Fish: Crawford is McCoys replacement

[CATCH17]

That's true, but he is going to have two second round picks behind him (2nd round grade on Gallimore) so they will limit his reps and we shouldn't wear down like before. I think Crawford will start the first series but mostly play on passing downs, with Hill or Gallimore getting most of the reps on run downs.

McCarthy seemed semi-impressed with Trysten Hill so there is that.

The guy does have the natural athleticism that few guys have.

 

[eromeopolk]

I'm guessing they'll still keep an eye on the final cut down.

https://www.si.com/nfl/cowboys/news...dt-in-wake-of-mccoy-injury-is-tyrone-crawford

The old unavailable is replaced by the old unreliable and unavailable. Jerry The Dumbo GM Jones at his best.

 

[quickccc]

So basically go back to where we were in 2019...hope hill come son strong

so basically we are back to 2016, when Crawford clearly showed he struggles to be a full time starting DT vs the run
and can't keep from being handled by the bigger interior blockers vs the run.
Such that the more inexperienced rookie DT Maliek Collins replaced him permanently in the starting lineup as the 3 tech.

If no other immediate vet help comes from off the street, and we really are going with that's already on the roster, then Cowboys
are gonna likely play it by ear to see how long, how much they can try to get away with starting lightweight Crawford before
they have to try out one of the rookies on a full time basis.

 

[quickccc]

McCarthy seemed semi-impressed with Trysten Hill so there is that.

The guy does have the natural athleticism that few guys have.

I've seen some tape that shows he also is surprisingly strong in his lower legs, i think he could have the lower power base to anchor vs the run, but then what about getting off blocks and locating the ball ?

 

[Sydla]

This shouldn't surprise anyone. The 3T is probably Crawford's best position and the one he most likely will have success at, but the problem is it seems foolish to bank on him staying healthy and productive. They are absolutely going to need Hill or Gallimore to flash or the 3T spot could be an issue.

Hopefully Tomsula can figure out how to get Hill to put it all together.

 

[Future]

So we have Poe and Woods at 1T,

And Crawford, Hill & Gallimore at 3T?

I realize the idea of the bigger space clogging dude in the middle.....that's definitely Poe, not so sure on Woods by looking at him or seeing his play. This didnt seem to be the teams philosophy so much of late.

Please comment on possible interchangeability of the other three.

Looking at it that way, it would seem to me that Gallimore and Hill project as similar players as far as position and will not fit a 43 base as dual starters. They, best case, will rotate with one another at the 3.

True?

This all sounds right to me.

Woods is a good 1T player when he's healthy. It's no coincidence that Dallas' worst run defense performances are when he's hurt.

 

[gimmesix]

LOL......Decent. Here we go with the "decent is good enough" people and "we will be fine" nonsense.

Umm ... I'd absolutely prefer to have McCoy, but we don't anymore. Decent is what we've got. I hope it will be good enough paired with Lawrence, Griffen, Aldon Smith and Poe.

 

[Stash]

I've seen some tape that shows he also is surprisingly strong in his lower legs, i think he could have the lower power base to anchor vs the run, but then what about getting off blocks and locating the ball ?

Good point.

From everything I've seen and read, awareness is his biggest weakness. He doesn't really know what's happening around him and relies solely on athleticism to carry him. Akin to a dog chasing cars out on the field and running somewhere as fast as he can with little rhyme or reason. Going fast, either toward the play or away from the play. Guessing.

 

[cern]

crawford coming off two hip surgeries. can't see him being able to sustain the physical play needed in the middle. release him, save the money, and possibly use it for obtaining another tackle.

 

[gimmesix]

McCarthy seemed semi-impressed with Trysten Hill so there is that.

The guy does have the natural athleticism that few guys have.

Hopefully, he's found that initial quickness that he seemed to lose last year when his head was likely swimming. He can be coached to keep leverage and keep his body squared so that he doesn't get turned and redirected by offensive linemen, but that initial pop is his edge. If he can get into the gap, he could be hard to control because of his size and strength.

Of course, some of the same could be said of Gallimore.

The one thing that concerns me about Hill is that he doesn't have a natural nose for the ball. Watching his college tape, you could see that he'd burst upfield and have absolutely no idea what the offense was doing. He might run right by the play in his effort to get upfield. Just getting upfield, though, would be good right now since he didn't do that hardly at all last year in his few snaps.

 

[quickccc]

McCoy's a better run defender and better pressure player. How much better at this point in his career I don't know.

Crawford gets a bum rap around here. He's a decent starting 3-tech, just not a great one. I don't think McCoy would have necessarily been great, just better. Would love to see one of the 300-plus-pound young players step up and seize some snaps, but they both have a lot to learn and we'll get mistakes as well as maybe flashes of good play. Crawford is a smart veteran who isn't going to make many mistakes while making a few plays here and there.

Even if " decent starting 3 tech " means you're getting stamp to the ground..? .. (ala vs Giants in 2016 opener) - which led to his replacement with a rookie DT from Nebraska?
Crawford is not getting a bad rap, he was just getting exposed.

- At 285 pounds, he's too light to stand up full time vs run. That's why he was eventually replaced by Collins in the starting lineup.
And he's not one that plays stronger than what his size suggests.
We did not have anything else to offer at RDE starting role with FA vet Jack Crawford not happening and
Gregory's underdevelopment and constant suspensions in place so
of course he was placed as a starter RDE.

- And add to that, i'd wonder that an aging 31 year old lightweight that has had battling injuries such as shoulder
and double hip surgery-related... is gonna be that much more exposed and vulnerable vs the run- as a full time starting 3 tech.

- And probably where you should have suggested " decent" is as a rotational nickel interior rusher.
He hasn't last even at DE, with all the wear and tear toll and pounding at starting DE, so I don't expect him to last near
as long, not near as much as a starting 3 tech DT.

I can only see starting out with the experienced vet Crawford, see how long he sustains, while implementing
youthful Hill and Gallimore in rotations. See if one of them can be risked as a starter.
Much in the way the team had to turn to Collins as a full time starter and evaluate their responses

 

[Kaiser]

I heard an interview with him years ago and he said how tough it was playing inside. He would get beat up by the Center, Guard, and Tackle. He said he preferred playing End.

Plus the team needed him at DE. In 2016 and 2017 he switched because the other option was guys like Jack Crawford, Kyle Wilber or Benson Mayowa.

In 2018 they finally got some snaps from Randy Gregory and drafted some DEs, Dorance Armstrong and Taco somebody.

Part of Crawford at DE was to keep him healthy, but some of it was that he was the best of a bad lot.

 

[Kaiser]

I wouldn't say that. Obvioiusly losing McCoy hurts, but the Cowboys still made notable upgrades to the other DT spot and to RDE.

Big time, Poe with Woods backing him up is a big improvement over Woods/Covington. And Griffen is a huge improvement on defense over Quinn.

 

[quickccc]

This all sounds right to me.

Woods is a good 1T player when he's healthy. It's no coincidence that Dallas' worst run defense performances are when he's hurt.

especially when Woods' replacement (Cris Covington) was pure crap as well, ..

 

[gimmesix]

Even if " decent starting 3 tech " means you're getting stamp to the ground..? .. (ala vs Giants in 2016 opener) - which led to his replacement with a rookie DT from Nebraska?
Crawford is not getting a bad rap, he was just getting exposed.

I could be mistaken in my memory, but he was not replaced by Collins. He was moved to DE because he was needed there. He has started almost every game he has played in after his rookie season and up until last year when he started 2 of 4 before going on IR. That's 15 of 15 starts in 2014, 16 of 16 in 2015, 14 of 14 in 2016, 14 of 16 in 2017 and 15 of 15 in 2018. I'm not sure where all the concerns about injuries come from, outside of missing all of 2013, he's been pretty durable. And again, he's been decent. That means he's going to be stamped to the ground at times by physically superior players. It means he's won some battles and he's lost some. Some of you act like he loses on every snap or that he's constantly out of position. He's averaged 3 to 5.5 sacks every year as a starter; not every rotational DL can say that.

Now again, that doesn't mean that I wouldn't like better than decent, but that's what we've got until proven otherwise.

 

[gimmesix]

Big time, Poe with Woods backing him up is a big improvement over Woods/Covington. And Griffen is a huge improvement on defense over Quinn.

That's why I expect improvement anyway. There's really not much difference between Maliek Collins and Crawford as starters, but we improved the 1-tech spot and we improved RDE.

Collins' highs are 5 sacks (2016), 23 combined tackles (2016), 13 QB hits (2016) and 6 TFLs (2019). Crawford's highs are 5.5 sacks (2018 as RDE, but he had 5 in 2015 as LDT), 35 combined tackles (as LDT in 2015), 14 QB hits (as RDT in 2014), and 8 TFLs (2016 as LDE, but he had 7 in 2015 as LDT). And note that Collins did play in all 16 games the years he posted those stats (albeit through injury some), while some of Crawford's highs came during years in which he did not play all 16 games.

 

[quickccc]

I could be mistaken in my memory, but he was not replaced by Collins. He was moved to DE because he was needed there. He has started almost every game he has played in after his rookie season and up until last year when he started 2 of 4 before going on IR.

That's 15 of 15 starts in 2014, 16 of 16 in 2015, 14 of 14 in 2016, 14 of 16 in 2017 and 15 of 15 in 2018. I'm not sure where all the concerns about injuries come from, outside of missing all of 2013, he's been pretty durable. And again, he's been decent. That means he's going to be stamped to the ground at times by physically superior players. It means he's won some battles and he's lost some. Some of you act like he loses on every snap or that he's constantly out of position. He's averaged 3 to 5.5 sacks every year as a starter; not every rotational DL can say that.

Now again, that doesn't mean that I wouldn't like better than decent, but that's what we've got until proven otherwise.

how many sacks he has had at DE and how many has he had as an interior DT ?
He was starting at 3 tech DT vs Giants in the 2016 opener when the Giants and their mediocre backs were abusing us
up the middle with him struggling vs the run. If you have access to full game length vids you could see how badly he was
giving up gash yards because he could not hold down vs run.

Cowboys thought they settled two birds with one stone - with moving Collins in as the starting 3 tech while
having Crawford fill in as a starter at DE, ..as i mentioned before, there just wasn't much to offer at the RDE starting role
with likes of Jack Crawford, and Randy being unprepared ...and unavailable (ala suspensions)

And you can only get by on " decent" as a starter for long before you are eventually exposed, especially if you are in
one of the more prominent demanding roles. Maliek Collins wasn't a grand run stuffer himself but he was better than what
Crawford had to offer.

 

[Fredbeard]

Crawford can't handle it.

He's not sturdy enough to play inside.

At best you can bring him in on pass downs.

I think Crawford even said he didnt like playing dt because it was hard on his body

 

[Fredbeard]

Why not sign someone like Corey liuget?

 

[OmerV]

That's why I expect improvement anyway. There's really not much difference between Maliek Collins and Crawford as starters, but we improved the 1-tech spot and we improved RDE.

Collins' highs are 5 sacks (2016), 23 combined tackles (2016), 13 QB hits (2016) and 6 TFLs (2019). Crawford's highs are 5.5 sacks (2018 as RDE, but he had 5 in 2015 as LDT), 35 combined tackles (as LDT in 2015), 14 QB hits (as RDT in 2014), and 8 TFLs (2016 as LDE, but he had 7 in 2015 as LDT). And note that Collins did play in all 16 games the years he posted those stats (albeit through injury some), while some of Crawford's highs came during years in which he did not play all 16 games.

Hopefully Gallimore can add a little something rather than rely solely on Crawford.