Cowboys D Line rumors from Walter football

[JoeyBoy718]

Besides Irving and Collins. The rest of the DL is replaceable or in need of a upgrade. Can't doit all at once but the guys we wheel out there consistently are Jags, or Suspensions waiting to happen.

As much potential as Irving flashed in wee bits of the season, he's far from a reliable player. I hope they turn into something special, but we're in trouble if we go into the season relying on those guys. We need proven talent.

 

[Alexander]

There's still a lot of overreaction to a playoff loss here in my opinion. We went from having a D that was top 10 in scoring allowed and helped us cruise to 13-3 to being awful because we lost to Rodgers in the playoffs. There's no arguing that the D needs to continue to improve, but it's not the dumpster fire everyone is making it out to be either.

So was 2014 an overreaction too?

I guess we just need to hope we don't play Rodgers in the playoffs or even a top QB in the playoffs then.

 

[Alexander]

As much potential as Irving flashed in wee bits of the season, he's far from a reliable player. I hope they turn into something special, but we're in trouble if we go into the season relying on those guys. We need proven talent.

Don't pay potential.

It is that simple.

It just seems at times we clutch onto even the slightest amount of promise and then lock it up.

That just says we are not yet confident in our abilities to find new talent.

Hopefully that has changed in the last few years, but I don't count on it.

 

[Idgit]

Reliable and McClain have been tough to associate together.

Honestly we need a quality DL likely in FA and early in the draft.

He's got an injury history, for sure.

We need to upgrade two DL positions, regardless. Three depending what you think of Gregory. I don't really want to have to look for a fourth if we can sign on of our own. At least McClain can play.

 

[Idgit]

If by not as simple as I make it seem you mean that it's really hard to find a good RDE picking 28th and with limited cap funds, I agree with you. The rest is pretty cut and dry in my opinion...

There's still a lot of overreaction to a playoff loss here in my opinion. We went from having a D that was top 10 in scoring allowed and helped us cruise to 13-3 to being awful because we lost to Rodgers in the playoffs. There's no arguing that the D needs to continue to improve, but it's not the dumpster fire everyone is making it out to be either.

There's overreaction in general to the playoff loss, but the criticism of the defense is legit. It's not like they can't play well against many QBs. But they can't play at a high enough level v the elite QBs because we can't move those guys off their spot often enough. It puts too much strain on our good offense and makes the season a crap shoot.

But it doesn't have to be. Another two plymakers on that side of the ball and we can stack the deck in our favor. That's not to say we can't win it as it is, but we've seen from experience team's are vulnerable when they can't stop the pass. Getting by GB and losing to ATL or NE would be a slim consolation. Sure, the bragging rights are nice, but the game is to win championships.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

Don't pay potential.

It is that simple.

It just seems at times we clutch onto even the slightest amount of promise and then lock it up.

That just says we are not yet confident in our abilities to find new talent.

Hopefully that has changed in the last few years, but I don't count on it.

Yep. We did it with Tyrone Crawford. He flashed a little potential and we wanted to lock him up to a long-term deal before he became a free agent and would demand mega money. Buy low. Problem is, his stock never got very high and we ended up overpaying him. Guys you do pay are guys who are able to become elite players while on their rookie contracts. Pretty much guys like Dak, Zeke, Beard, Tyron and Zack. You pay those guys. The Demarcus Lawrence's of the world though, you only give them a second contract if it's cheap (like what we did with Claiborne). I hope we don't try to do the same thing with Irving. He's flashing potential but he still needs to prove he's worth the money.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

There's overreaction in general to the playoff loss, but the criticism of the defense is legit. It's not like they can't play well against many QBs. But they can't play at a high enough level v the elite QBs because we can't move those guys off their spot often enough. It puts too much strain on our good offense and makes the season a crap shoot.

But it doesn't have to be. Another two plymakers on that side of the ball and we can stack the deck in our favor. That's not to say we can't win it as it is, but we've seen from experience team's are vulnerable when they can't stop the pass. Getting by GB and losing to ATL or NE would be a slim consolation. Sure, the bragging rights are nice, but the game is to win championships.

34 sacks this season.

If they can get that number over 40 I think the defense will be at the point of being able to keep the better quality QB's like Rodgers down to less than 30 ppg.

 

[tm1119]

So was 2014 an overreaction too?

I guess we just need to hope we don't play Rodgers in the playoffs or even a top QB in the playoffs then.

Sooo you're just going to pretend like there wasn't a little injury before the 2015 season that may or may not have affected the 2015 season? Nothing rings a bell?

And no, like I said, we obviously need to improve on defense. But it's not as far away as you're making it seem either. You're telling me that if we added a middle of the road free agent DE (Sheard, Addison, Taylor) + drafted another DE in the 1st or 2nd you wouldn't feel a lot better going into the season? And that's about as reasonable plan as it gets...Plus there's the possibilities of Jaylon and Tapper being healthy next year.... I'm pretty far from a blind homer, you can check my posts from years past if you'd like, but I honestly think the D has potential. Yes, I agree it's a lot more difficult than I make it sound typing it out on my laptop, but it's also shouldn't be that hard for the front office to improve the D. It's been slower than we'd all like, but it's hard to argue that the FO hasn't been improving the talent on D the past few years. This off season shouldn't be any different

 

[gimmesix]

I second that!

People want to say that overpaying Crawford is 'no biggie' and that the Cowboys 'can do whatever they want in free agency', and meanwhile we'll watch Ron Leary walk out the door...

Crawford's contract won't be the reason Leary walks. La'el Collins will be.

Every team places a value on their free agents. Leary's value is lower because Dallas has Collins.

The team likes McClain, but wants to see what other teams think of him. The danger in that strategy is that he may sign with one of those other teams instead of letting Dallas match, but that's part of the game.

Just because the Cowboys can do whatever they want in free agency doesn't mean they should. No one who says that believes the team doesn't have to spend wisely, just that if the team wants to spend big money to bring in a player or players, it can.

 

[gimmesix]

Sooo you're just going to pretend like there wasn't a little injury before the 2015 season that may or may not have affected the 2015 season? Nothing rings a bell?

And no, like I said, we obviously need to improve on defense. But it's not as far away as you're making it seem either. You're telling me that if we added a middle of the road free agent DE (Sheard, Addison, Taylor) + drafted another DE in the 1st or 2nd you wouldn't feel a lot better going into the season? And that's about as reasonable plan as it gets...Plus there's the possibilities of Jaylon and Tapper being healthy next year.... I'm pretty far from a blind homer, you can check my posts from years past if you'd like, but I honestly think the D has potential. Yes, I agree it's a lot more difficult than I make it sound typing it out on my laptop, but it's also shouldn't be that hard for the front office to improve the D. It's been slower than we'd all like, but it's hard to argue that the FO hasn't been improving the talent on D the past few years. This off season shouldn't be any different

Honestly, I don't want middle of the road. I want difference maker. We've been trying to go down the middle of the road on defense the past few years and it only takes us so far.

Now, the trouble is finding a difference-maker.

 

[thisiscowboyscountry]

I know there is a lot of love for Irving on here and resentment towards Crawford. In reality how much better is Irving really? Crawford had a .5 more sacks and 13 more tackles than Irving on 120 more snaps or 7.5 more per game. Irving obviously had a little more production per snap, but he also dissapeared often, including during the playoff game where neither player really made an impact. However, he had a couple games where he showed superstar potential. David Irving is very young and will continue to get better, but how much better to justifyna long term deal?

 

[MichaelWinicki]

And no, like I said, we obviously need to improve on defense. But it's not as far away as you're making it seem either. You're telling me that if we added a middle of the road free agent DE (Sheard, Addison, Taylor) + drafted another DE in the 1st or 2nd you wouldn't feel a lot better going into the season? And that's about as reasonable plan as it gets...Plus there's the possibilities of Jaylon and Tapper being healthy next year.... I'm pretty far from a blind homer, you can check my posts from years past if you'd like, but I honestly think the D has potential. Yes, I agree it's a lot more difficult than I make it sound typing it out on my laptop, but it's also shouldn't be that hard for the front office to improve the D. It's been slower than we'd all like, but it's hard to argue that the FO hasn't been improving the talent on D the past few years. This off season shouldn't be any different

Agree with that plan.

A middling DE, draft one and maybe a little bit of injury luck.

And I think you have the basis of a solid defense.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Honestly, I don't want middle of the road. I want difference maker. We've been trying to go down the middle of the road on defense the past few years and it only takes us so far.

Now, the trouble is finding a difference-maker.

The thing to keep in mind is that the DT's on the Cowboys are good... And there's room for improvement.

And the more inside pass-rush the easier the job of the DE's.

I'd love a "difference maker". But they aren't going to be had.

Instead you're looking at a potential "Seattle" defensive line where you have 6 guys getting between 5 and 8 sacks.

I think that's realistic, doable and ultimately a defense that can hold its own.

 

[tm1119]

Honestly, I don't want middle of the road. I want difference maker. We've been trying to go down the middle of the road on defense the past few years and it only takes us so far.

Now, the trouble is finding a difference-maker.

Yeah well don't we all lol...wasn't implying that middle of the road should be what we are aiming for, just trying to be realistic about it.

 

[negativecreep]

Don't screw up with Iving, I get that we have him for 1 more year...don't let him leave. One of my favorites has been Leary the last few years, I'm still bracing myself for that news..

 

[thisiscowboyscountry]

Crawford's contract won't be the reason Leary walks. La'el Collins will be.

Every team places a value on their free agents. Leary's value is lower because Dallas has Collins.

The team likes McClain, but wants to see what other teams think of him. The danger in that strategy is that he may sign with one of those other teams instead of letting Dallas match, but that's part of the game.


Just because the Cowboys can do whatever they want in free agency doesn't mean they should. No one who says that believes the team doesn't have to spend wisely, just that if the team wants to spend big money to bring in a player or players, it can.

Exactly, the Cowboys already have 3 pro bowlers under contract and a very capable alternative for probably 10 to 15 percent of the cost. That has to play a major factor in the decision when you look at the money theyre commiting to other players. Even if the LG replacement is average he still going to look better because of what is around him.

Regarding Mcclain this is the first season hes really been healthy, and though he played well we cant pay huge dollars. Thornton was a bit banged up this year but we invested a lot of money in him and shouldnt be a huge drop off if we roll with him as the starter with a rookie backup.

 

[Alexander]

34 sacks this season.

If they can get that number over 40 I think the defense will be at the point of being able to keep the better quality QB's like Rodgers down to less than 30 ppg.

Not that simple.

 

[Kaiser]

As much potential as Irving flashed in wee bits of the season, he's far from a reliable player. I hope they turn into something special, but we're in trouble if we go into the season relying on those guys. We need proven talent.

Irving could be a star if he develops more consistency and not just showing it in flashes. He was dominant in two games but a non-factor in other.

The article on Tyrone Crawford having surgery today said he had three different injuries last year that he played through. I would let Crawford and Irving compete for the LDE position, hedge your bets so you don't have to depend entirely on either one but still have a shot that one or both plays very well next year.

 

[visionary]

He's definitely more dynamic. Crawford had more tackles, assists, hurries, and sacks. Crawford did have more snaps (694) than Irving (543). And Crawford he was also reportedly playing injured from week 2 on, too.

Interestingly, guess who led all DLs in snap count in 2016? M. Collins, with 715. Pretty impressive.

More an indictment of the rest of the DL than anything else. A direct result of the Russian roulette this FO had played with our DL

 

[visionary]

We need 2 difference makers on the DL and Smith needs to be 100% for us to become a good defense. Have to stop taking flyers on players