How can the Cowboys fix the defense?

[L-O-Jete]

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.

I love how a guy who "plays like Suh but without the stupid penalties" will be available in the middle of the 1st...

 

[khiladi]

You want to fix the defense... Let the offense fly..

 

[xwalker]

you forgetting that dallas is over the cap 30 mil? Dallas doesnt have alot of contracts left that they can restructure to free up that kind of money. Even Stephen jones admitted already with hatchers situation that they are going to be limited in what they can do this yr.

http://cowboyszone.com/threads/salary-cap-calculations-for-2014.277073/

 

[Idgit]

Love this thread, and I've been avoiding posting in it because I'm sort of at a loss as to how to address the defensive problems.

We need an offseason DL overhaul, but with our cap and with Ware apparently losing three of the four wheels on his wagon in a span of, what, 18 months, it puts us in a terrible spot. This is a DL that needs Crawford back, a top draft pick, and probably a significant FA signing to replace the loss of Ratliff, Spencer, and, now, effectively, Demarcus Ware. Maybe one of those spots get filled adequately on a creative deal for Anthony Spencer coming off an injury (a risk in itself, given the injury). Crawford takes over Hatch's 3-technique spot, and is a downgrade. Fill one of the DE spots or pick up another 3-tech in the first round of the draft. Add a veteran DL who can get upfield (probably at DE again...I like the idea of Jared Allen, if it's even possible to afford him on a significant two year deal). With all that done, we'd still be losing Hatcher and Ware from an already bad line. I'm not sure it represents much short-term improvement.

We can't depend on Bruce Carter. I don't know what his issue is...he looked like a developing star at times last season, but has been lost and disinterested this season. I don't even want guys who look like that on the team, much less starting. So we need a Will, we need a backup Mike who can stay on the field. I'd probably use the second rounder to address the Will again, cut or trade Carter, and fill both his spot and Sims' spot on the roster with a couple street veterans or hope a player like Holloman can develop (only concerned about the injury to Holloman, otherwise, I'd be pretty happy with him as an option off our bench).

I go back and forth on Safety. I think we need to consider adding one with range in FA, but again, that depends on the actual situation with the salary cap, and I don't think we have a good read on what that actually is prior to the team options being triggered.

I disagree with most that Heath can't play in this league. I think he needs to get better with recognition, and a lot stronger, but he's got range and he appears to be smart and usually in position. A half-step quicker and 10 pounds of muscle heavier, and he's a guy who can give you meaningful snaps. He's also got a nose for the ball, which is so important.

Scheme wise, I'm not a fan of Kiffin's. I much prefer to the 4-3 to the 3-4, but I can't stand the two-deep zone, and I don't understand why--even with Mo out--we're playing so much zone, and why we're not blitzing more to get pressure.

As far as what I'd do immediately, assuming Claiborne is back (which might be a bad assumption), and even if he's not now that Moore's had a few weeks to get back into football shape, I'd play press coverage wherever I could. I think Barry Church might be our best LB right now this side of Sean Lee; I'd play more dime coverage with him at LB. I'd blitz Carter and Church and, with Mo on the outside, Scandrick off the slot more often. Not ridiculously often, but we can't generate sufficient pressure with the DL, so we have to blitz. There's not much else we can do. We need to capitalize on turnovers, which we do a good job of. We've got to risk more big plays downfield in the hopes of getting some third down stops, or we won't be able to stop Foles, or maybe even Cousins. Somehow, we've got to be able to get off the field on third downs, and I think we've seen enough to know for sure we can't do it playing zone and relying on Ware and Hatcher to get there with any consistency.

That said...and this will receive some howls, I'm sure...as pathetically as the defense performed on third downs on Monday, had we caught the balls we had our hands on, that game would have been a lot closer. This includes Scandrick's ball in the end zone, and the one Carter almost made the amazing grab on as well as Carr's obvious holding penalty. That's not an ifs-and-buts type of thing, just making the point that this defense is predicated on taking the ball away. We're going to give up huge yardage, and the third down efficiency is a major problem, but the turnovers do so much to even out a game, and it's a big part of what got us beat on Monday. Defensive turnovers can still play a big role in keeping us in the next three games if we're in position to get them, even with the obvious problems with both pressure and coverage.

 

[TrailBlazer]

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.

31mil over the cap. Is this even realistic? Wouldn't this make out cap situation worse? How could we sign all these high priced free agents.?

 

[xwalker]

31mil over the cap. Is this even realistic? Wouldn't this make out cap situation worse? How could we sign all these high priced free agents.?

http://cowboyszone.com/threads/salary-cap-calculations-for-2014.277073/

 

[maxdallasfan]

We need to spend every draft pick on DL. Seriously. A good DL makes the LB's and Secondary so much better.

 

[The Natural]

Go draft some phsyical football players that like putting it on somebody. Too many soft/finesse football players at every level of this defense.

 

[jterrell]

XWalker:
I really appreciate you always looking forward and ferreting out roster stuff.
It is entertaining and certainly fun.

But bro, you really should get better at it after practice.

Again, you can't start up about Ware's BASE salary because that is already gone.
We are OVER the cap. His BASE is a large part of how we get under.

Cutting him CREATES additional dead money and arguably our most critical need.

While I am open to all considerations you are not at all being realistic.
And EVERY year you undersell the depth of cap issues the team faces.

You love to assume we get under the cap then use the mechanisms for getting under the cap as monopoly money to spend again.

 

[Deep_South]

Some way, somehow, we have to replace Sims. It wouldn't be too soon to do this by Sunday.

 

[jterrell]

They are getting back 12.25M from cutting Ware and 5.5M from cutting Austin.

The first year of Brandon Carr's 50M contract had a 3.6M cap hit. That means that they could sign 3 players to 50M contracts (3x3.6=10.8) and have 0.325M remaining after cutting Ware. Those 3 players will not get 50M contracts each; therefore, it wouldn't be difficult to sign all of them.

No, they can't. Good lord man just stop.

Ware and Miles are means for getting under the cap.
If you cut Ware you gain 12.5million but eat 8.5... That's 4 million you create not 12.5...
Miles is owed 7.8m in dead money if we cut him. We just made 775k.

Please for the sake of all that is holy... math.

 

[jterrell]

fixing the defense

DE: Draftee (r1 or 2), Selvie
DT: Crawford, Bass
DT Hayden, Draftee(r2-4)
DE: Ware, Selvie

You resign Hatcher if he doesn't get rich offers and he may not at his age and if so you have enviable depth at least until injuries occur.
His family is very happy in North Texas.
Probably only competing with the Saints or Texans.

 

[Animosity]

an offense thats put pressure on the opposing teams defense..

but thats not possible wih tony romo