Did The Dallas Cowboys Improve At Defensive Tackle?

[waving monkey]

[After an incredible rise from worst to first in 2016 that saw the Cowboys ride the backs of two outstanding rookie campaigns to 13-3 and a changing of the guard, we have to examine the roster. From 1 to 53, we only have one question?


Have the Dallas Cowboys improved?]

Today, we look at the big guys in the middle, what say you about the defensive tackle position?

Last Season:

link/http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2017...7-maliek-collins-cedric-thornton-stephen-paea

 

[waving monkey]

Not an insightful article but OK to review a position I like to think about,defensive tackle.
Thornton was a disappointment last year
Paea I think holds up two defenders better then Thornton.
Ivie is my pet cat but his not super talent like Collins. Maybe not this year.

I hope we can add that young strong disruptive D1 that frees up MCollins to terrorize QB's.

 

[xwalker]

[After an incredible rise from worst to first in 2016 that saw the Cowboys ride the backs of two outstanding rookie campaigns to 13-3 and a changing of the guard, we have to examine the roster. From 1 to 53, we only have one question?


Have the Dallas Cowboys improved?]

Today, we look at the big guys in the middle, what say you about the defensive tackle position?

Last Season:

link/http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2017...7-maliek-collins-cedric-thornton-stephen-paea

McClain was really good when healthy and rested; however he was often injured and slowed down as the season progressed.

They normally play a 3 man rotation with the 4th guy just getting a few snaps. The 3 are likely:
Collins
Paea
Crawford or Irving (The other will play DE)

Base: Collins Paea
Nickel: Collins Crawford/Irving
3 man line: Irving at NT

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

McClain was really good when healthy and rested; however he was often injured and slowed down as the season progressed.

They normally play a 3 man rotation with the 4th guy just getting a few snaps. The 3 are likely:
Collins
Paea
Crawford or Irving (The other will play DE)

Base: Collins Paea
Nickel: Collins Crawford/Irving
3 man line: Irving at NT

Yeah him being nonexistent in the second half was a big reason we ran all those 3 man fronts.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

There are so many line permutations

Irving Collins Crawford DLaw
Crawford Thornton Collins Tapper
Taco Paea Irving Mayowa
DLaw Thornton Irving Taco
Irving Collins Taco Tapper

and on and on.

 

[kiheikiwi]

I think the base front 4 will be Irving Paea Collins Taco
With Maybe DLaw starting for Irving during suspension. Paea, with Thornton backing up. Collins with Crawford backing up. And Taco, Mayowa and Tapper fighting for the RDE.... Taco, Tapper and Moore can also flip flop to LDE.
Will they go 10 deep on the front line ???

 

[jazzcat22]

There are so many line permutations

Irving Collins Crawford DLaw
Crawford Thornton Collins Tapper
Taco Paea Irving Mayowa
DLaw Thornton Irving Taco
Irving Collins Taco Tapper

and on and on.

And this has been the ongoing issue....they move them around too much in the name of flex or versatility. There all are good at several positions, and none are great at one position....put the majority at one positions and leave them, let them learn and become very good..
Then use only a few for multiple roles as the depth. They can still have enough for a rotation. But let them learn one position before anything else.

 

[JPostSam]

the d-line is the great unknown on this team.

i am excited about collins, tapper, and taco; they're the future.

d-law and irving can add a lot when they're not hurt or suspended. we need to see it for a full season.

i'm not expecting more than average performances from some combination of crawford, paea, thornton, mayowa, and moore.

 

[JohnsKey19]

The position definitely took a net loss in the McClain-Paea swap. The hope is Collins continues to improve, Crawford flourishes in a move back inside and Thorton has a better season.

 

[kiheikiwi]

The position definitely took a net loss in the McClain-Paea swap. The hope is Collins continues to improve, Crawford flourishes in a move back inside and Thorton has a better season.

Kinda agree - but not totally.
This is the Missouri group - the "Show me state". I feel Paea is a free agent pickup that will really help this front line - "Strong like bull" comes to mind. He's another one of those reclamation players. Good with Marranelli in Chicago, then lost his way a little, reunited and chance to gain back what he used to be. Thornton and him should both have better seasons this year, at the 1-tech. My hope is Crawford is now permanently left at backup 3-tech. We have enough depth at D-end that he should not have to shift back and forth, and playing lesser downs should help his body hold up.
Show me !

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

The position definitely took a net loss in the McClain-Paea swap. The hope is Collins continues to improve, Crawford flourishes in a move back inside and Thorton has a better season.

Won't know until season starts and we see what Paea brings.

 

[dallasdave]

Not an insightful article but OK to review a position I like to think about,defensive tackle.
Thornton was a disappointment last year
Paea I think holds up two defenders better then Thornton.
Ivie is my pet cat but his not super talent like Collins. Maybe not this year.

I hope we can add that young strong disruptive D1 that frees up MCollins to terrorize QB's.

Collins is going to be a good one !!!

 

[plasticman]

The Cowboys rode on three sensational rookie seasons.

Maliek Collins had a great rookie year at DT and he is going to be far improved this season. For that reason alone the Cowboy will be better on the D-line. Last season he had a sack in three of his last five games. For a DT, that's a pretty good clip.

Maliek is only the 15th rookie DT since 2000 to record 5 sacks or more. Eight of those guys were a top 10 overall pick in the draft, all but three, including Maliek, were drafted in the top two rounds.

And Maliek was in a rotation.......

Maliek presence was a significant part of the Cowboy's defense's ability to contain the running game. Poor Maliek, we would all be going nuts about his potential if our time wasn't already occupied discussing other two guys in his draft class. LOL, and this offseason we have post after post discussing the nerve of another guy in the same draft who hasn't played a single down.

C'mon guys, how about a little love for big #96!!!

Yeah, he's a 300 LB mass of mayhem, but he has feelings too, what do you say?

Here's to you, "Forgotten Overlooked In-the Trenches Man".....

.

 

[Trouty]

The Cowboys rode on three sensational rookie seasons.

Maliek Collins had a great rookie year at DT and he is going to be far improved this season. For that reason alone the Cowboy will be better on the D-line. Last season he had a sack in three of his last five games. For a DT, that's a pretty good clip.

Maliek is only the 15th rookie DT since 2000 to record 5 sacks or more. Eight of those guys were a top 10 overall pick in the draft, all but three, including Maliek, were for drafted in the top two rounds.

And Maliek was in a rotation.......

Maliek presence was a significant part of the Cowboy's defense's ability to contain the running game. Poor Maliek, we would all be going nuts about his potential if our time wasn't already occupied discussing other two guys in his draft class. LOL, and this offseason we have post after post discussing the nerve of another guy in the same draft who hasn't played a single down.

C'mon guys, how about a little love for big #96!!!

Yeah, he's a 300 LB mass of mayhem, but he has feelings too, what do you say?

Here's to you, "Forgotten Overlooked In-the Trenches Man".....

.

To be fair, a lot of folks here have a lot of love for MCollins, PlasticMan

 

[dallasdave]

To be fair, a lot of folks here have a lot of love for Collins, PlasticMan

Lots of Love

 

[CF74]

Still bummed like 8 years and counting we didn't draft a nasty 1-Tech, Prende La Vela Paea revives his career under Marinelli.. Or Thornton takes 3 steps fwd.. Collins with 8 sacks in 2017/18 Postseason....

 

[plasticman]

To be fair, a lot of folks here have a lot of love for MCollins, PlasticMan

Oh, I know, I was just being melodramatic.

This is a great time to be a Cowboy fan. I have seen the rise of great Cowboy teams and one thing they all had in common was the unexpected emergence of great young players. They may not have been the primary stars but they played a significant role.

Many of them were 3rd round picks like Harvey Martin, Mark Stepnoski, Erik Williams, Danny White, Charlie Waters, Tony Hill, Bob Brueinig, Butch Johnson, Jimmy Jones and, of course, Jason Written.

I see potential greatness in this team and predict at least two rings in the next five years.

 

[Kaiser]

Won't know until season starts and we see what Paea brings.

Collins will be significantly better than last year and Paea is a wildcard like you say. But the real wildcard is whether Tyrone Crawford is healthy. If he is and Collins plays 1T, this could be a very good DT rotation with those two, Paea and Thornton.

 

[kiheikiwi]

Collins will be significantly better than last year and Paea is a wildcard like you say. But the real wildcard is whether Tyrone Crawford is healthy. If he is and Collins plays 1T, this could be a very good DT rotation with those two, Paea and Thornton.

I hate to rain on every bodies parade - including my own. But if you look at my earlier posts I was talking about how I hoped Crawford could just stay at the backup 3-tech spot with/behind Collins. (For all the usual reasons, Health, constant position changes, not really a DT body etc)
Then I was reading Broaddus's Twitter feed on the mothership this morning - somebody asked if Crawford could get us anything in a trade as a DT, if Thornton, Collins, Paea were all playing well.
Broaddus replied that Crawford has been playing LDE all thru mini-camp !
MY hope is this is just the same as the O-linemen in minicamp playing other positions so they are not learning when the pads come on. But I hope with a Irving suspension, the plan is not to play Crawford there, then switch him back to DT when Irving returns : (

 

[xwalker]

I hate to rain on every bodies parade - including my own. But if you look at my earlier posts I was talking about how I hoped Crawford could just stay at the backup 3-tech spot with/behind Collins. (For all the usual reasons, Health, constant position changes, not really a DT body etc)
Then I was reading Broaddus's Twitter feed on the mothership this morning - somebody asked if Crawford could get us anything in a trade as a DT, if Thornton, Collins, Paea were all playing well.
Broaddus replied that Crawford has been playing LDE all thru mini-camp !
MY hope is this is just the same as the O-linemen in minicamp playing other positions so they are not learning when the pads come on. But I hope with a Irving suspension, the plan is not to play Crawford there, then switch him back to DT when Irving returns : (

I don't like the idea of starting Crawford at 1 position and then switching him during the season. They've done this 2 or 3 times with him already. A player like Crawford needs to get their body right for one or the other. He wants to be light for LDE and heavy for 3-tech. Adding or dropping weight during the season is not the same as doing it during the offseason.

I'm not referring to playing LDE with a few snaps per game at 3-tech or vise-versa. I'm referring to the position where he plays 80+ percent of his snaps.