DMN: Gosselin: Cowboys can improve pass coverage without touching their secondary

[jobberone]

Gosselin: Cowboys can improve pass coverage without touching their secondary

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Staff Columnist
Published: 24 February 2015 07:32 PM

SportsDay columnist Rick "Goose" Gosselin hosted a chat Tuesday morning to talk everything sports. Here are some of the highlights:

Question: I have read fans posting about wanting to bring back Nick Hayden, George Selvie and Anthony Spencer. Do you agree with me that is no way to improve the weakest link? In addition if I need 16 million per year plus, you would let me walk right?

Gosselin: Agreed. Signing Hayden, Spencer, George Selvie, Carter, Durant and McClain would just maintain the status quo -- and status quo wasn't good enough last year. I think the Cowboys need to draft three defensive players who can walk in as starters this season to make the necessary improvements. Ideally, you'd like to get them in the first three rounds of the draft. Try to get better. The worse thyou can do is fall in love with mediocrity. Bring back one or two of the above mentioned holdover defenders but certainly not all of them.

Question: Is this the year that the Cowboys take a chance and bring aboard a veteran DB to plug a hole for a year? They have such a young secondary in general, experience might be a good thing. Who knows if Carr will still be with them come training camp. I know its never good to pay for age, but there will certainly be some experienced safeties/cornerbacks cut and available.

Gosselin: Again, let's see what the market bears. There will salary cap casualties of veteran players in March and April and you may find a DB willing to come here for a one-year contract. For all those who want to replace Carr, that sound simple enough -- except you'd have to replace him. He's the only size cornerback they have with the game sprinting toward size on the flank. And I thought he was stout against Jordy Nelson in the playoffs last season. Your best pass defense is your pass rush. Fix the pass rush and Carr, Scandrick and Claiborne will look a lot better than they have the last two seasons. They were being asked to cover receivers for 6-7 seconds in the second half of that Green Bay playoff game. Deion Sanders would have trouble staying with receivers for 6-7 seconds. With a pass rush, I believe you can get by with these current cornerbacks. That's the priority -- fix the pass rush.

Click here to read the full chat transcript


Gosselin: Unless Cowboys players are willing to take paycut to re-sign Murray, silence is golden

• Gosselin: What it would take for the Cowboys to draft a running back in Round 1

• Gosselin: Reasonable offer will bring back Rolando McClain if Cowboys want to

• Gosselin: Why ex-wideout Nate Orchard could be Cowboys' answer at defensive end

 

[Longboysfan]

Well this group was only brough in last year to work together. With Docorrodinator.
Yes. D line needs work and player improvement.

 

[jobberone]

Need a better pass rush but also pass defense. I think we have some players in the secondary to work with but I'd still like to bring some competition in particularly early in the draft but also FA.

 

[Doc50]

My kids would say "Duh-uh. OMG, Captain Obvious".

We would have been in the SB with a pass rush. Couldn't even challenge a lame QB in our last game.

 

[Stash]

Question:

I have read fans posting about wanting to bring back Nick Hayden, George Selvie and Anthony Spencer. Do you agree with me that is no way to improve the weakest link?

Gosselin: I think the Cowboys need to draft three defensive players who can walk in as starters this season to make the necessary improvements. Ideally, you'd like to get them in the first three rounds of the draft. Try to get better. The worse thyou can do is fall in love with mediocrity. Bring back one or two of the above mentioned holdover defenders but certainly not all of them.

I'd love to know which three players he feels can do that? It just doesn't happen! Point to the last one who walked into the league and tore it up out of the box?

Even the great JJ Watt, the best defensive lineman/player in the league only had 5.5 sacks as a rookie. Pass rushers just don't walk in and produce as rookies.

It's the team's biggest, most obvious, most glaring need, and it can't be fixed by bringing in a rookie, no matter how talented they are.

If you want to fix it this season, it's going to take nothing short of a proven veteran.

 

[Risen Star]

My kids would say "Duh-uh. OMG, Captain Obvious".

We would have been in the SB with a pass rush. Couldn't even challenge a lame QB in our last game.

Yep. Football 101, but you'd be surprised how many fans don't get it yet.

We need corners, bro. Stat.

 

[jazzcat22]

As we all know, now that Gosselin came up to speed with the rest of us. Man he is a bit slow.
well, anyway, we still need both, DL & DB.
But DL, fix the pass rush is THE priority. We can't say that enough. The AP to Dallas group & the Dez video gets more attention than this issue.
But we can still bring in some depth as DB's and future starters in the secondary.

 

[Idgit]

Not much to see here. The DL upgrades needed are obvious.

 

[Bullflop]

There's surely an element of truth in what Gosselin said but the situation with Mo and Carr could easily warrant paying attention to the secondary as well as the front seven. As always, much depends upon how the draft falls. It'd be fairly shocking if priority wasn't given to the d-line however. That's already been said plenty.

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

Did he just say the Cowboys need to draft 3 walk in day 1 starters on defense? So let me guess...If we do NOT draft 3 walk in day 1 starters on defense....Jerry is a terrible GM...this team cannot scout/draft....the draft is a bust!

I know MANY posters on this site have a problem with Gosselin....I really never paid him much attention...but it is statements like this that lead me to believe he has an agenda!

 

[Chuck 54]

Again, it's not all about sacks...it's about pressures. It's about a push up the middle as much as anything on the outside because it's about disrupting timing, moving the QB off his spot, making him wait for another window, etc.

If DLawrence improves and brings any sort of pressure in passing situations, we're immediately improved regardless of how many sacks he has. Crawford will be in year two of a new position, so he should be improved. Bring in even one DT who can push the pocket or one DE who adds to the pass rush in either free agency or the draft, then the pass rush will be greatly improved even if it isn't actually GREAT. I have confidence that DLaw and Crawford will be better, so now it's just a question of finding that 1 other player that improves the rotation and pass rush, if not two.

I also have no doubt whatsoever that we're going to bring in another DB or two through FA and the draft. The guys you bring in on defense up front and on the back end don't have to be the Best or even starters...they have to add to the pass defense, nickel, dime, rotation, depth.

Even at LB....some of us would love to see Carter--McClain--Lee out there, but Durant--Hidgens--Lee is good enough.

 

[Kaiser]

I'd love to know which three players he feels can do that? It just doesn't happen! Point to the last one who walked into the league and tore it up out of the box?

Even the great JJ Watt, the best defensive lineman/player in the league only had 5.5 sacks as a rookie. Pass rushers just don't walk in and produce as rookies.

Totally agree, that is what jumped off the page at me. Rookies taken in the first half of the first round can generally hold their own as starters but its crazy to say you can plug 3 picks from the first three rounds in as immediate starters on a playoff caliber team. You can always point to exceptions to the rule, but most 2nd and 3rd round picks need at least one season to develop before they start.

 

[Kaiser]

.but it is statements like this that lead me to believe he has an agenda!

You spelled "drinking problem" wrong.

 

[Dave_in-NC]

I'd like him to name any team ever in the NFL who drafted thee starting Dmen, who had an immediate impact.

 

[Stash]

Did he just say the Cowboys need to draft 3 walk in day 1 starters on defense? So let me guess...If we do NOT draft 3 walk in day 1 starters on defense....Jerry is a terrible GM...this team cannot scout/draft....the draft is a bust!

I know MANY posters on this site have a problem with Gosselin....I really never paid him much attention...but it is statements like this that lead me to believe he has an agenda!

More likely he just doesn't have a clue. All I see is a guy who jumps on whatever the topic of the week is and offers an ill-conceived, poorly thought-out opinion on it.

He may have been able to call around the league and get indicators of draft picks, but I see no other information or insight from the guy.

 

[Idgit]

Totally agree, that is what jumped off the page at me. Rookies taken in the first half of the first round can generally hold their own as starters but its crazy to say you can plug 3 picks from the first three rounds in as immediate starters on a playoff caliber team. You can always point to exceptions to the rule, but most 2nd and 3rd round picks need at least one season to develop before they start.

He probably should have said 'contributors.' We can reasonably get a couple of guys who work well in the DL rotation. Maybe we get lucky and a LB presents itself like it did last year.

If we're adding walk-on starters, they're mostly coming from VFA. The draft is necessary to improve the overall talent level and to get guys who will be leading the defense in 2-3 years and providing quality rotational depth before then. We'll get a first round starter and that's probably it for week 1 of 2015 unless we get lucky.

 

[Kaiser]

He probably should have said 'contributors.' We can reasonably get a couple of guys who work well in the DL rotation. Maybe we get lucky and a LB presents itself like it did last year.

Agree, a pick similar to DeMarcus Lawrence as a backup would still be a contributor. I'm thinking our picks are something like a DE and CB in the first three rounds, with the third pick out of the first three being a RB. All three would contribute as backups but not be plug in starters the way Goose seems to claiming.

 

[xwalker]

My kids would say "Duh-uh. OMG, Captain Obvious".

We would have been in the SB with a pass rush. Couldn't even challenge a lame QB in our last game.

The Dallas area could improve their reporting without hiring anybody new...sorry "Goose" you're fired.

 

[jobberone]

He probably should have said 'contributors.' We can reasonably get a couple of guys who work well in the DL rotation. Maybe we get lucky and a LB presents itself like it did last year.

If we're adding walk-on starters, they're mostly coming from VFA. The draft is necessary to improve the overall talent level and to get guys who will be leading the defense in 2-3 years and providing quality rotational depth before then. We'll get a first round starter and that's probably it for week 1 of 2015 unless we get lucky.

Agreed. Takes a premiere athlete to work really well at DE the first year. I wouldn't count on a first round starter but I suspect we'll get 1-3 draftees to give us significant snaps. Won't be a Dirty Dozen year obviously but if we get five contributors over the next three years I'll be happy.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Won't be a Dirty Dozen year

With a 7 round draft is that even possible any more?