Post-draft team analysis: DL

xwalker said:

I did find 1 season where the combination of suspended players plus active players got them to 11 to start the season.

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kskboys said:

I think Joe Jackson was a steal and is more talented. He was on a really bad D and needs some technique work.

So far, Hyder is a one year wonder. He had 8 sacks in 16. Not like he blew up the league. Still, he's always been disruptive, so I do like adding him to the rotation.

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buybuydandavis said:

I don't see enough at DT for dominance. Probably a solid rotation. I'd say better than JAGs, but no one particularly good either.

But if Gregory is back and Lawrence stays healthy, Gregory, Lawrence, and Quinn could be a great DE pass rush rotation.

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gimmesix said:

I believe the reason that we took a chance on Hill is because he can be that dominant player at 3-tech. We already had solid players there in Crawford and Collins (when healthy) and added more of a run-stopper with some pass-rush ability in Covington and more of a pass rusher with some run-stopping ability in Hyder. Hill was a shot at getting the type of 3-tech this defense needs ... a player who creates havoc in the middle against both the run and pass to allow the ends to clean up.
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gimmesix said:

Maybe, but Armstrong showed ability to contribute on this level and has one year under his belt working to get better.

Hyder's eight sacks in 16 games is nothing to sneeze at. That's good production. He may never be able to get back to that level, but definitely is a guy worth looking at, so I'm glad we're doing it.

I don't think they are studs, so if Jackson proves to be one, then he has to be kept. Right now, Lawrence and Quinn are the only proven studs (Gregory was headed that way last year). Hill has the skills to be one at 3-tech, but we'll see how that goes. The rest are mainly good depth, rotational players, with some having the potential to be more than that.

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buybuydandavis said:

Taco is now a hybrid. Base DE, interior rushman depth. I don't see him getting many rush snaps at DE, particularly if Gregory returns, which seems likely.

Quinn may be the pass rushing starting DE, but I expect he's not the base RDE. Probably Crawford.

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gimmesix said:

Starters: Robert Quinn, Maliek Collins, Antwaun Woods, DeMarcus Lawrence
Contenders: Taco Charlton, Tyrone Crawford, Christian Covington, Dorance Armstrong, Kerry Hyder, Trysten Hill, Daniel Ross, Joe Jackson, Jalen Jelks, Shakir Soto, Daniel Wise, Ricky Walker, Randy Gregory

Almost everything Dallas was forced to do on the defensive line this offseason begins with two failures. Randy Gregory was suspended indefinitely in February, forcing Dallas to seek pass-rushing help at right end, and David Irving's love for everything but football reached its sad but inevitable conclusion. Both players have proven to this point to be a waste of very good talent.

After spending most of his career suspended, Gregory finally got to play for a season last year and began showing what kind of pass rusher he could be as the season progressed. It was the type that Dallas has been hoping that first-round pick Taco Charlton would become, but right now Charlton is just a rotational, bit player who doesn't add much as a pass rusher. Maybe he will change that in his third season, but Dallas isn't counting on it, first taking a flier on Kerry Hyder to try to mitigate the loss of Gregory. Hyder was a find for Detroit in 2016, providing eight sacks primarily as a reserve. However, he missed the 2017 season with a torn Achilles and then didn't do much his first year back from it (one sack in seven games).

If Hyder recovers his form, he adds a pass rusher who has some thickness that will allow him to rotate in at end on run downs or even play inside as a pass rusher on passing downs. However, the Cowboys can't exactly just count on Hyder returned to 2016 form, so the team traded for Robert Quinn. Quinn at this point in his career is probably a better pressure player than Gregory (although Gregory could have passed him this year with continued development). He was once a 19-sack player, but hasn't come close to that number the past four years because of injuries. Last year (his first with Miami) was the first time he did not get 10-plus sacks when he played all 16 games for a team. However, the tape shows that he wins a lot more battles than his 6.5 sacks last year reflect in both pass and run defense. He's an active player who teams have to consistently account for, which is what we need opposite DeMarcus Lawrence.

Lawrence, our $105 million man, has been our main disruptive player on the line the last couple of years. He consistently gets into the backfield even with teams giving him extra attentions. The Rams' whole game plan in the playoffs was to force someone else on the line to make plays and it didn't happen enough, which is one of the reasons we needed to improve the line. It's hard to be a one-man wrecking crew, but too often Lawrence had to be one because we had other players who came up big sometimes, but weren't consistent with it. Lawrence has ended up carrying too much of the burden the last two years to the point that where the defense usually went as he went.

While Quinn and Lawrence should be expected to receive the bulk of the snaps, Dallas likes to have a good rotation, so in addition to Hyder, Dorance Armstrong and possibly Tyrone Crawford should be expected to contribute at end. Armstrong showed good run play and pass rush potential in the preseason and will be given opportunities to build on that as a reserve. Crawford plugs in wherever he's needed, so if our run defense at right end isn't stout enough, he'll be back out there. If he's needed on the inside as a pass rusher, he'll be used there and provide steady but not spectacular results. He's not a player you want starting, but he's a player you have to start if no one more talented steps up or because others can't stay healthy.

We also added a couple of young players in the draft, Joe Jackson and Jalen Jelks, so this has become a crowded position, although position flex means some of the end candidates (Hyder, Crawford and probably Jackson) could end up with roles inside. Jackson had good college production at end, but his lack of a quick burst along with having pretty good size could result in a shift inside as a pass-rushing tackle. Jelks seems to be more of a project more likely to make the practice squad than stick on the 53 this year.

In addition to the three hybrids, Dallas made a couple other moves to make up for Irving being an idiot. First, after our run defense was gashed by the Rams, the Cowboys signed Christian Covington in free agency. Covington is a strong run defender, with a little pass rush ability, who we can line up next to Antwuan Woods on run downs. Woods was quite a find at 1-tech until injury affected his play in the playoffs. In addition to playing next to Woods in run defense, Covington will serve as the backup 1-tech.

How much Covington plays at 3-tech likely depends on two things: the health of Maliek Collins and the development of second-round pick Trysten Hill. Collins is not a great run defender despite his size, but he's OK at it while having enough quickness to his game to contribute some as a pass rusher. Hill looks like he could be better at both of those things because of great initial quickness along with some raw power. However, Hill is more the direct replacement for Irving both in terms of ability and concerns about character. If he'll take to coaching and allow his abilities to be directed properly, he could be a force. If he proves to be a malcontent when things don't go his way, then we still don't have the kind of 3-tech this defense needs.

A surprise at the position, though, could be Daniel Wise. He's more of a pass-rushing 3-tech than run-stopper, but does have some clear potential in that regard. So the good news is that we have a lot of players who could potentially make this line better than it was last year. The bad news is that we didn't add any players that we absolutely know will make the line better, although I do think Quinn and Covington are safe bets.

ROSTER PREDICTION: I'd like to keep 11, but I think 10 will be the limit. We've got four clear ends (Lawrence, Quinn, Charlton and Armstrong), three hybrids (Crawford, Hyder, Jackson) and four clear defensive tackles (Woods, Collins, Covington and Hill). I believe one of Charlton, Hyder and Jackson won't make the team. If Charlton doesn't step up this preseason, we could look to trade him at the end of camp to recoup any pick we could get. Hyder isn't being paid that much, so if he doesn't recover his form or others are simply as good or better, he could be the odd man out. Jackson is a late-round draft pick, so his fate, along with Wise's, could be a season on the practice squad. If Charlton, Hyder and Jackson all look great (or if Wise does instead of one of them), it could spell the end of Crawford's time on the roster because of his high salary.

My prediction is we will end up keeping Lawrence, Quinn, Charlton, Armstrong, Crawford, Hyder, Woods, Collins, Covington and Hill, with Jackson and Wise going on the PS. My hope is that Jackson or Wise play at least equal to Charlton and Crawford and we can trade Charlton and/or Crawford for picks or players at other positions.

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Dak_Attack_09 said:

Good post overall, but I disagree with some of the comments. IMO DT/NT is still the weakest position on the defense and trying to use a former DE to play NT is wishing for disaster late in the season. The strength of the defense is the LB corp. & having a true NT that can clog up running lanes will allow them play more freely and lineup for best coverage matchups. (For instance Smith or L.V.E can shift over to either side of the hash to pickup a RB like Kamara coming out of the backfield and get extra step instead of worrying about A run gap). There should be some good prospects for NT position to pickup once team starts trimming for 53 roster. Need to get a DT/NT similar to Haloti Ngata or Star Lotulelei.

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DanA said:

Concerns:
Crawford - Potential suspension
Lawrence - Recovery from surgery
Wood - Recovery from surgery
Taco - Recovery from surgery


I'm pretty confident the rotation will be better overall but an early season might not be at full stride. If Crawford gets a suspension and our guys recovering from injury are slow to recover I'd expect a bit of difficulty. It should last past the first month or two though. By the post-season, if we make it, we should have one of the best D-lines in the league, particularly if Gregory is back.

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kskboys said:

The list is long of players who had around 8 sacks and it was something to sneeze at.

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Kaiser said:

Totally agree, we have great numbers at DL but there is still plenty of question marks. I think Maliek Collins may be the biggest question (beyond Gregory of course), he might be a very good 3T that buys development time for Hill - but he has been injured as often as not.

The development of Armstrong and Taco should give us more production but you can't bank it. We could end up with a very good DL that goes 10 deep, or we may end up with 5 guys that we can really count on. You have to think the youth and numbers give us good odds however.

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buybuydandavis said:

Lawrence had 5 sacks in the last 14 games.

Hyder's 8 sacks over 16 looks pretty good, particularly at the price. 2nd, 2nd, 1st, Tied for 1st, 1st for sacks for us the last 5 years.

Hyder seems like a nice tweener for us. Base RDE, DT pass rush. Maybe give us the option to move Crawford.

Jackson could really threaten Taco for base RDE snaps. Younger, cheaper, longer contract remaining. Also helps push Crawford to the bus stop.

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gimmesix said:

Last year, 33 players had eight or more sacks. Trey Flowers, who had 7.5, got a significant contract for his performance so apparently Detroit didn't consider it something to sneeze at. Eight sacks is very good production considering there are at least twice that many starting pass rushers (more if you want to count the pass-rushing DTs on the list). It's not a tell-all number because you also have to look at pressures, etc., but it's usually a pretty decent indicator that there is good production in those other areas as well.

It's important to also consider that Hyder got that production despite only starting two games in 2016.

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gimmesix said:

Probably will be the same this year, if you're counting suspended players. Gregory most likely will miss the year and we'll keep 10 others.

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kskboys said:

Very good production? Absolutely!!!!!

However, it's not a number that makes me think you can count on that player to be consistently disruptive. Selvie and Moore and Mincey all had around that number for us. Often what you'll see is a backup getting fairly high sack numbers due to them being the blitzer, the extra pass rusher that gets put in on passing downs. And you'll often see them have an open field toward the QB, which means you're not able to count on the player using his physical skillset to create pressure. So, it may or may not mean something. Victor Butler is a good example, though his high was 3 sacks. He was that extra rusher I'm referring to.

Good stuff, BTW.

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xwalker said:

So much depends on other positions and suspensions/PUP/IR designations.
10th DL
6th WR (7th on rare occasion)
9th/10th OL
7th LB
10th DB
4th TE
3rd RB (Olawale might be the 3rd "RB")
3rd QB

The Cowboys have become good at manipulating the roster.

Last year they cut veteran WR Thompson, then moved WR Brown to IR then re-signed Thompson.

Thompson was then a game 1 starter but when Brown was eligible to return from IR and they traded for Cooper, they cut Thompson to retain the comp pick.

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stasheroo said:

I'm excited to see what Jackson might bring. His sack and tackles for loss numbers were consistently good during all three years at Miami. And he looks the part from a measurables perspective as well. Some say he's "slow", but his 40 time is much better than Taco's and slightly better than Lawrence's was. (4.77 vs 4.80)

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buybuydandavis said:

4.77 will do. And he's supposed to come with NFL ready power. I think we need more base DE than pass rushers anyway, particularly long term.

But I'm going to restrain myself here. We've had a string of mid round DEs who have yet to amount to anything. Ryan Russell. Charles Tapper. Dorance Armstrong.

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