How can the Cowboys fix the defense?

[xwalker]

There are dozens of threads about Jerry, Garrett, Kiffin, etc.

This thread is just about players and upgrading the talent.

Despite the reports of impending doom, calculations show that they can be under the cap with room to spare in 2014. Adding free agents is really more about future cap years than an inability to make room in 2014.

Dline:
Hatcher is a free agent and age 32 before the season starts. Can they find a younger replacement?

Ware is on the decline and will be 32. Can they use his 12.25M base salary more effectively on younger free agents?

Spencer would only be an option, IMO, on a very low cost 1-year contract.

Hayden would be a good backup, but they need more pressure from the 1-tech than he can provide as a starter.

They might get 1 or 2 immediate contributors from the draft.

Free Agents:
Linval Joseph 6-4, 323, age 25, not a sack machine but both bigger and quicker than Hayden as a 1-tech

Michael Bennett 6-4, 274, age 28, having a good season despite only starting 3 games. Will be looking for a starting job because the starting D-Ends are set in Seattle.

Henry Melton 6-3, 295, age 27, season ending knee injury in 2013. Chicago has a large number of free agents.

Greg Hardy 6-4, 290, age 25, probably gets franchised or re-signed.

Lamar Houston 6-3, 300, age 26, would he be better as a 3-tech DT?

Arthur Jones 6-3, 315, age 27

LB:
Lee is great but can’t stay healthy. They need a better backup than Ernie Sims.

Carter has the ability, but appears to be a slow learner.

Wilber seems to be doing a decent job at SLB.

Holloman has exciting upside, especially in coverage. His neck injury is a concern.

Durant and Sims could be upgraded.

Draft: Maybe.

Free Agent: Doubtful

Safety:
Church would be an ok starter on a defense loaded with talented player around him; however, he is not good enough to carry the load with the problems that surround him.

Wilcox has good upside but how long does it take for it to all come together for him?

Heath has good upside and is getting good experience; however, he is in over his head this season.

Matt Johnson can’t stay healthy. Anything he contributes is a bonus at this point.

A Safety in the draft is a possibility, but do they really need more inexperienced players at this position?

Free Agents:
Jairus Byrd is the top free agent, but he wants big money. Age 27.

T.J. Ward is another free agent. Age 26.

CB:
Carr appears to be trying to do too much.

Scandrick has been good for the most part, but struggles with the really big WRs.

Claiborne has not lived up to his draft status but when healthy, is a much better 3rd CB than Webb or Sterling Moore. The team is much better with Scandrick in the slot.

Webb is in over his head this season. Lack of size limits his upside.

They really need a big CB in the mix that can help against the abundance of big WRs in the league.

It seems unlikely that they would draft a CB in the top 3 rounds due to other needs.

Free Agents:

Charles Tillman is a big CB that might be affordable due to his age (32). He had 3 forced fumbles in 8 games this year and 10 FF last season.

Aqib Talib is another big physical CB, but at age 27 will be expensive.

Brandon Browner is a really big (6-4, 221) CB, but he is facing a possible 1-year suspension.

Walter Thurmond is another Seahawks CB. He is currently suspended for 4 games.

 

[xwalker]

My plan:

Cut Ware and use the money on free agents.

LDE: Michael Bennett

DT1-tech: Linval Joseph

DT3-tech: Henry Melton

RDE: Draft Pick/Selvie

Rotation DT: Draft pick

WLB: Carter

MLB: Lee (can Carter be the backup if Holloman is pushing Carter at WLB?)

SLB: Wilber/Holloman

S1: Church

S2: Heath/Wilcox

CB1: Carr

CB2: Charles Tillman

CB3: Scandrick

CB4: Claiborne

Options: Replace 1 of the free agents with a free agent Safety like Jairus Byrd or T.J.Ward.

 

[65fastback2plus2]

you could set out 11 sled dummies instead of players...should improve it dramatically

 

[TTexasTT]

I think the problems start with the D-line. I dont see why everyone is riding on Marinillis jock.

I think that our CBs can play but not when there is no pressure on the QB.

 

[Falcon554]

Wont happen we know it, they will start running 4 TE and draft 2 more TE because we were told the DL is in great shape!!!

 

[hsfolk]

go back to the 3-4 worked best w/ Cowboys personnel

 

[StarBoyz83]

Cant fix it this offseason.

 

[speedkilz88]

I don't think they like MartyB's brother. Didn't want him as a udfa or after he was released by Seattle after his first season. I don't think he's a RKG.

 

[Future]

So you don't see Crawford or Bass in the plans at all?

And I honestly hope Holloman takes over for Carter. He is a pansy

 

[Mr Cowboy]

have a plan is the first thing, they showed a graphic on one of the Seahawks game that showed that they signed 5 defensive players, all big time contributors, including Bennett for a grand total of less that $6 million on their cap.

we spent $50 million on a CB that is not living up to the price, gave an aging DL a huge contract and watch him help beat us last night.

 

[DandyDon1722]

So you don't see Crawford or Bass in the plans at all?

And I honestly hope Holloman takes over for Carter. He is a pansy

Exactly! What happened to Crawford. They had high hopes for him. He'll be back.

 

[cowboys1981]

Get

DT Linval Joseph. He pushes the line and forces QB's to move into the arms of DE. If we can get him without having to cut Ware, it would be good.

DE Jared Allen. IMO we may be able to get him on a 2 yr deal. He's up in age, but he's effective and durable.

If Joseph deal doesn't pan out we need to pursue DT Kevin Williams.

I'd Slide Crawford into Hatcher's spot and let him test FA

Draft
DT Ra'Shede Hageman and
DE Kony Ealy.
S LaMarcus Joyner

Within first four rounds.

Move Church to WLB and have Wilber, Holloman and Carter battle for SLB.

Dline:
Ware, Joseph, Crawford, Allen
Ealy, Hageman, Bass, Selvie

LB:
Church, Lee, Holloman
Bailey, Carter and Wilber

CB's:
Carr, Scandrick, Mo and FA

S's:
Joyner, Wilcox
Heath and Johnson- if healthy

 

[unionjack8]

My plan:

Cut Ware and use the money on free agents.

LDE: Michael Bennett

DT1-tech: Linval Joseph

DT3-tech: Henry Melton

RDE: Draft Pick/Selvie

Rotation DT: Draft pick

WLB: Carter

MLB: Lee (can Carter be the backup if Holloman is pushing Carter at WLB?)

SLB: Wilber/Holloman

S1: Church

S2: Heath/Wilcox

CB1: Carr

CB2: Charles Tillman

CB3: Scandrick

CB4: Claiborne

Options: Replace 1 of the free agents with a free agent Safety like Jairus Byrd or T.J.Ward.

So go after the LDE I wanted but a year too late. We should have not franchised spencer even if healthy ita a waste of money.
We won't go anywhere until we stop being a team run on sentimentality and not sound football decisions

 

[rpntex]

There are dozens of threads about Jerry, Garrett, Kiffin, etc.

This thread is just about players and upgrading the talent.

Despite the reports of impending doom, calculations show that they can be under the cap with room to spare in 2014. Adding free agents is really more about future cap years than an inability to make room in 2014.

Dline:
Hatcher is a free agent and age 32 before the season starts. Can they find a younger replacement?

Ware is on the decline and will be 32. Can they use his 12.25M base salary more effectively on younger free agents?

Spencer would only be an option, IMO, on a very low cost 1-year contract.

Hayden would be a good backup, but they need more pressure from the 1-tech than he can provide as a starter.

They might get 1 or 2 immediate contributors from the draft.

Free Agents:
Linval Joseph 6-4, 323, age 25, not a sack machine but both bigger and quicker than Hayden as a 1-tech

Michael Bennett 6-4, 274, age 28, having a good season despite only starting 3 games. Will be looking for a starting job because the starting D-Ends are set in Seattle.

Henry Melton 6-3, 295, age 27, season ending knee injury in 2013. Chicago has a large number of free agents.

Greg Hardy 6-4, 290, age 25, probably gets franchised or re-signed.

Lamar Houston 6-3, 300, age 26, would he be better as a 3-tech DT?

Arthur Jones 6-3, 315, age 27

LB:
Lee is great but can’t stay healthy. They need a better backup than Ernie Sims.

Carter has the ability, but appears to be a slow learner.

Wilber seems to be doing a decent job at SLB.

Holloman has exciting upside, especially in coverage. His neck injury is a concern.

Durant and Sims could be upgraded.

Draft: Maybe.

Free Agent: Doubtful

Safety:
Church would be an ok starter on a defense loaded with talented player around him; however, he is not good enough to carry the load with the problems that surround him.

Wilcox has good upside but how long does it take for it to all come together for him?

Heath has good upside and is getting good experience; however, he is in over his head this season.

Matt Johnson can’t stay healthy. Anything he contributes is a bonus at this point.

A Safety in the draft is a possibility, but do they really need more inexperienced players at this position?

Free Agents:
Jairus Byrd is the top free agent, but he wants big money. Age 27.

T.J. Ward is another free agent. Age 26.

CB:
Carr appears to be trying to do too much.

Scandrick has been good for the most part, but struggles with the really big WRs.

Claiborne has not lived up to his draft status but when healthy, is a much better 3rd CB than Webb or Sterling Moore. The team is much better with Scandrick in the slot.

Webb is in over his head this season. Lack of size limits his upside.

They really need a big CB in the mix that can help against the abundance of big WRs in the league.

It seems unlikely that they would draft a CB in the top 3 rounds due to other needs.

Free Agents:

Charles Tillman is a big CB that might be affordable due to his age (32). He had 3 forced fumbles in 8 games this year and 10 FF last season.

Aqib Talib is another big physical CB, but at age 27 will be expensive.

Brandon Browner is a really big (6-4, 221) CB, but he is facing a possible 1-year suspension.

Walter Thurmond is another Seahawks CB. He is currently suspended for 4 games.

Good thoughts.

I think resigning Spencer would be a doable thing that wouldn't break the bank. Just what IS the market for defensive players, with only a couple of good years, coming off of micro fracture surgery? I don't think his market value will be too high, which might make it easier for him to take a 1-year deal here. In any event, I think you'll see Dallas make a concerted pusj to resign either him or Hatcher. The other will be gone.

Also, I may have missed it, but I saw no mention of Crawford in your post. He's coming off an achilles injury (toughest injury for any athlete to come back from, with the exception of micro-fracture), but if he can, the hope is that he can solidify the 3-tech spot.

So we need to find a big (and I do mean literally BIG) nasty for the 1-technique in the draft or through free-agency, as well as some quality depth along the DL. I think a big improvement on the DL will result in a big improvement in the LB corp and secondary, without necessarily a huge change in personnel. I like Wilber at SLB, and I still think Lee will be one of the game's best and that he will eventually be healthy. The only question mark in mind (among the LBs) is whether or not Carter's football IQ will come anywhere close to his athletic ability. As for the secondary, I am intrigued about trying Claiborne at FS. His ball skills have always been good. Carr, Church, and Scandrick should be fine as well. We need depth there as well, just as we do along the line.

 

[MagicMan]

you could set out 11 sled dummies instead of players...should improve it dramatically

LOL, that would certainly reduce the defensive penalties, and maybe increase the IQ.

 

[xwalker]

Get

DT Linval Joseph. He pushes the line and forces QB's to move into the arms of DE. If we can get him without having to cut Ware, it would be good.

DE Jared Allen. IMO we may be able to get him on a 2 yr deal. He's up in age, but he's effective and durable.

If Joseph deal doesn't pan out we need to pursue DT Kevin Williams.

I'd Slide Crawford into Hatcher's spot and let him test FA

Draft
DT Ra'Shede Hageman and
DE Kony Ealy.
S LaMarcus Joyner

Within first four rounds.

Move Church to WLB and have Wilber, Holloman and Carter battle for SLB.

Dline:
Ware, Joseph, Crawford, Allen
Ealy, Hageman, Bass, Selvie

LB:
Church, Lee, Holloman
Bailey, Carter and Wilber

CB's:
Carr, Scandrick, Mo and FA

S's:
Joyner, Wilcox
Heath and Johnson- if healthy

Interesting plan.

I'm not gung-ho to sign older players, but if Jared Allen was available on a 1-year, 6M contract, it would be a consideration. I think Kevin Williams (age 34 before next season) is near retirement.

 

[davey999]

Go back to 3-4. Cannot rebuild whole DL.

 

[TheFinisher]

Yea I think a lot of people forgot about Crawford. I don't know if he'll be the solution at SDE but he was a pretty high pick and has upside, I'd be willing to roll with him next season.

I don't think Ware is going anywhere next year, he's not the same player but I'm hoping some of that is due to injuries this year and not just a total drop off in skill due to age. Crossing my fingers he can bounce back to some degree next season. Still wouldn't be a bad idea to add a mid round DE in the draft to round out our group.

The real question mark to me on the DL is DT. Hatcher probably walks and we're left with a bunch of journeymen. This is far and away our biggest need for talent upgrade in the draft. If a guy you like is sitting there in Round 1 you pull the trigger and call it a day.

Linebackers are pretty easy to find in this scheme. You hope Lee can stay healthy (don't have much choice) and Carter can rebound, but there should be ample opportunity in the mid rounds to find guys with upside. Florida State has a duo that's fantastic but there are are ton of rangy undersized LBs that fall in the draft every year that fit our D to a T.

Carr has not lived up to the contract we gave him and Claiborne has not lived up to the draft status but we've invested a lot so idk if you justify spending another premium resource this offseason. Gonna have to roll with them another year and hope Mo can figure it out.

Safety is another disaster. Jeff Heath?? Should be 1B need heading into offseason along with DT. Just not fielding NFL talent back there.

 

[neosapien23]

I would like see Dallas get much bigger and younger on the Dline this offseason. I think if the Dline was better everyone else of defense would look much better as well. I would like to see Dallas get big passrushers who really more on strength than speed to get to the quarterback. I also do not want to brink in Joseph or Bennett and would just rather draft players to fill these positions. I would also like Bass to get down to the 285 range and move back to strong side DE and have Crawford at 275 to compete with a draft pick as the weak side defensive end. Nevis, Hayden, and Selvie would be good rotational players but should not be expected to start. They have gotten exposed with the more teams have gotten tape on them. Then I would blow all top 4 picks on Dlinemen. Big DEs and big DTs that can get after it.

1st round Louis Nix NT Notre Dame. This guy is big and has surprising quickness. He plays like Suh but without the stupid penalties. If Dallas goes 8-8, he should be there.
2nd round Ray Drew DE Georgia. Very good size and speed ratio. Would rack up more sacks if he didn't play in a 3-4 but he still got six sacks so far.
3rd round Taylor Hart DE Oregon. Big DE who still gets to the QB. Got 8 sacks last year.
4th round Daniel McCullers NT Tennessee. A very big man who cannot be moved. Doesn't offer much in the passrush but his bull rush would give guards nightmares especially if Nix was next to him. The ideal run stuffer every defense needs.
5th round best available OLBer. I will not put someone here, because someone always falls on draft day. Dallas needs to take that person here instead of trying to be cute and taking some small school project.

This defense would be huge. It would overpower Olineman and give them fits. No one would be able to run and these monsters can still get to the QB. The best part is that if Dallas would go back to the 3-4, these players would still work. Drew would have to put on a little weight but he already plays in a 3-4. Hart would be a good DE in the 3-4. Nix would be a great NT and McCullers would serve as good depth in case of injury. Bass and Crawford could stay as DEs and would either start or provide excellent depth.

 

[Jenky]

Through the draft and not dick around getting another TE in the 2nd round.