Cowboys Post Draft Analysis - DL & LB

[xwalker]

Ross is old for a guy drafted in 2017, but still a year younger than Covington, and RFA next year.
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/dallas-cowboys/daniel-ross-22197/

Ross finished Junior College in 2013 and went to the CFL in 2014.

He was in the CFL in 2014 and 2016. He was out injured in 2015.

In 2017 he was signed and cut by multiple NFL teams and eventually signed with the Cowboys late in the 2017 season.

 

[xwalker]

Collins is the backfill for 1tech. It doesn't have to go to the 4th dt. They don't need more 1tech backup after that, and they prefer 3techs besides. Assuming no injuries, 1tech is covered without Covington. His flexibility makes him nice insurance against injury to others, but you're hoping you don't need that insurance.

For what it's worth, PFF graded Ross above average, and Covington a little higher. Maliek graded out the worst, even lower than Hyder. Ross is going to get every chance to be the younger, cheaper 3tech backup next year with Crawford and Collins gone.

Good point about Gregory creating a bubble spot in the case of a suspension. People won't like hearing it, but a short suspension at the beginning of the season has the advantage of letting you keep the rights to more players through final cuts.

Possible on Crawford, if everyone else pans out. Hyder can be our cheaper tweener this year, more like a Jack Crawford. Ross gives you more to cut Crawford than Covington, from a position perspective.

PFF has been proven to be worthless in grading players. They have some good stats that that are not available elsewhere but their grading process is a joke.

They hire blogger types to "grade' players.

There are 32 teams each week with about 70 snaps on defense and 70 on offense. That's 140 snaps x 32 teams which is 4480 snaps per week to grade.

32 teams
11 player per team per snap
140 snaps offense/defense per game
32 x 11 x 140 = 49,280 total snaps per week

At 1 minute per snap per player that's 821 hours per week.

Even if they had 100 NFL scouts each spend 8 hours grading game footage, getting consistent results across that many graders would be very difficult.

Getting consistent results using bloggers is basically impossible.

In the past I posted a screenshot of their job posting for people to grade players. The requirements were very minimal. They just wanted people with a basic knowledge of football and they would "teach" you how to grade "film".

There is just such a big demand for the concept of having a tangible grade for players that people have gotten sucked into believing PFF grades.

Fans and media use the grades to support their own opinions and ignore the grades when it doesn't benefit them. Nobody seems to care that it's impossible for the grades to be accurate.

 

[AbeBeta]

McCoy would be an upgrade. Hyder and Covington are just condiments to cover up the smell and taste of tuna until I see otherwise.

Good lord. Y'all can't have steak on every plate.

 

[xwalker]

I don't believe Covington is strictly a 1-tech. He was an end who played the run well but also could get after the passer in Houston, which correlates more to the 3-tech spot. He has enough size and run-stopping ability to contribute at 1-tech, but I think he's mostly seen as a run-down 3-tech and was acquired for that spot because of how poorly we played the run against the Rams.

I think our 3-tech play was not as good as we wanted it to be last year (mostly because we were somewhat counting on Irving), so we got Hyder (pass rusher) and Covington (run stopper) to try to fix the problem, then we got Hill hoping that he could be the best of both worlds.

Thomas probably would go in...just question whether he can play off blocks, Lee too for that matter. Yet to be seen for Covington, but at 245 he better she'd some TEs.


Covington sure looks more like a 3Tech watching him rush the passer for HOU, but Marinelli does like his 1Tech to move like a 3Tech if possible. Covington looks to have Terrell McClain flexibility which is great for a rotation. I think he's gonna surprise some ppl.

I wouldn't get hung up on position titles at LB.

They're calling Lee SLB but they'll likely use him more like what many teams call the WLB.

Lee will be the 3rd LB like Wilson was previously but they will likely use Lee a bit differently than they used Wilson.

Also, Marinelli calls them Sam, Will and Mike. They don't line up specifically as traditional Strong/Weak side LBs.

Marinelli says the Will "travels" with the 3-tech. He means that the Will plays the same side as the 3-tech regardless of where the TEs align.

Last season:
Jaylon - Mike
Vander Esch - Will
Wilson - Sam

Below you can see that even against 2 TE stacked-right set, that Vander Esch (the Will) is on the side with the TEs.

Notice that the 3-tech is on the left side of the DL and the Will is on the left side of the DL.

 

[xwalker]

I don't believe Covington is strictly a 1-tech. He was an end who played the run well but also could get after the passer in Houston, which correlates more to the 3-tech spot. He has enough size and run-stopping ability to contribute at 1-tech, but I think he's mostly seen as a run-down 3-tech and was acquired for that spot because of how poorly we played the run against the Rams.

I think our 3-tech play was not as good as we wanted it to be last year (mostly because we were somewhat counting on Irving), so we got Hyder (pass rusher) and Covington (run stopper) to try to fix the problem, then we got Hill hoping that he could be the best of both worlds.

Thomas probably would go in...just question whether he can play off blocks, Lee too for that matter. Yet to be seen for Covington, but at 245 he better she'd some TEs.


Covington sure looks more like a 3Tech watching him rush the passer for HOU, but Marinelli does like his 1Tech to move like a 3Tech if possible. Covington looks to have Terrell McClain flexibility which is great for a rotation. I think he's gonna surprise some ppl.

In this pic notice that Vander Esch is playing MLB with Lee at WLB and Wilson at SLB.

Lee and the 3-tech are on the same side.

Wilson the Sam is on the opposite side from the TE.

 

[Mr_437]

In this pic notice that Vander Esch is playing MLB with Lee at WLB and Wilson at SLB.

Lee and the 3-tech are on the same side.

Wilson the Sam is on the opposite side from the TE.

1st play - works out because LVE has long arms (34in.) to play Sam... shed blockers or cover those TEs. Then Lee can play free.

2nd play - LVE would be the Same again with Jaylon at Mike...Lee would be free again.

Excellent pix.

This is ok considering the % of plays DAL runs 3 LBs sets.

Much rather have LVE running free, but he's a better fit playing this position than the other LBs on the roster.

Now the only question I have is if Lee can still perform be it injury or age (speed)?

 

[xwalker]

1st play - works out because LVE has long arms (34in.) to play Sam... shed blockers or cover those TEs. Then Lee can play free.

2nd play - LVE would be the Same again with Jaylon at Mike...Lee would be free again.

Excellent pix.

This is ok considering the % of plays DAL runs 3 LBs sets.

Much rather have LVE running free, but he's a better fit playing this position than the other LBs on the roster.

Now the only question I have is if Lee can still perform be it injury or age (speed)?

JS & LVE
Vander Esch and Jaylon have the size and athletic ability to play any of the LB positions.

Pre-injury there were 3-4 teams that wanted to draft Jaylon as a 3-4 OLB.

Sean Lee
Playing as the 3rd LB should be perfect for Lee.

Enough snaps to keep him in legit football condition but limited to maximize his chance to stay healthy.

 

[xwalker]

1st play - works out because LVE has long arms (34in.) to play Sam... shed blockers or cover those TEs. Then Lee can play free.

2nd play - LVE would be the Same again with Jaylon at Mike...Lee would be free again.

Excellent pix.

This is ok considering the % of plays DAL runs 3 LBs sets.

Much rather have LVE running free, but he's a better fit playing this position than the other LBs on the roster.

Now the only question I have is if Lee can still perform be it injury or age (speed)?

The ability of Jaylon and Vander Esch to play anywhere gives the team flexibility on the LB depth chart.

If the final LB spot comes down to 2 different types of LBs, the team is not forced to choose based on specific LB position requirements.

Example:
Chris Covington vs Andrew Dowell

Covington 6-2, 245
Could directly replace Wilson.
What if he is not athletic enough to project well as a backup LB for 2 LB sets (Nickel) or 1 LB sets (Dime)?

Andrew Dowell (udfa, 6-0, 225, 4.48 forty)
When Lee and Hitchens were the starters this type of player likely never gets on the field in 3 LB sets.
With Jaylon and LVE as the starters, the team could use them as the "bigs".
A small but super fast LB like Dowell could be used in the "protected" (protected from blockers) role.
The smaller but faster LB might project better as a backup for Nickel and Dime LB requirements.

Note:
This is just an example.

I have no idea if Dowell has a chance to make the roster but he fit the size/speed for my example.

For all I know, they might be considering Dowell as a Strong Safety.

 

[CCBoy]

In this pic notice that Vander Esch is playing MLB with Lee at WLB and Wilson at SLB.

Lee and the 3-tech are on the same side.

Wilson the Sam is on the opposite side from the TE.

That should indicate that the Cowboys are still trying to keep Sean Lee 'clean' and allow him to roam. Obviously considering him as a play maker still.

 

[Verdict]

I would. He's cheap and still young. What's the point of letting him go for guys you can sneak on practice squad?

If he can’t play this year at a reasonable level there is no point to keeping him around.

 

[Verdict]

It's doubtful that he gets cut.

Worst case some team would trade a late round pick for him.

He has the physical ability (similar athletic ability to DLaw but without the developed skill or "motor").

Getting benched last was either a wake-up call or his attitude gets worse because of it. They should know early in training camp which one.

He does project as a good fit in a rotation with Quinn at RDE. Taco started 7 games at RDE in 2018 but Gregory played more of the pass rushing snaps.

I think he has value against the run, but he has been a slow starter in the pass rushing category.

 

[Verdict]

That should indicate that the Cowboys are still trying to keep Sean Lee 'clean' and allow him to roam. Obviously considering him as a play maker still.

I’m not sold on him as a playmaker. Last year’s level of play fell off of a cliff.

 

[xwalker]

I think he has value against the run, but he has been a slow starter in the pass rushing category.

Gregory got most of the prime pass rushing snaps in 2018.

It's all mental for Taco.

He could become DLaw or he could become David Irving. It's amazing that he can't see that considering he's seen one get a 105M contract and the other get banned from the league.

 

[CCBoy]

This caught my eye:

8. Hyder could be a sneaky player to keep an eye on
When Kerry Hyder was signed in free agency, fans felt it was a solid move. But after the trade for Robert Quinn and drafting two young edge rushers in Joe Jackson and Jalen Jelks, Hyder’s place on the team doesn’t seem as secure as before. But don’t sleep on this veteran pass rusher.

The Cowboys are playing him on the edge, which is where he does his best work. The Detroit Lions misused him last season playing him inside and he was ineffective. However, the last season he played defensive end, he recorded eight sacks. Hyder is already showing great burst off the snap and is displaying an assortment of pass rushing moves. The way things are going so far, Hyder’s not looking to just find a spot on the roster, but rather find a nice spot in the rotation.

https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/201...the-first-week-of-otas-for-the-dallas-cowboys

 

[Sydla]

Good lord. Y'all can't have steak on every plate.

True, you can't. Because often times, you don't even have an option to grab a steak.

But when you have a chance to grab that juicy sirloin, you should take it. McCoy makes this DL better. He'd easily be the best interior pass rusher we have and if Hill develops immediately, you are looking at a 2019 season where you could unleash a pass rush of Lawrence, Quinn, Hill and McCoy on teams.

Now if that steak costs you $45 million over 3 years, sure, stick with the chicken. But if you can get that slab of beef for $11-12MM for one year, or even a 2 year $24MM type deal............... you'd be wise to suck it up and grab the beef IMO.

 

[Verdict]

Gregory got most of the prime pass rushing snaps in 2018.

It's all mental for Taco.

He could become DLaw or he could become David Irving. It's amazing that he can't see that considering he's seen one get a 105M contract and the other get banned from the league.

You would think so. Lol.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

If he can’t play this year at a reasonable level there is no point to keeping him around.

But he’s played at a reasonable level.