Defensive Line review, where's the beef?

[gmoney112]

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/dl

Dallas front 7 is ranked 21st overall against the run according to Football Outsiders.

They are 30th in Power Success
They are 17th in Stuffs
They are 29th in 2nd Level Yards
They are 14th in Open Field Yards

Power Success: Percentage of runs on third or fourth down, two yards or less to go, that achieved a first down or touchdown. Also includes runs on first-and-goal or second-and-goal from the two-yard line or closer. This is the only statistic on this page that includes quarterbacks. Teams are ranked from lowest power success percentage allowed (#1) to highest power success percentage allowed (#32).
Stuffed: Percentage of runs where the running back is tackled at or behind the line of scrimmage.Ranked from most stuffs (#1) to fewest stuffs (#32).
Second Level Yards: Yards earned by opposing running backs against this team between 5-10 yards past the line of scrimmage, divided by total running back carries.
Open Field Yards: Yards earned by opposing running backs against this team more than 10 yards past the line of scrimmage, divided by total running back carries.

[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Dallas front 7 is ranked 16th against the pass. [/FONT]

If you are going to completely give up against the run with small guys who simply try to get to the QB, then you had better get to the QB. That means you had better be at least top 10.

And I like Lawrence and Crawford. But the point of this thread was to demonstrate just how small we are inside on defense. Hopefully Crawford proves me wrong and comes back healthy and doesn't miss a game the next 4 years. I just don't think that's going to be the case. I think he will be playing injured/out for many, many games because he isn't suited to play inside.

Nice post. It basically confirms what the eye test showed us. We have a lackluster 1, McClain is hit or miss, and the safeties are just bad all around.

Crawford is a beast. I'm not worried about him inside, at all. The guy came into the league as an undersized 3rd round pick playing DE in the 3-4, banging heads against double teams constantly and he held up just fine. The problem is, in the run game, offenses concentrate on him because, well, Hayden. That injury he played with is no joke.

A lot of good posts in this thread about our personnel and scheme. If you like to use a 4 man line, you can't have 25% of your assets starting underperforming. You just can't. You don't need a 330 pound lineman, but you have got to have a guy that can produce at the position.

It's refreshing to see some references that infer we're actually going to upgrade the position. I'd sign the best vet I could get, and draft another as depth. Brandon Mebane was a completely underrated piece of that Seattle line in their strange 4 man line where he was basically a 1T playing SDE.

We've built the OL, now it's time for the DL. We have 3 promising pieces already. Solidify the 1, and draft another quality interior DL that can play. Target the safety position, and get someone alongside Lee who isn't Jekyll and Hyde and this defense will be much improved in not only run, but pass defense as well.

 

[jobberone]

Only in Dallas could a guy miss almost 2 full years...yet still be a guy they think they can count on.......

Who said he's being counted on.

He's got a 1.1M salary and a dead cap space of 100K. Who says he will even be on the team. He'll get a chance to compete but he won't get a lot of benefit this year unless he goes to IR again. He hasn't played enough to count on him or count him out. He does have some potential which could be real if he can first stay on the field and second perform.

No one here is holding their breath is my guess.

 

[jobberone]

Nice post. It basically confirms what the eye test showed us. We have a lackluster 1, McClain is hit or miss, and the safeties are just bad all around.

Crawford is a beast. I'm not worried about him inside, at all. The guy came into the league as an undersized 3rd round pick playing DE in the 3-4, banging heads against double teams constantly and he held up just fine. The problem is, in the run game, offenses concentrate on him because, well, Hayden. That injury he played with is no joke.

A lot of good posts in this thread about our personnel and scheme. If you like to use a 4 man line, you can't have 25% of your assets starting underperforming. You just can't. You don't need a 330 pound lineman, but you have got to have a guy that can produce at the position.

It's refreshing to see some references that infer we're actually going to upgrade the position. I'd sign the best vet I could get, and draft another as depth. Brandon Mebane was a completely underrated piece of that Seattle line in their strange 4 man line where he was basically a 1T playing SDE.

We've built the OL, now it's time for the DL. We have 3 promising pieces already. Solidify the 1, and draft another quality interior DL that can play. Target the safety position, and get someone alongside Lee who isn't Jekyll and Hyde and this defense will be much improved in not only run, but pass defense as well.

Good post. I'd be happy if we drafted Buckner or dropped down a few and took Robinson.