News: Covington Inspired By His Hall-Of-Fame Dad

[Doomsday101]

How He Got Here: A Vancouver native, Covington has spent the last few years playing football in Texas: first at Rice, then the Houston Texans (2015-18) and now the Cowboys, who signed him to a one-year deal in March. He appeared in 50 games (nine starts) for the Texans over four seasons, posting 65 tackles, 7.5 sacks and a forced fumble.

Bet You Didn’t Know: Thousands of miles away in the Pacific Northwest, Covington actually grew up watching the Cowboys, his parents’ favorite team when he was a kid. His father, Grover, played 11 years with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and set the CFL record for sacks, eventually making the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. “I’ve been around football all my life,” Christian said. “He was my D-Line coach growing up. He coached at my high school. He taught me everything I know.”

Quotable: “We thought he would fit our scheme coming out (of college) and then he went to Houston, played in a 3-4 and gained some weight. But we like his attitude. He’s lost 30 pounds and he’s ready to play in our scheme.” -Cowboys defensive tackles coach Leon Lett

Role/Roster Chances: For years, Covington was an underrated contributor in the Texans’ productive pass rush. The 310-pounder played defensive end in their 3-4 system, but he’s much more experienced as a tackle in the Cowboys’ 4-3 style of defense. He rehabbed a calf injury during offseason workouts but is expected to return to practice in training camp and work into a tackle rotation that includes returning veterans Maliek Collins, Antwaun Woods and Tyrone Crawford.

https://www.dallascowboys.com/news/covington-inspired-by-his-hall-of-fame-dad

 

[glimmerman]

Let’s see him work in TC. Maybe a nice rotational piece. Collins has to stay healthy this year. I am expecting good things from Woods this year. Crawford could be a surprise cut. And he will likely start the season suspended. Like our start TE Rico.

 

[Mr_437]

"He lost 30 pounds"???
How much does he weight now?

Covington is one player I'm interested to see play this style.

 

[cowboyec]

very excited to watch this DLine group...he is one of the reasons why.

 

[Kaiser]

This is the kind of informative, hard hitting analysis I come here to read. Who knew Canada had a Football Hall of Fame?

I kid, I kid. But Covington comes to the team with a much better skill set than guys like Terrell McClain. And Marinelli turned McClain to a good starting-caliber player after he was sitting home on his couch. McClain played in Dallas for three years on minimum salaries, then got paid 15 Million for the three seasons afterward.

 

[big dog cowboy]

I know for a fact there are a couple of Texans players who are not happy that he signed with the Cowboys.

 

[conner01]

Covington and Hyder were low key signings but both I feel can really contribute this year
Both have potential to be very solid players and both have played well in the past and are still young guys

 

[Tangle_Foot]

Inside the Cowboys Trenches
3 thumbs up
Brought to you by the makers of Jiffy Pop
We're going to be a lot better than people think

 

[Tussinman]

Covington and Hyder were low key signings but both I feel can really contribute this year

Yeah if Maliek doesn't bring his a-game I could see Covington taking his starting spot. Maliek better have a damn good training camp

 

[conner01]

Yeah if Maliek doesn't bring his a-game I could see Covington taking his starting spot. Maliek better have a damn good training camp

It’s really about snaps more than starting
Who gets those snaps and who doesn’t
Collins is in a contract year which is good for both sides
He should be very motivated and we should get the best he has

 

[Alexander]

It’s really about snaps more than starting
Who gets those snaps and who doesn’t
Collins is in a contract year which is good for both sides
He should be very motivated and we should get the best he has

Let them all ball out and leave. Collect the comp picks.

 

[Bullflop]

Covington hopes to be the inside presence that the Cowboys have needed in recent years. Welcome to Dallas, Christian! Go get 'em, son!

 

[Bullflop]

"He lost 30 pounds"???
How much does he weight now?

Covington is one player I'm interested to see play this style.

I was a bit taken back by that claim, since the roster lists him at 305 currently. Of course, it's not always accurate, so there's that, too.

 

[gimmesix]

I was a bit taken back by that claim, since the roster lists him at 305 currently. Of course, it's not always accurate, so there's that, too.

Could be that his listed weight was wrong since players' weights go up and down. I hope he's not at 280 (30 pounds from his listed weight). If he is, we're definitely not going to use him at 1-tech any.

I do expect him to play 3-tech, mostly on run downs, and 1-tech to spell Woods, so being a little lighter might help him when he's at 3-tech.

 

[AsthmaField]

I know for a fact there are a couple of Texans players who are not happy that he signed with the Cowboys.

Tell me more...

 

[Bullflop]

Could be that his listed weight was wrong since players' weights go up and down. I hope he's not at 280 (30 pounds from his listed weight). If he is, we're definitely not going to use him at 1-tech any.

I do expect him to play 3-tech, mostly on run downs, and 1-tech to spell Woods, so being a little lighter might help him when he's at 3-tech.

Sounds about right -- I just looked up Christian Covington's weight on Ourlads Roster for the Cowboys and they've listed him at 289. I suspect we're planning on rotating him at 3-tech in passing situations. The official DC website isn't reliable for being up to date, whereas I've found that Ourlads roster usually is far more reliable about keeping up with it.

 

[Bullflop]

Tell me more...

I've read where those who were unhappy with him being signed by Dallas felt that Christian Covington was highly instrumental in their ends being so successful in terms of their sacks. I haven't seen where those unhappy players names have been released, though. Maybe someone else has??

 

[gimmesix]

Sounds about right -- I just looked up Christian Covington's weight on Ourlads Roster for the Cowboys and they've listed him at 289. I suspect we're planning on rotating him at 3-tech in passing situations. The official DC website isn't reliable for being up to date, whereas I've found that Ourlads roster usually is far more reliable about keeping up with it.

Considering that Woods is a two-down player (at most), I wasn't really expecting to see Covington much at 1-tech. However, I thought we were going to play him as a "big" next to Woods on early downs to do better against the run. If that weight is right, now he's as small (or smaller) than players like Collins. I know Marinelli likes his linemen smaller and quicker, but I hope we don't negate some of Covington's run-playing ability by slimming him down so much.

 

[Stash]

Considering that Woods is a two-down player (at most), I wasn't really expecting to see Covington much at 1-tech. However, I thought we were going to play him as a "big" next to Woods on early downs to do better against the run. If that weight is right, now he's as small (or smaller) than players like Collins. I know Marinelli likes his linemen smaller and quicker, but I hope we don't negate some of Covington's run-playing ability by slimming him down so much.

I agree, I wasn't happy to read about him dropping 30 pounds. This team has too few big run stuffers as it is, why slim down one that you do have too much? Exactly how many 3-tech candidates do you need while you ignore your run defense that contributed to your demise?

 

[Future]

Sounds about right -- I just looked up Christian Covington's weight on Ourlads Roster for the Cowboys and they've listed him at 289. I suspect we're planning on rotating him at 3-tech in passing situations. The official DC website isn't reliable for being up to date, whereas I've found that Ourlads roster usually is far more reliable about keeping up with it.

Probably the 1-tech, not the 3. I can't imagine them having him at the 3 instead of Collins or Hill.

I think Covington's role is being overstated, really. He's Woods' backup.