months and they'll work this out with this group of guys a large group of guys you never know when one of them will turn out especially one of these draft picks like I can't pronounce the guys name but he sounds like just what we need we have Rogers who haven't seen them yet and we have a new defensive staff that can work with all of them and try to figure out the defensive tackle rotation and who should be here and who should not.

I'm going to go through this one more time for you guys I realized the disappointment last year's offseason sucked last year's regular season sucked because we had a historic amount of injuries and no Derek Henry unless he's Bo Jackson and played eight positions were to help this team last year other than what make you feel good watching the games because we had a better running back with a better name? And then all the injuries happened on that side of the ball or at least a majority on defense they literally were decimated and I mean tore apart I don't care who you would have got it defensive tackle if you'd have got one of the bigger names he wasn't by himself going to cover up all the holes we had last year so I get it but we had a bad year last year mainly because of injuries if you don't see it then no matter what they would have done and I'm not letting him off the hook I'm just telling you in hindsight none of those moves would have mattered...

Every year is a one off everyone needs to calm down on saying how bad things are going to be and how they're going to be worse without actually seeing the product on the field we don't even have the roster set yet we haven't seen a single practice a single camp a single preseason game and again the rosters not set in everyone's doom and glooming already...

Let's do this understand every year is a one off it's new it doesn't matter what happened last year doesn't matter what they did or didn't do last year this is a new year.

And it's more than just a regular new year I believe we have one of the best cumulative depth of coaching, the coaching staff below Brian Schottenheimer, I am more than ready to say this is probably the best set of assistants we've had in a decade.

I'm not believing the height I just seen what they're doing they're seemingly getting some of the better ones at each one of their group positions not just a defense and offensive coordinators i'm talking about the offensive line coats the defensive line coach the linebacker coaches they all seem to be leaders they're excited they're passionate there seem to be aggressive they want to teach and get these guys all moving in the proper direction.

You don't have to believe that but I believe the two guys we just drafted one of them might end up starting and then you have now Mazzy in the rotation versus he's probably was the best one we had on the roster last year then we brought back Rogers to compete in a full offseason with the new coaching staff maybe this guy will give something and I think when you bring in sometimes guys like Thomas to rotate whenever Osama might need a blow or when they run a nascar package or something he will be better than he was from where he came from..

I completely understand what you're saying but I believe every year needs to be looked at as a one off...

Based on their prior history, they usually draft a late NT and add a low level, aging fa. When this fails, they rush to add street fa's. Until this changes, no reason to expect different results as they just don't make it a priority like the better teams do. Just look at last offseason, they cut their late rd addition (brought him back), forced to make a trade with the Giants to add Phillips, signed over the hill Joseph cause they were so desperate. It is the same cycle year after year with the same results, a poor run defense.

 

[kskboys]

Based on their prior history, they usually draft a late NT and add a low level, aging fa. When this fails, they rush to add street fa's. Until this changes, no reason to expect different results as they just don't make it a priority like the better teams do. Just look at last offseason, they cut their late rd addition (brought him back), forced to make a trade with the Giants to add Phillips, signed over the hill Joseph cause they were so desperate. It is the same cycle year after year with the same results, a poor run defense.

And I mean, it's like clockwork. Different year, same story.

NFL people: "Almost impossible to win a super bowl if you can't stop the run."

Jerry: "Nuh uh."

 

[J-man]

Hey man I was right there with ya pounding the table for a true 1T to be taken early, as I have been for about a decade now. When Grant went at 13 I was shocked and I knew then that we weren't getting Williams at 44. And after those two, the 1T pool got very thin. West was next on my list but TBH, I would've taken the 2 guys we did in rds 2 and 3 over him too. They are just better players. He went in the 4th and we didn't have a pick. I didn't know anything about the 2 guys we selected late but after doing some research I think they did about as good as they could after the top guys were gone. Tioa is a S Pacific guy and they are notoriously strong and play with a violent attitude. I have hope that he can solidify the inside on run downs. Akingisote is a nice developmental player who may become a rotational piece. Time will tell. I think he gives them the position flex they lost in Gohlston.

Don EZrockU is known for his pass rush skills, but honestly is a pretty good run defender as well. Turner is a run defending DE also, as is Kneeland. I think they give them a leg up on last year's run defense already. D-Law was good at it but was out most of the year. They guys after that were just jags really.
The LB's are the bigger question marks but I think are better run defenders than what we had too.
Will all or the new guys combined be enough to sure up the run defense remains to be see. But I do have hope they will. Overall I think it will be better than last year. Is that good enough to be a good run defense? That I do not know, yet.

 

[ElGatoGrande]

-Cowboys Defense was 29th against the run last season
-Tied for the most rushing td's given up
-Dead last in red zone defense

Overshown out indefinitely, team lost their three top run defenders in DLaw, Golston and Kendricks. Murray who they traded for is on his third team in as many years, Sanborn is a former undrafted fa. Turner/Thomas are former 1st rd busts.

In a draft that was loaded at the DT position, they use a 7th rd pick at the position.

Tell me, how this run defense will improve? On paper they got much worse!

that's what I want to know too... all the talking heads are obsessed with WR2 but that's what the media does, they talk about shiny objects for clicks and ratings. A higher priority should be DT, so trade what you gotta trade and pay what you gotta pay, but FIX IT or we'll be getting punked in the trenches just like always.

 

[Hadenough]

-Cowboys Defense was 29th against the run last season
-Tied for the most rushing td's given up
-Dead last in red zone defense

Overshown out indefinitely, team lost their three top run defenders in DLaw, Golston and Kendricks. Murray who they traded for is on his third team in as many years, Sanborn is a former undrafted fa. Turner/Thomas are former 1st rd busts.

In a draft that was loaded at the DT position, they use a 7th rd pick at the position.

Tell me, how this run defense will improve? On paper they got much worse!

Grant or Walker sure would of helped instead of Booker. No MLB and 1 decent DT just spells trouble. What pisses me off is Dak is surrounded by talent while Parsons is expected to do it all himself.

 

[Cowboyny]

Hey man I was right there with ya pounding the table for a true 1T to be taken early, as I have been for about a decade now. When Grant went at 13 I was shocked and I knew then that we weren't getting Williams at 44. And after those two, the 1T pool got very thin. West was next on my list but TBH, I would've taken the 2 guys we did in rds 2 and 3 over him too. They are just better players. He went in the 4th and we didn't have a pick. I didn't know anything about the 2 guys we selected late but after doing some research I think they did about as good as they could after the top guys were gone. Tioa is a S Pacific guy and they are notoriously strong and play with a violent attitude. I have hope that he can solidify the inside on run downs. Akingisote is a nice developmental player who may become a rotational piece. Time will tell. I think he gives them the position flex they lost in Gohlston.

Don EZrockU is known for his pass rush skills, but honestly is a pretty good run defender as well. Turner is a run defending DE also, as is Kneeland. I think they give them a leg up on last year's run defense already. D-Law was good at it but was out most of the year. They guys after that were just jags really.
The LB's are the bigger question marks but I think are better run defenders than what we had too.
Will all or the new guys combined be enough to sure up the run defense remains to be see. But I do have hope they will. Overall I think it will be better than last year. Is that good enough to be a good run defense? That I do not know, yet.

Having issues with the site. I wanted Mykell Williams and either the UCLA LB or Ty Williams and take the other missed in the following rd. Unfortunately, the league saw it the same way and they all went ahead of our picks. Should of drafted either Harmon or Grant at 12, both have potential to become impact DT's.

 

[Cowboyny]

Grant or Walker sure would of helped instead of Booker. No MLB and 1 decent DT just spells trouble. What pisses me off is Dak is surrounded by talent while Parsons is expected to do it all himself.

Dak doesn't have much either outside of Lamb, yes he has an OL but even that has issues at the Tackle position.

 

[Proof]

I really depends on the scheme. Zimmer and Quinn seemed to play run on the way to the QB with more of an attacking the pass game scheme. If tehy go to a more read and react tehy might but that means you need people that can stand their ground and then get off blocks.

yeah, it depends on the scheme, and the progression of guys already on the roster. if mazi can trend upwards thats a huge step. solomon thomas may be a sneaky good addition as well. micah is micah and now has a new running mate and a new dc. and the big boy may be just what the doctor ordered.

 

[StarOfGlory]

-Cowboys Defense was 29th against the run last season
-Tied for the most rushing td's given up
-Dead last in red zone defense

Overshown out indefinitely, team lost their three top run defenders in DLaw, Golston and Kendricks. Murray who they traded for is on his third team in as many years, Sanborn is a former undrafted fa. Turner/Thomas are former 1st rd busts.

In a draft that was loaded at the DT position, they use a 7th rd pick at the position.

Tell me, how this run defense will improve? On paper they got much worse!

I can't paint a rosy picture for you. But here are my thoughts about what could happen...

1. If Schotty is truly committed to the run game, and our o-line can become a force in the run game (why I like the Booker pick), we will give up fewer yards on the ground by virtue of having our defense on the field less. This DOES NOT mean the run D is better, but rather that by being on the field less, we will simply give up less yards per game on the ground. The yards per carry might be the same. In other words, try to win the TOP battle.

2. Winning the TOP battle may force teams to throw more. That will help.

3. Mazi must improve and bulk up again. Hopefully the coaches can do something to help him get quicker off the line and anchor better. I'd like to see the coaches give him a role similar to Jordan Davis: stuff the run first and be a traffic jam. Clog the middle-even if beaten off the snap, anchor and don't get pushed back. If he can get back up to 330-335, and learn to engage and anchor on blockers, that will help quite a bit. Odi will have to lock down his position, and he can.

Now for the downer part...

4. Different defensive scheme will allow players to react to the flow of the play differently. Eberflus has a defense similar to Marinelli. The middle of the field will be open more. Nickel formations and edge pressure on passing downs will be seen more. Parsons in particular will be counted on to provide constant pressure on passing downs. In the Eberflus scheme, the d-line, especially the 3-tech position, must pressure hard. That means the 3T will be asked to provide interior pressure to help the pass rush while being alert for the run. Take the ball away, pressure the QB, and stop the run is the Eberflus way. I don't know if we have enough upfront quality personnel to rotate in game and do what Eberflus wants. I also don't know who will step up and put the edge pressure on in games where the tackles keep Parsons neutralized. Overshown not being on the field for at least half the season will hurt big time.

 

[tomokawan]

-Cowboys Defense was 29th against the run last season
-Tied for the most rushing td's given up
-Dead last in red zone defense

Overshown out indefinitely, team lost their three top run defenders in DLaw, Golston and Kendricks. Murray who they traded for is on his third team in as many years, Sanborn is a former undrafted fa. Turner/Thomas are former 1st rd busts.

In a draft that was loaded at the DT position, they use a 7th rd pick at the position.

Tell me, how this run defense will improve? On paper they got much worse!

Great question. It seems on paper we should be better against the run and the pass rush should also improved with the new DE's.