Defense needs new persona

[AsthmaField]

We've been talking about this for, what, four years now? Since the 2013 season when we had one of the bottom-5 worst defenses in league history in terms of yards surrendered? What have we added since then who can earn snaps? Hitchens, Lawrence, Byron Jones, and Collins, right? Am I missing anybody? Anthony Brown. That's a pretty bare cupboard.

We've been bad. Truly bad. And we've barely done anything to seriously address it with actual resources.

Other than that, we should be good though.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

He isn't a great linebacker when he has to shed blockers. Makes a lot more sense as a weak side backer.

That is true for most every college player though. He has the arm length and strength to stack and shed. It Anthony "Stubs" Hitchens can be taught to do it then I have no doubt Smith can too.

His range is best suited in the middle of the field IMO plus the idea of him blitzing the A gap just makes me giddy.

 

[robbieruff]

I believe the defense needs more talent.

I will take a leap of faith and agree with you...wholeheartedly

 

[AsthmaField]

That is true for most every college player though. He has the arm length and strength to stack and shed. It Anthony "Stubs" Hitchens can be taught to do it then I have no doubt Smith can too.

His range is best suited in the middle of the field IMO plus the idea of him blitzing the A gap just makes me giddy.

LOL... Stubs

 

[Idgit]

Other than that, we should be good though.

At least we showed we were serious about it last season when we spent the #4 overall on a Running Back and then doubled down on the guy with the broken leg and nerve damage at #34.

Hard to complain, the way Elliott turned out, but it does show an alarming lack of care about the quality of defensive talent on the roster. Bless their hearts, they play hard and, with an offense that puts a lot of pressure on teams they make you have a good QB to beat us. Bad news is there are more than a few good QBs in the league and most of them are there waiting for you come playoff time.

And don't get me started about the complete lack of home cookin' in the playoff games. If I go 13-3 and get HFA throughout the playoffs, I prefer that mean something.

 

[AsthmaField]

That is true for most every college player though. He has the arm length and strength to stack and shed. It Anthony "Stubs" Hitchens can be taught to do it then I have no doubt Smith can too.

His range is best suited in the middle of the field IMO plus the idea of him blitzing the A gap just makes me giddy.

Whichever LB position he plays... he needs to rush the passed more than our LBs typically do. That is assuming he's the same player he was in college... which I have no idea if he will or not.

 

[AsthmaField]

At least we showed we were serious about it last season when we spent the #4 overall on a Running Back and then doubled down on the guy with the broken leg and nerve damage at #34.

Hard to complain, the way Elliott turned out, but it does show an alarming lack of care about the quality of defensive talent on the roster. Bless their hearts, they play hard and, with an offense that puts a lot of pressure on teams they make you have a good QB to beat us. Bad news is there are more than a few good QBs in the league and most of them are there waiting for you come playoff time.

And don't get me started about the complete lack of home cookin' in the playoff games. If I go 13-3 and get HFA throughout the playoffs, I prefer that mean something.

Hard to disagree with any of that... although I wanted them to draft Elliott.

He's just so good. I think if you get a chance to draft a superstar you take him unless you're already set at that position.

We need defense bad though.

 

[Mr Cowboy]

We've been talking about this for, what, four years now? Since the 2013 season when we had one of the bottom-5 worst defenses in league history in terms of yards surrendered? What have we added since then who can earn snaps? Hitchens, Lawrence, Byron Jones, and Collins, right? Am I missing anybody? Anthony Brown. That's a pretty bare cupboard.

We've been bad. Truly bad. And we've barely done anything to seriously address it with actual resources.

And the last four years we hear the same thing, "you can't fix everything in one off season!"

 

[Silver N Blue]

The defense needs a new persona and I'm not sure what that entails.

I do not believe that this offense as it is can carry this team to a super bowl. It certainly isn't good enough to overcome what I see as coaching deficiencies.

All I know is that we can not continue to keep going as we have the last few years. I hope that we do not continue to put out the same retread players on defense. I'm not certain that Marinelli is the guy for the job. I absolutely commend him for what he is able to produce from very limited resources, but the question is can he get significantly more out of higher end players? At this point, I'd at least like to see him get the opportunity.

Marinelli came here in 2013 (DC from 2014), that is 4 years.

How many first round draft picks has he had in those 4 (3 years)? One. Byron Jones, who was a late first round draft pick. I think the jury is out on him, but given what he's been able to do with Wilcox and Heath, you have to think Jones will turn into a superstar.

How many second round draft picks has he had that have actually seen the field? 1, with Demarcus Lawrence who has been battling back injuries and was suspended for four games. He's turned him into a pretty decent player, though.

How many third round draft picks has he had that have actually seen the field? Two. Maliek Collins and JJ Wilcox. Two players that Marinelli has gotten pretty good production out of. Remember, Wilcox was a complete project player, who I believe Marinelli was able to salvage.

That is a total of 4 "First-day" players in four years on a defense that was horrendous when he initially arrived. There are no free agents studs on this defense that have been brought in to help bridge the gap in draft resources.

The Cowboys need to spend the next two to three drafts focusing primarily on defense whenever possible. They need to let go of players like Carr. At this point, I'd rather see Brown starting and resources spent appropriately towards the defensive line. I wouldn't keep Claiborne either unless it was an extremely team friendly one year deal. It's time to move on from these cornerbacks if we want to see plays made in the secondary.

Morris Claiborne has 4 career interceptions. Brandon Carr has 1 interception in the last four years.

Stunned that we resigned Scandrick to the money we signed him to. I would look to move on from him as soon as feasible.

I think our linebackers will be fine if Jaylon Smith can return to form alongside Sean Lee.

It's now time to focus almost entirely on the defensive line as that is the only way we're going to get the results we need. Going into this draft, unfortunately, isn't going to be great positioning for us. I think whatever we can get for Romo needs to be parlayed into getting help earlier in the draft along the line. The going rate in my mind starts at least a first round draft pick.

Of our 2017 free agents, I would resign Church or Wilcox (not both), maybe Gachkar, Terrell McClain, Justin Durant, and that's it.

I might go wide receiver or defensive end in the first round and while that might sound like a contradiction of what I said earlier, I think you probably get more value at WR deeper in the first round than defensive end. Really depends on who is there. I wouldn't resign Terrance Williams. I would increase Cole Beasley's role in the offense instead. The Patriots make it work without expensive wide receivers, we need to be able to do the same. Especially, with the resources we're putting in at offensive line.

Great post!

 

[gimmesix]

I believe the defense needs more talent.

There's not as great a gulf as some like to believe between one defensive coordinator and another. The gulfs are created by the level of talent they have at their disposal.

 

[GhostOfPelluer]

And the last four years we hear the same thing, "you can't fix everything in one off season!"

It was true then and it's still true

 

[Alexander]

All I know is that the "orphans" thing made me cringe.

It was almost like it was acknowledged that they were not good enough, but gosh darn it, it they tried hard enough, they could be good enough. Maybe.

Like some dumb Disney movie. I guess that is Marinelli trying to be clever and motivate, but at the end of it all, when they do fail, they really are not going to take it that hard because they gave it their all.