Anyone agree with this: Dallas has a good secondary

[CalPolyTechnique]

I could be wrong, but I constantly see people here complaining about the depth in our DB position. ASSUMING THEY ALL STAY HEALTHY, I actually believe this area is one of the strongest in our team

Morris Claiborne-He's not a shutdown corner, but I've seen first round CBs play far worse than him. He's a good CB with a high ceiling. Just needs to stay healthy

Brandon Carr-Never gets hurt, always reliable. I for one think he is one of the most underrated players on our team.

Orlando Scandrick-I'm putting this guy in the third spot only because he's coming from injury. In my opinion, when he's healthy, he is no doubt one of the best slot CBs in the game. He struggled a bit in the 2014 playoffs though.

Byron Jones-Could be a star in the making, but I think that he's going to help the CBs with his intelligence and his freakish athletic ability.

Barry Church-Like Carr, he's underrated and dependable. He's not Troy Polamalu or anything, but I think he brings a toughness to our football team. He's a good run stopper but a bit of a reliability in coverage. I think Byron can do wonders for his career too.

Anthony Brown-So far, this guy appears to be homerun pick. He reminds me of Scandrick when we first drafted him. If i'm betting money, he will be replacing Mo or Brandon next year. He will have some growing pains but I think he will make more big plays throughout the season.


Granted I know we have a poor defensive line, but if we can get serviceable pressure, perhaps our talents in the secondary will shine.

I'm not going to argue with you because in order to win this debate one of us would have to provide proof that he did not make a ton of mistakes or that he did. I don't have time to go break down film and show you how seldom Church made a mistake.

I don't want to anyway because I think he's an upgradeable player because of his lack of speed, but I think some fans are blinded to him being a good player (not a great one) by a few standout mistakes that validate their bias.

I suspect that Marinelli plays him because he's the best safety on this roster. He might be second best now with Jones playing free safety, but I'll wait and see on that one.

I think an even tougher task would be to show Church actually making a play.

 

[TX Cowboy]

Rotflmao hell to the NO

 

[big dog cowboy]

Our defense as a whole is atrocious

Not really. 17th in the league last year and will be better this year.

 

[mattjames2010]

Few things I will need to see. Claiborne needs to pick up where he was last year. He only struggled against Evans. I want to see Byron Jones make that jump, wasn't impressed with him at all at corner and still question his ball awareness. I also want to see if Brown is really anything to write home about or if he's just some training camp warrior.

We already know what Carr is, not as bad as some here say he is but far from what we wanted him to be. Church is a solid tackler (Not sure what happened last year) but not much in coverage.

 

[Bullflop]

Not really. 17th in the league last year and will be better this year.

I think so as well . . . I believe it would be unlikely for our pass rush to be any worse than last year. The young studs could take a while to get a passrush going but they might well end up surprising many of us. Also, our RB corps should assist the defense by allowing them more rest.

 

[John813]

Claiborne and Carr are average corners. Not sure Mo still has a high ceiling, think that was overrated.
Scandrick is a good corner.
Problem with all 3 is that they aren't playmakers. Granted, those are hard to find, and can get burned if they get too aggressive, but we haven't had luck with the corners providing turnovers for the defense.

Jones to me is a wildcard. He has the athletic ability. Just got to hope he can adapt to be a FS and reach his ceiling.

SS is still up in the air. Church looked below average last year and he was never good in coverage. Wilcox has more athleticism but can't cover worth a damn. Inconsistent tackler too.

Can't call the secondary good till Jones proves himself at FS.

 

[StarBoyz83]

I feel it's the most solid group on the d by far.

 

[KingintheNorth]

I think Scandrick is an above average-to-good starting CB. I am hopeful that Byron Jones is a legit safety. If not for his hefty price tag, Carr could be close to average.

Church is awful. Slow, almost never near a thrown ball. Wilcox was a project and didn't receive (or accept) the necessary coaching. Claiborne is a headcase who can't stay healthy. Heath is horrible, despite his unwarranted love from this board. Brown is getting a lot of Dallas-related love but so was Terrance Mitchell at this stage in his first camp. I'm hopeful that Frazier has some ability.

 

[Falco78]

It is not a stellar unit, but compared to the rest of our D they are the best group

 

[BAT]

I think an even tougher task would be to show Church actually making a play.

Church needs to play at 2014 levels for this D to be average, slightly better. Needs to get back to hard hitting, wrap up tackling, causing turnovers (was actually above average forcing ball out on tackles). The whole D, especially the secondary also needs to fly to ball, gang tackle, like they did in 2014.

 

[erod]

If the rumors are true about Claiborne and Brown, then yep, this will be a highly above average secondary.

Those that bash Church simply don't know football. Byron Jones as a pure free safety is what was needed. Church and Wilcox are both strong safeties.

 

[slick325]

Prior to Camp there was a thread asking for us to name players we were most interested in watching once Camp started...I named Randy Gregory and Mo Claiborne.

Scratch the Gregory pick now obviously but Mo has been playing well by all accounts. This is the 1st offseason he wasn't recuperating from surgery. If he stays healthy and keeps making strides this secondary can be very good. Add him along with Byron Jones making a jump in year two and Dallas may have something to talk about. Creating turnovers will ultimately be what they are judged by though.

 

[CCBoy]

I agree, much like the D-line, I think people are over worried about it. I think we have a big problem with the LBers.

I'm thinking that the linebacker group is a solid group. The group is young, but has some dependable pieces in it. I think a trio of linebackers that includes Sean Lee, is already ahead of any section grades. They, as a group are solid, hitters, and hustle aggressively. Anthony Hitchens shows up with positives a lot. Then the addition of Justin Durant is a plus. He knows the system and can still contribute as he did before leaving last time. He's a solid linebacker.

Kyle Wilber and Damien Wilson should be contributers also...but the section is waiting upon the arrival of Jaylon Smith.

A linebacker who keeps focus and works situations, can be pretty effective in today's NFL.

Sean Lee is a great, on-the-field presence, and will keep the group alert and aggressive. Rod Marinelli won't hurt, being on the sidelines as well. As to the Dallas linebacker coach, Matt Eberfluss, is a good coach.

They will be growing over the year...but they also will be solid.

 

[Denim Chicken]

I think they can be good. I am hopeful due to the more aggressive nature of the new DB coach.

 

[Sydla]

I feel it's the most solid group on the d by far.

Which is scary.

 

[Sydla]

If the rumors are true about Claiborne and Brown, then yep, this will be a highly above average secondary.

Those that bash Church simply don't know football. Byron Jones as a pure free safety is what was needed. Church and Wilcox are both strong safeties.

LOL. So you don't know football if you believe Church is an average, at best, likely below average safety?

 

[ScipioCowboy]

There is some pedigree in the secondary--two first round picks, the most coveted corner in free agency a few years ago, and one of the best slot corners in the league.

But it never came together. Claiborne hasn't lived up to his draft position, and the safety play was abysmal. With Jones moving to safety and if Claiborne can become competent in zone coverage, they have a chance to be good.

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

I'd like them to be, but I also acknowledge that one db is coming off a season ending injury, one is oft-injured, one has had no interceptions in the last two seasons and the SS has had fans begging for an upgrade. They could certainly gel, but they could also end up injured and average again.

I feel good about Jones though!

 

[erod]

LOL. So you don't know football if you believe Church is an average, at best, likely below average safety?

There's a reason they gave Church a healthy NFL contract. Because he's a damn good strong safety. And 32 general managers would say the same thing.

 

[CCBoy]

There's a reason they gave Church a healthy NFL contract. Because he's a damn good strong safety. And 32 general managers would say the same thing.

He was a top ten safety on tackles...the main job of a strong safety.