Twitter: Report: Antwaun Woods Expected To Re-sign Soon

KingintheNorth said:

The weak spots right now are Safety and CB1, assuming Worley or one of the two rookies isn't ready to play at a high level right away. We're all hoping Ha Ha can hold down one Safety spot, but we should be concerned since the Cowboys are his 4th team in the past 17 months. I'm not big on Xavier Woods, especially in a Strong Safety role. I also worry about Anthony Brown (he's awful), but the Cowboys have done a good job of throwing numbers at the Corner position, so I'm hopeful competition will bring out the dawgs.

The team has done a solid job like @WillieBeamen stated of upgrading DT. D-Line reps are critical, and adding guys like Poe and McCoy will help. Antwaun Woods was a waiver wire pickup and now he's a back-up, rotational player versus him being the starter the last two seasons. This team has been dumb/stubborn about playing a bigger 1Tech, and Poe at 346 (Woods is just over 300 lbs), should help significantly.

Another concern is the health of LVE; the defense is obviously much better when he's on the field.

I'd sign the best Strong Safety you can find off the street (Clayton Geathers, Morgan Burnett, Eric Berry?) and hope like heck Aldon Smith and Randy Gregory are cleared to return. I don't think Mike Nolan is an elite DC, but he's a professional coach, and doesn't run a rigid, outdated scheme like Marinelli did. He'll be accountable for his actions and I do believe McCarthy will move on from him if the defense is suspect.

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HaHa

• HaHa was solid in Green Bay under D-Coordinator Dom Capers.
• GB had a new GM and new DC in 2018 and HaHa fell out of favor.
• He irritated the GM with complaints about his contract.
• The new DC had no attachment to HaHa. They didn't re-sign SS Burnett that season either.
• HaHa was traded to the Skins and was considered to have played reasonably well there.
• In 2019 he got his chance to enter free agency and ended up signing a 1 year, 5.5M contract with the Bears.
• He was considered to have had an ok season. The Bears defense ranked 4th in points allowed and 4th in completions allowed.

Xavier Woods

• Woods does not project well as an in the box Safety, IMO.
• The move to SS might not be as big of an issue in new DC Mike Nolan's scheme as it would have been in the previous scheme.
• Nolan likes to play Quarters coverage which is a 2-deep Safety coverage. That often keep both Safeties out of the box.
• Nolan tends to player a front 7 that is tilted towards a slightly strong run defense and slight weaker pass defense.
• He offsets the front 7 slightly weaker pass defense with the 2 deep Safety alignment.
• It's basically an equivalent run defense without a Safety in the box to the Marinelli scheme with a Safety in the box.
• Obviously a Safety will drop down into the box in some situations but it's a base 2 deep alignment.
• The summary is that both Safeties tend to be similar players with skills somewhere a single high FS and an in the box SS.

CB

• I don't know how good Awuzie can be at CB but I'm certain that he can be better than in 2019.
• The 2019 defensive scheme put Awuzie into a no win situation. Most of the big plays that he allowed came when he was the CB on the side of the field with 1 WR.
• The Cowboys had the deep Safety on the side with 2 WRs, often leaving Awuzie with no intermediate/deep help.
• They also didn't give Awuzie much help in the inside short area due to keeping the normal coverage help defenders (SS, LBs) tight inside to focus on the run.
• When Kris Richard was in Seattle, they almost always gave Richard Sherman inside help either short or deep and often both.

kskboys said:

I have two lines of thought on here.

1. Fans tend to overrate players on their own team.
2. The DT position on this team has been so bad for so long, a player who is just decent such as Woods looks really good.

The sad part is that our own team fell for this crapp w/ Crawford. Our DT's had sucked for so long, they fell for thinking Crawford is better than he actually is. Compared to Hayden and Davon Coleman and Ken Bishop and Chris Whaley, Crawford looked like the next coming.

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True, but I will tell you what I do know,,, TC has a lot of respect that is valued in a higher regard to this franchise, influence, leadership, respect ..
Im sure many here will laugh at that, but Im willing to bet others would agree like @WoodysGirl

kskboys said:

That first part sounds like an eyeglass lense commercial!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I bet a lot of posters need to get their vision checked,, probably even me..lol

Typhus said:

True, but I will tell you what I do know,,, TC has a lot of respect that is valued in a higher regard to this franchise, influence, leadership, respect ..
Im sure many here will laugh at that, but Im willing to bet others would agree like @WoodysGirl

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Craws is a very good rotational player who has been screwed over by this franchise. They really don't appear to have a clue as to personnel usage.

phildadon86 said:

Who didn’t regress last year on this team. Honestly lol

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very true

Teague31 said:

So if we keep MM’s preferred 6 edge’s and 4 DT’s...

McCoy
Poe
Gallimore
Woods

hmmm, someone appears to be left out....

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This staff doesn’t even like Hill, if he can’t beat out Gallimore he’s done. He was terrible at 1T last year and if he’s not a lot stronger there’s no way he beats our Woods for the backup 1T role.

Furthermore on Woods, have no idea why y’all think he’s gonna have a tough time making the roster. He is the only other true 1T aside from Poe. If Dontari gets hurt Woods is a solid bridge starter and a very good rotational guy if Poe’s healthy. You saw a palpable difference in our interior run defense when he was out or hurt. That, and literally no other 1T’s to take his spot.

817Gill said:

This staff doesn’t even like Hill, if he can’t beat out Gallimore he’s done. He was terrible at 1T last year and if he’s not a lot stronger there’s no way he beats our Woods for the backup 1T role.

Furthermore on Woods, have no idea why y’all think he’s gonna have a tough time making the roster. He is the only other true 1T aside from Poe. If Dontari gets hurt Woods is a solid bridge starter and a very good rotational guy if Poe’s healthy. You saw a palpable difference in our interior run defense when he was out or hurt. That, and literally no other 1T’s to take his spot.

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I know Hill wasn't good, but it was absolutely amazing watching that craptastic coaching staff play him out of position. They've done the same thing w/ Crawford.

xwalker said:

HaHa

• HaHa was solid in Green Bay under D-Coordinator Dom Capers.
• GB had a new GM and new DC in 2018 and HaHa fell out of favor.
• He irritated the GM with complaints about his contract.
• The new DC had no attachment to HaHa. They didn't re-sign SS Burnett that season either.
• HaHa was traded to the Skins and was considered to have played reasonably well there.
• In 2019 he got his chance to enter free agency and ended up signing a 1 year, 5.5M contract with the Bears.
• He was considered to have had an ok season. The Bears defense ranked 4th in points allowed and 4th in completions allowed.

Xavier Woods

• Woods does not project well as an in the box Safety, IMO.
• The move to SS might not be as big of an issue in new DC Mike Nolan's scheme as it would have been in the previous scheme.
• Nolan likes to play Quarters coverage which is a 2-deep Safety coverage. That often keep both Safeties out of the box.
• Nolan tends to player a front 7 that is tilted towards a slightly strong run defense and slight weaker pass defense.
• He offsets the front 7 slightly weaker pass defense with the 2 deep Safety alignment.
• It's basically an equivalent run defense without a Safety in the box to the Marinelli scheme with a Safety in the box.
• Obviously a Safety will drop down into the box in some situations but it's a base 2 deep alignment.
• The summary is that both Safeties tend to be similar players with skills somewhere a single high FS and an in the box SS.

CB

• I don't know how good Awuzie can be at CB but I'm certain that he can be better than in 2019.
• The 2019 defensive scheme put Awuzie into a no win situation. Most of the big plays that he allowed came when he was the CB on the side of the field with 1 WR.
• The Cowboys had the deep Safety on the side with 2 WRs, often leaving Awuzie with no intermediate/deep help.
• They also didn't give Awuzie much help in the inside short area due to keeping the normal coverage help defenders (SS, LBs) tight inside to focus on the run.
• When Kris Richard was in Seattle, they almost always gave Richard Sherman inside help either short or deep and often both.

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I agree with all three. I did say that I am hopeful Ha Ha locks down one spot.

jazzcat22 said:

Trystan Hill? Also the versatile Tyrone Crawford.

I think the 1 tech vs. 3 tech is actually over blown. Now there are new terms. instead of a DE , now they refer to them as an EDGE player. Now I see DPR...designated pass rusher.
They talk versatility all the time. These guys need to be versatile, such as Crawford supposedly is.
Football basics 101. Get 2 good DT's and line them up to play. Put 2 DE's on the field and line them up. Let them play 1 or 3, pass or run.

Yes I know, specialty players for the new offenses. Well, basic football still the same. Put the best 11 out there on defense, as they also preach that too.

Is Woods one of the best top 10 DL? Who knows, let them compete. If they only keep 4 DT's as been eluded too, I think Woods is a bubble player. As Crawford can play in and out. Will they give up on Hill that quickly?

Poe, McCoy, Gallimore, Crawford, Hill, Woods. 2 of the last 3 will make it, unless they keep 5 and 11 on the DL total.

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Crawford is not a 1 tech candidate as a backup. Who would even suggest that at with his mere 285 pounds ?
he works best when he is on the move in a nickel rush situation(s) and it was a reason why he lost his starting role as a 3 tech in 2016
after the Giants derailed him in the run game.

1 tech and 3 tech are not overblown. One specializes as a pass rusher the other as a run defender. It becomes a luxury when you can
get an exceptional one at either role.

quickccc said:

Crawford is not a 1 tech candidate as a backup. Who would even suggest that at with his mere 285 pounds ?
he works best when he is on the move in a nickel rush situation(s) and it was a reason why he lost his starting role as a 3 tech in 2016
after the Giants derailed him in the run game.

1 tech and 3 tech are not overblown. One specializes as a pass rusher the other as a run defender. It becomes a luxury when you can
get an exceptional one at either role.

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And they refer to them as an "EDGE player" because the OLB in the 3-4 and the DE in the 4-3 have similar roles, and many can do either. They didn't change the moniker because the position has disappeared.

IMO, this front 7 will be an above-average group and much better overall.

Definitely much better against the run, Quinn and Collins were poor defenders. Woods is a good run defender, and now is a rotational piece behind an even better run defender. DLAW is one of the best run defenders in the league.

Having LVE back and healthy will be big.

What I can't get my head around, is how many of you still think Rod M. is the defensive coordinator and that we will still be running your high school's 4-3 basic defense.

Those times are over.

First off, our LBs are going to have much better years because our DTs aren't going to constantly one-gapping. LVE, Smith, Lee, et al won't have blockers in their laps all game long and will be allowed to pursue the ball carrier without a 310 lb guard in their laps. I predict several weeks into the season you will be saying stuff like, "Wow! LVE and Smith are soooo much better this year!" without realizing that the new scheme is allowing them to be better.

Second, big press corners mess up routes and throw off timing, forcing QBs to hold on to the ball longer. Our old, conservative, bend but don't break defense allowed for simple timing patterns, which allowed QBs to get the ball out quickly, resulting in fewer sacks.

Third, stop thinking about it in terms of Crawford is a downgrade to Quinn, the old RDE from the old scheme is really not the same. That is why we are in no hurry to grab Clowney or Griffen, even though we EASILY could.
Crawford will be playing basically a 5T in the new scheme in the base, which is what he was drafted for, and then probably move inside on nickel plays. Quinn would have been in the role of a SAM/DPR, which is closer to what he played in Miami, and really was not all that good at. Right now, the Cowboys are probably planning on that role being Gregory, Anae, Gifford, and maybe even Jelks. If Gregory is not reinstated, I would bet my house either Golden or Clay Matthews will be brought in the next day, because those two have played the SAM/DPR roles at high levels.

kskboys said:

Craws is a very good rotational player who has been screwed over by this franchise. They really don't appear to have a clue as to personnel usage.

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I agree. The new guys will know how to use him. Watch.

xwalker said:

HaHa

• HaHa was solid in Green Bay under D-Coordinator Dom Capers.
• GB had a new GM and new DC in 2018 and HaHa fell out of favor.
• He irritated the GM with complaints about his contract.
• The new DC had no attachment to HaHa. They didn't re-sign SS Burnett that season either.
• HaHa was traded to the Skins and was considered to have played reasonably well there.
• In 2019 he got his chance to enter free agency and ended up signing a 1 year, 5.5M contract with the Bears.
• He was considered to have had an ok season. The Bears defense ranked 4th in points allowed and 4th in completions allowed.

Xavier Woods

• Woods does not project well as an in the box Safety, IMO.
• The move to SS might not be as big of an issue in new DC Mike Nolan's scheme as it would have been in the previous scheme.
• Nolan likes to play Quarters coverage which is a 2-deep Safety coverage. That often keep both Safeties out of the box.
• Nolan tends to player a front 7 that is tilted towards a slightly strong run defense and slight weaker pass defense.
• He offsets the front 7 slightly weaker pass defense with the 2 deep Safety alignment.
• It's basically an equivalent run defense without a Safety in the box to the Marinelli scheme with a Safety in the box.
• Obviously a Safety will drop down into the box in some situations but it's a base 2 deep alignment.
• The summary is that both Safeties tend to be similar players with skills somewhere a single high FS and an in the box SS.

CB

• I don't know how good Awuzie can be at CB but I'm certain that he can be better than in 2019.
• The 2019 defensive scheme put Awuzie into a no win situation. Most of the big plays that he allowed came when he was the CB on the side of the field with 1 WR.
• The Cowboys had the deep Safety on the side with 2 WRs, often leaving Awuzie with no intermediate/deep help.
• They also didn't give Awuzie much help in the inside short area due to keeping the normal coverage help defenders (SS, LBs) tight inside to focus on the run.
• When Kris Richard was in Seattle, they almost always gave Richard Sherman inside help either short or deep and often both.

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What this coaching staff did to Chido was criminal. So
many lose-lose situations. Just started watching more film and reading up on it recently (the DB coach posted here recently illuminated alot).

xwalker said:

HaHa

• HaHa was solid in Green Bay under D-Coordinator Dom Capers.
• GB had a new GM and new DC in 2018 and HaHa fell out of favor.
• He irritated the GM with complaints about his contract.
• The new DC had no attachment to HaHa. They didn't re-sign SS Burnett that season either.
• HaHa was traded to the Skins and was considered to have played reasonably well there.
• In 2019 he got his chance to enter free agency and ended up signing a 1 year, 5.5M contract with the Bears.
• He was considered to have had an ok season. The Bears defense ranked 4th in points allowed and 4th in completions allowed.

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Agreed on everything except for him playing reasonably well the 1/2 season in DC. He was pretty bad and the DC fans/media public enemy #1. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, their overall defense had serious issues so im sure it was a difficult transition midseason. I think he'll be solid for Dallas in 2020 and a noticeable upgrade.

Well it’s a start at having some bulk on the line with Poe and McCoy. LB will need to addressed next offseason, don’t see LVEs neck holding up and Jaylon is more clown than LB

WillieBeamen said:

Your plenty = you being a mouth drooling Homer

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and Im anything but a homer if you have been paying attention, but admit that I do drool occasionally.

xwalker said:

If Gregory returns it will really help to offset the loss of Quinn.

Gregory had 6 sacks in 2018 despite not being a starter.

Gregory is a much better run defender than Quinn.

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Yeah, I have hopes for Gregory. Aldon I don’t and couldn’t care less about.

rnr_honeybadger said:

Well it’s a start at having some bulk on the line with Poe and McCoy. LB will need to addressed next offseason, don’t see LVEs neck holding up and Jaylon is more clown than LB

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I think we need to focus on this group. I like our reserves but don’t want to see any of them in a starting role.

kskboys said:

It will only be nasty if SOMEONE works out opposite DLaw at DE.

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Someone worked out opposite of Lawrence last year and the defense still sucked. It's got many more issues than that.

Kolemmitt said:

What I can't get my head around, is how many of you still think Rod M. is the defensive coordinator and that we will still be running your high school's 4-3 basic defense.

Those times are over.

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Great post.