Cowboys free agency focus: By adding Daryl Worley, Dallas is committed to a CB make-over

CCBoy said:

Cowboys free agency focus: By adding Daryl Worley, Dallas is committed to a CB make-over
https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/202...-worley-dallas-is-committed-to-a-cb-make-over



...It won’t be easy for the Cowboys to replace former Pro Bowl cornerback Byron Jones but you have to credit them for trying. Just days ago, the Cowboys drafted Trevon Diggs, the lengthy cornerback with receiver-like hands from Alabama in the second round. On day three, the Cowboys seemingly stole one with their fourth-round selection of Tulsa cornerback Reggie Robinson. Those two rookies join a cornerback room featuring Chidobe Awuzie, Jourdan Lewis, Anthony Brown, and recently signed free agent Maurice Canady. If that wasn’t enough, the Cowboys decided to add veteran cornerback Daryl Worley to a suddenly crowded and talented cornerback room.

Adding another corner like Worley with NFL size and length suggests that the Cowboys are preparing to remake this cornerback room in the vision of Mike Nolan. The newly hired defensive backs coaches, Maurice Linguist and Al Harris, teach a more press-man coverage scheme, focusing on disruption at the line of scrimmage and moving away from zone philosophies. In the days following the draft, we have already heard the coaches praise the length and press-man skill sets with rookies Diggs and Robinson. What does this suggest for the guys Awuzie, Lewis, and Brown?

Anthony Brown must have some future with the club seeing how they re-signed him this offseason and his length fits the same mold as the new faces at cornerback in Dallas. Jourdan Lewis and Chidobe Awuzie enter 2020 on the final year of their rookie contracts and their futures are all but certain. Mike McCarthy hinted in his post-draft comments that they feel confident one or more of their cornerbacks could move to safety. Will McClay confirmed that McCarthy was referencing Chidobe Awuzie as the prime candidate for a move to safety in his comments to the media. Though Awuzie has made strides in his development, he still has issues turning his head to locate the football. Perhaps a move to safety, where his prime assignments would remain in front of him could help Awuzie find his fit? Jourdan Lewis will get an opportunity to fight it out for a role covering in the slot but competition just got much stiffer...

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Cant wait to see Cheeto do his thing at Safety.

Typhus said:

See, that could be a good thing... Ok, im done with this before we both get suspended.

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...no, my wife doesn't yet understand football.

cowboyec said:

Gil Brandt thinks both Diggs and Robinson will be our starting corners this year.

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I just can’t imagine playing two rookies at CB.

I think Diggs, Brown and Lewis will be our starting corners with Chido moving to safety. Robinson should get some PT but he’s pretty raw. Canady and Worley will probably fight it out for the last CB spot on the roster.

32BellyOption said:

I just can’t imagine playing two rookies at CB.

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I don't know that I would be doubting too many statements by Gil Brandt.

On this, this fan is waiting and will watch...

Worley = Nolan Carroll

Dre11 said:

one thing for sure Int will still be hard to come by if they stay in press man a lot

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I don't know what the stats say, but I feel like zones are the most conducive coverage to picks since defenders can man an area and turn their attention to the QB/ball.

But I dunno. Basically, we were so inept at getting interceptions that there's almost literally nowhere to go but up. Just no longer coaching guys not to play the ball should result in an improvement, no matter what else we do or don't do on top of that.

I listened to an interview with a comedian/writer once who ended up dying of an overdose, and he was detailing his experiences with addiction and rehabs and all that stuff. And he went on a tangent about Scientology because his ex-girlfriend wanted him to go to the church of Scientology and join them and go into their rehab program. So he was explaining that their rehab is just locking you in a room and pumping you full of niacin and preaching Scientology principles to you, and then you come out clean 100% of the time. But he made the point that it's the "locking you in a room so you can't do any drugs for however many days" part that makes it work. He said you could lock someone in a room long enough and just show them Garfield comics and they'll come out sober.

It's kinda like that. If we preach playing the ball and attacking and encouraging defenders to take those risks to make those plays (instead of systematically rewarding and praising guys who safely try to cover someone and knock balls away instead of jumping routes and playing the ball), we should see an uptick in turnovers and it should work. No matter what else we do or coach on top of that.

Will we see enough results to make the defense actually good and to make the risk-taking worth it? I dunno. I don't tend to think Nolan is an elite defensive coach, and there's probably a reason he bounces around so much without anyone loving him or his results enough to keep him for too long. But we shall see.

SSoup said:

I don't know what the stats say, but I feel like zones are the most conducive coverage to picks since defenders can man an area and turn their attention to the QB/ball.

But I dunno. Basically, we were so inept at getting interceptions that there's almost literally nowhere to go but up. Just no longer coaching guys not to play the ball should result in an improvement, no matter what else we do or don't do on top of that.

I listened to an interview with a comedian/writer once who ended up dying of an overdose, and he was detailing his experiences with addiction and rehabs and all that stuff. And he went on a tangent about Scientology because his ex-girlfriend wanted him to go to the church of Scientology and join them and go into their rehab program. So he was explaining that their rehab is just locking you in a room and pumping you full of niacin and preaching Scientology principles to you, and then you come out clean 100% of the time. But he made the point that it's the "locking you in a room so you can't do any drugs for however many days" part that makes it work. He said you could lock someone in a room long enough and just show them Garfield comics and they'll come out sober

It's kinda like that. If we preach playing the ball and attacking and encouraging defenders to take those risks to make those plays (instead of systematically rewarding and praising guys who safely try to cover someone and knock balls away instead of jumping routes and playing the ball), we should see an uptick in turnovers and it should work. No matter what else we do or coach on top of that.

Will we see enough results to make the defense actually good and to make the risk-taking worth it? I dunno. I don't tend to think Nolan is an elite defensive coach, and there's probably a reason he bounces around so much without anyone loving him or his results enough to keep him for too long. But we shall see.

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I disagree...football is all about effective practice and improving upon focus. That takes teaching and constructive leadership

Worley played for the Raiders and was signed by the Cowboys. Jeff Heath played for the Cowboys and was signed by the Raiders. It’s kinda like we traded the players. Which DB would you rather have? Who won the trade?

kskboys said:

Worley = Nolan Carrell

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I was thinking similarly. I guess it's possible that Worley is some kind of pet cat for Nolan, but he looks like the standard cheapo veteran bridge.The only thing his signing indicates to me is that Nolan is very intent on moving on from our guys at CB or he'd be counting on them as the veteran bridges to the draft picks.

CB Starters - Diggs, Worley, Brown
CB Other - Lewis, Robinson, Awuzie
S - Dix, Woods, Awuzie, Wilson, Thompson

As a cover corner, Diggs is a bump-and-run specialist with a shadow boxer's game at the line of scrimmage. He feints and flashes his hands while mirroring receivers early in routes. He relies more on finesse than physicality but his patience, footwork and keen understanding of departure angles enable him to maintain hip pocket leverage on receivers down the field. Diggs excels at pinning receivers to the sideline and disrupting their path to the football (in flight) with his low shoulder body positioning...

"Diggs has the best ball skills in the draft… He doesn't have great top-end speed but he plays with outstanding instincts, anticipation, and awareness. If plays with better effort and commits to the grind instead of cruising, he could become one of the top cover corners in the game...He's that talented!"

https://www.dallascowboys.com/news/bucky-brooks-scouting-report-on-trevon-diggs

ThatJerryKid said:

Worley played for the Raiders and was signed by the Cowboys. Jeff Heath played for the Cowboys and was signed by the Raiders. It’s kinda like we traded the players. Which DB would you rather have?

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GOAT!

buybuydandavis said:

GOAT!

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Cowboys' Daryl Worley: Inks deal with Dallas
Rotowire 1D ago
Worley agreed to terms Wednesday with the Cowboys on a one-year contract, Todd Archer and Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com report.

A third-round pick of the Panthers in 2016, Worley spent the last two seasons with the Raiders and recorded 91 tackles (81 solo), 15 pass breakups and two interceptions over 25 games. Dallas' cornerback group is suddenly very crowded even after losing Byron Jones in free agency, as Worley, Chidobe Awuzie, Jourdan Lewis, Anthony Brown and 2020 draft picks Trevon Diggs and Reggie Robinson will all be in the hunt for snaps. Worley's experience playing safety last year for Oakland at least gives him another path to playing time.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/teams/DAL/dallas-cowboys/

SSoup said:

I don't know what the stats say, but I feel like zones are the most conducive coverage to picks since defenders can man an area and turn their attention to the QB/ball.

But I dunno. Basically, we were so inept at getting interceptions that there's almost literally nowhere to go but up. Just no longer coaching guys not to play the ball should result in an improvement, no matter what else we do or don't do on top of that.

I listened to an interview with a comedian/writer once who ended up dying of an overdose, and he was detailing his experiences with addiction and rehabs and all that stuff. And he went on a tangent about Scientology because his ex-girlfriend wanted him to go to the church of Scientology and join them and go into their rehab program. So he was explaining that their rehab is just locking you in a room and pumping you full of niacin and preaching Scientology principles to you, and then you come out clean 100% of the time. But he made the point that it's the "locking you in a room so you can't do any drugs for however many days" part that makes it work. He said you could lock someone in a room long enough and just show them Garfield comics and they'll come out sober.

It's kinda like that. If we preach playing the ball and attacking and encouraging defenders to take those risks to make those plays (instead of systematically rewarding and praising guys who safely try to cover someone and knock balls away instead of jumping routes and playing the ball), we should see an uptick in turnovers and it should work. No matter what else we do or coach on top of that.

Will we see enough results to make the defense actually good and to make the risk-taking worth it? I dunno. I don't tend to think Nolan is an elite defensive coach, and there's probably a reason he bounces around so much without anyone loving him or his results enough to keep him for too long. But we shall see.

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That's the thing, it wasn't that they were coaches to not play the ball, as a CB you're taught that if you get out of phase and can't make a play on the ball to chop through the arms, if you're in phase and in position you always play the ball. They didn't tell them not to play the ball, that's an exaggeration by a lot of fans, if they were told not to play the ball his defenses in Seattle wouldn't have been grabbing picks. but if you're trailing out of phase, you can't play the ball because you're trying to catch up. but you're right Zone is more conducive to getting picks for the exact reason you listed. also QBs that run, have an easier time running when you're in man because most times the corners backs are to them.

CCBoy said:

I disagree...football is all about effective practice and improving upon focus. That takes teaching and constructive leadership

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as much as folks harp on it, you cant teach Int. you can do as many ball drills as you want, and I heard them say they worked it everyday practice, they just come . either pass rush or just from a guy who has a knack for it, like Jourdan Lewis.

fivetwos said:

It's fair to point out that interceptions are often QB mistakes, which is more on the pass rush to create than the secondary.

That said, either way, this team cant be at the bottom of takeaways every year and expect to win.

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yep, but zone coverages give a cb an easier opportunity even if the qb doesn't make a mistake, it just require more thinking and communication to play zone.

Dre11 said:

as much as folks harp on it, you cant teach Int. you can do as many ball drills as you want, and I heard them say they worked it everyday practice, they just come . either pass rush or just from a guy who has a knack for it, like Jourdan Lewis.

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My statement stands, as to principals for team winning work. As to interception turn overs, practice does matter and is affected by instruction. How do you think that good position, hip swing, and mirroring routes happens...a lot of running and and jumping ability? C'mon, it is acquired with close instruction and tons of practice and film work of success.

CCBoy said:

I don't know that I would be doubting too many statements by Gil Brandt.

On this, this fan is waiting and will watch...

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If they both start I’ll be fine with it as we now have a competent coaching staff and schemes. If they start it means they give us the best chance to win and that’s all I want.

Interesting side note.
When I was in N.J. I met some of the Eagle posters from the old KFFL board.
I went out to Eagles training camp a few times.

Al Harris was on the team at that time.
That's the type of coverage he played - Press.
Watching him work against Eagle receivers was fun. He won most of the battles in the first 5 yards.

Dre11 said:

That's the thing, it wasn't that they were coaches to not play the ball, as a CB you're taught that if you get out of phase and can't make a play on the ball to chop through the arms, if you're in phase and in position you always play the ball. They didn't tell them not to play the ball, that's an exaggeration by a lot of fans, if they were told not to play the ball his defenses in Seattle wouldn't have been grabbing picks. but if you're trailing out of phase, you can't play the ball because you're trying to catch up. but you're right Zone is more conducive to getting picks for the exact reason you listed. also QBs that run, have an easier time running when you're in man because most times the corners backs are to them.

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Okay, the coaches probably never came out and said, "Never play the ball. Only ever play the man, blanket him, and always make it harder for them to complete the catch even if that means you never make plays on the ball except for flailing your arms to break them up sometimes."

But they systematically rewarded and praised players when they did that. And players who made plays on the ball were therefore deemed too risky by the coaches due to the worry that they'd neglect their job in order to seek glory looking for picks (whether they said it or not), so they were often coincidentally given less praise and less playing time.

I'm fond of the story of a Giants-Eagles game back when the Eagles' defense was tough in the Buddy Ryan days, and Parcells told Phil Simms before the game that if he didn't throw a couple of picks in the game it would be because he was playing too cowardly and not taking enough chances to make anything happen for the team. He was straight-up telling him that it's okay to get burned a few times today because that's just gonna be the price we pay for pushing to do the things we need to do to move the ball and take our shots and score some points.

The defensive backs on our team in recent years have basically been given the opposite of that talk. The team pays lip service to wanting turnovers in one breath, but instead of giving them permission to get burned, we make it clear the downside to going for turnovers isn't accepted. Guys deviating from the conservative style have it made clear to them that that's not how we do things here. It's like if Parcells had told Phil Simms, "Take your shots and make things happen. Take some chances. Oh, but also: if you throw even one interception, so help me God, I'm gonna bury you under my doghouse and you'll spend months or years of your worthless life trying to earn your way back out. Which you never will. You mutt. You f'ing lame." That last bit pretty much scares the player out of even attempting the first bit. Naturally. Because they know that they have to play it conservative above all else when the coaches condition them to know that's the first priority.