Defense for real?

[StarBoyz83]

Yeah, I was pretty pumped to start 2015. My liver was taking quite a hit by mid December.

You were pumped about 2015? Lol why? Hoping you mean before romo went down.

 

[glimmerman]

Too thin at LB and Safety for my liking. But we ought to be getting better given how young we are. If Vander Esch can play.

Yeah I am kind of counting on the hype. But trying to take in account the rookie factor.

 

[glimmerman]

I think our D could be in the top 5, IF we can consistently stop the run on early downs and put teams in 3rd and long. We have playmaking LB’s, and I think, young playmaking DB’s vs the pass, and should have an excellent pass rush. I think letting McClain get away to Atlanta is a big mistake. We have 0 proven talent at 1 technique. Hopefully one of our DT’s will step up and become our much needed run stuffing 1 technique.

3rd and long was the worst feeling. I would rather see them in 3rd and 2. Lol.

 

[Point-of-the-Star]

You were pumped about 2015? Lol why? Hoping you mean before romo went down.

Yeah, I figgered most would get that. Reread, I said to "start 2015".

 

[cern]

The run defense will be challenged. Giants and skins have added big time Rb's.

 

[bayeslife]

We haven’t really had this much talent on defense in some time. I mean when you look at the roster top to bottom it’s pretty decent on paper.

 

[DasSchnitzel]

Last year I predicted 9-7 beginning with the draft because I thought the defense would take half a season to mesh with the young replacements taking over. I got the record right but my reasoning looks off base.

Even still, I'm staying committed to my original thought, that 2018 was the year of taking a big step forward, landing at 12-4.

For those interested, year 3 of that timeline I began with the 2017 draft, so the 2019 season, is "our year".

 

[StarBoyz83]

I dont see the offense or defense being elite this year but I think both will be above average and young.

 

[CCBoy]

The run defense will be challenged. Giants and skins have added big time Rb's.

The NFC East will be a dog fight.

 

[Sydla]

Where is the pass rush coming from?

Even with Lawrence having a career year, the Cowboys were 15th in sacks and middle of the pack in total QB pressures. I think the pass rush is still a big question for this team. Certainly better than say 2-3 years ago, but hardly where I think we should be if we want to field a truly high level defense.

Charlton is going to have to make a leap and it certainly would help if Tapper or Gregory could give them a situational, speed rusher.

 

[visionary]

We should have a good pass rush this year and just a really solid D-Line.

We should have a really good LB corps this year.

We should have a good secondary this year.

We brought in a aggressive coach for the secondary and have a bunch back there that was really coming on at the end of last year. Sounds like this guy is gonna let them play aggressive.

Good additions at LB and DE coming back. Improvement at DT? We should be stopping the run pretty well and pressuring the qb.

I believe barring injury that this will be the Defense we have needed for that last 4 years to make the SB push.

Now will our Offense keep up?

I am pumped guys and girls. This could be the year for real. Comes down to coaching, which scares me. Lol.

We had 3 glaring needs on defense going in to this off season

1T DT, MLB, and at least 1 if not 2 safeties

We've addressed 1 (MLB) so far and even there the jury is out as to how good LVE is going to be

So, no, I'm not convinced this will be a great defense

Fair to middling? Yes

 

[GhostOfPelluer]

Where is the pass rush coming from?

Even with Lawrence having a career year, the Cowboys were 15th in sacks and middle of the pack in total QB pressures. I think the pass rush is still a big question for this team. Certainly better than say 2-3 years ago, but hardly where I think we should be if we want to field a truly high level defense.

Charlton is going to have to make a leap and it certainly would help if Tapper or Gregory could give them a situational, speed rusher.

I think it’s fair to expect Taco to take a step forward - he was a high draft pick. Not saying it’s a given, but it’s a fair expectation. Irving for a full season would help. An improved secondary - another fair expectation- would help too.

 

[gimmesix]

Too thin at LB and Safety for my liking. But we ought to be getting better given how young we are. If Vander Esch can play.

I don't feel we're too thin at linebacker. Lee, Smith, LVE and Thomas is a pretty good group, and Wilson is hit and miss. That's essentially five players who can start or have starting experience.

I think linebacker and corner are strengths. DE might be, DT too, although I'm concerned about the 1-tech spot with Collins' injury. Safety is the main area of concern with Woods, Frazier and Heath being our main options ... and I'd hate for us to take away from the corner group by having to move one of the them because the safeties don't pan out. (With us being four-deep at corner -- Awusie, Jones, Lewis and Brown -- I can see playing a fourth corner in the nickel instead of one of the safeties, though. Perhaps we put Jones on the tight end, Lewis in the slot and Brown and Awusie on the outside with Heath or Woods playing deep.)

 

[GhostOfPelluer]

We had 3 glaring needs on defense going in to this off season

1T DT, MLB, and at least 1 if not 2 safeties

We've addressed 1 (MLB) so far and even there the jury is out as to how good LVE is going to be

So, no, I'm not convinced this will be a great defense

Fair to middling? Yes

I think your skepticism is fair. I think the age of the players all along the D and the expected trajectory of those players gives me optimism. But I’m overly optimistic to begin with.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Where is the pass rush coming from?

I got so sick and tired of reading that a year ago. Every day there were new threads about it. This season should be a big step up from last year and I for one am not worried about it. The Cowboys may not be a top 5 pass rushing team but they will be pretty good.

 

[CCBoy]

I don't feel we're too thin at linebacker. Lee, Smith, LVE and Thomas is a pretty good group, and Wilson is hit and miss. That's essentially five players who can start or have starting experience.

I think linebacker and corner are strengths. DE might be, DT too, although I'm concerned about the 1-tech spot with Collins' injury. Safety is the main area of concern with Woods, Frazier and Heath being our main options ... and I'd hate for us to take away from the corner group by having to move one of the them because the safeties don't pan out. (With us being four-deep at corner -- Awusie, Jones, Lewis and Brown -- I can see playing a fourth corner in the nickel instead of one of the safeties, though. Perhaps we put Jones on the tight end, Lewis in the slot and Brown and Awusie on the outside with Heath or Woods playing deep.)

If Irving, Crawford, or Collins is hurt for more than 2 games...how do you see that progressing?

 

[gimmesix]

If Irving, Crawford, or Collins is hurt for more than 2 games...how do you see that progressing?

Crawford is a better 3-tech than he's given credit for ... so if Irving is out he can play that role and get some pressure or Collins can if he's healthy. Neither is on Irving's level as a pass rusher, though. Ward also is built for that position and Ealy and Jones might end up being better suited for it than end.

The real concern for me is Collins. Unlike some on here, I think he can handle the starting 1-tech role just fine and be a plus player there. The problem is that if he misses time, Price and Ash are only OK fill-ins. I like what I read about the UDFA Osborne, but I'm not counting on that to pay off. ... I think Dallas has interest in adding a 1-tech because of the unknown with Collins' injury.

 

[Idgit]

I don't feel we're too thin at linebacker. Lee, Smith, LVE and Thomas is a pretty good group, and Wilson is hit and miss. That's essentially five players who can start or have starting experience.

I think linebacker and corner are strengths. DE might be, DT too, although I'm concerned about the 1-tech spot with Collins' injury. Safety is the main area of concern with Woods, Frazier and Heath being our main options ... and I'd hate for us to take away from the corner group by having to move one of the them because the safeties don't pan out. (With us being four-deep at corner -- Awusie, Jones, Lewis and Brown -- I can see playing a fourth corner in the nickel instead of one of the safeties, though. Perhaps we put Jones on the tight end, Lewis in the slot and Brown and Awusie on the outside with Heath or Woods playing deep.)

What do you do inside if, say, Lee pulls a hamstring for three games? You ok with Jaylon at MIKE on all downs and the rookie moving to WIL full time? That’s a pretty inexperienced set of ILBs in terms of the snaps they’ve played. What happens if, like last year we’ve got two LBs down at once? Joe Thomas I can buy on STs and in packages, but as a full time player?

My problem is that I don’t trust Jaylon at all in a full time capacity until he proves he can handle it. He killed us last year v the Rams. Cherry-picking his snaps at the end of the season didn’t make me feel much better about him.

 

[CCBoy]

Crawford is a better 3-tech than he's given credit for ... so if Irving is out he can play that role and get some pressure or Collins can if he's healthy. Neither is on Irving's level as a pass rusher, though. Ward also is built for that position and Ealy and Jones might end up being better suited for it than end.

The real concern for me is Collins. Unlike some on here, I think he can handle the starting 1-tech role just fine and be a plus player there. The problem is that if he misses time, Price and Ash are only OK fill-ins. I like what I read about the UDFA Osborne, but I'm not counting on that to pay off. ... I think Dallas has interest in adding a 1-tech because of the unknown with Collins' injury.

Oh, you are spot on, before we need to then quickly address tackle depth. That's the real problem then.

 

[Sydla]

I got so sick and tired of reading that a year ago. Every day there were new threads about it. This season should be a big step up from last year and I for one am not worried about it. The Cowboys may not be a top 5 pass rushing team but they will be pretty good.

The reality is they weren't a very good pass rush team last year. They were average. In fairness, we were so inept a few years ago that even average looked awesome to us (even me).