I Do Not Get Why Dorance Armstrong is Starting at RDE

[xwalker]

The guy is slow vs Fowler and Sam Williams. I never liked him as a pick and think he is just a warm body. Why are we wasting time making him a starter and the key RDE spot to boot? Give those reps to Fowler & Williams.

Have you ever liked a player that did not have a great forty time?

Have you ever not liked a player that had a great forty time?

 

[erod]

The guy is slow vs Fowler and Sam Williams. I never liked him as a pick and think he is just a warm body. Why are we wasting time making him a starter and the key RDE spot to boot? Give those reps to Fowler & Williams.

First off, why cares who starts. It's irrelevant.

Sercond, Armstrong is the most complete of the 3 you mentioned by far. Fowler is a bust, and Williams is clueless right now.

 

[Jarntt]

It didn’t show up in playoffs for any of the run defenders on this team including Micah.

Well, Armstrong only played 28 snaps on defense and had 4 tackles, including 1 tackle for loss and also had a QB hit and a pass defensed. Not so bad

 

[AsthmaField]

Of the 3 RDE’s (Armstrong, Fowler, Williams), Armstrong is by far the better run defender of the 3. When Quinn is wanting to slow down the run game, Armstrong will be put in. When Quinn is thinking pass, then it’ll be either Williams or Fowler at RDE.

Armstrong may start the game but he’ll quickly give way to one of the other two in passing situations.

Honestly, it is pretty common sense, and who starts along the DL doesn’t really matter these days. They’re all going to rotate a ton. Quinn will also change formations often, so it is going to be a fool’s errand to try to figure out who a “starter” is.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

Quinn's call.....I trust him 100%

 

[jnday]

The guy is slow vs Fowler and Sam Williams. I never liked him as a pick and think he is just a warm body. Why are we wasting time making him a starter and the key RDE spot to boot? Give those reps to Fowler & Williams.

You can count the plays he has made since being drafted by the Cowboys one both hands. You are entirely correct about him being nothing more than a warm body. I would guess that he does nothing more than fill in to keep Williams fresh. He was cheap and they knew him, so he kept a roster spot for those reasons, nothing more.

 

[jnday]

Of the 3 RDE’s (Armstrong, Fowler, Williams), Armstrong is by far the better run defender of the 3. When Quinn is wanting to slow down the run game, Armstrong will be put in. When Quinn is thinking pass, then it’ll be either Williams or Fowler at RDE.

Armstrong may start the game but he’ll quickly give way to one of the other two in passing situations.

Honestly, it is pretty common sense, and who starts along the DL doesn’t really matter these days. They’re all going to rotate a ton. Quinn will also change formations often, so it is going to be a fool’s errand to try to figure out who a “starter” is.

It seemed like I recently read that Fowler has been less than impressive and that his spot on the roster was not secure. Have you ran across any info similar to that?

 

[AsthmaField]

It seemed like I recently read that Fowler has been less than impressive and that his spot on the roster was not secure. Have you ran across any info similar to that?

The only place I’ve read that is from fans here. I think there is absolutely zero chance that Fowler doesn’t make the 53. He has a lot of juice, which Quinn wants off the right defensive edge, and Fowler will provide (along with Williams).

IMO, I think it is nuts to think Fowler won’t make the cut.

 

[xwalker]

It seemed like I recently read that Fowler has been less than impressive and that his spot on the roster was not secure. Have you ran across any info similar to that?

No, Fowler has been the best pass rusher in camp not named Micah Parsons.

 

[CowboyRoy]

The guy is slow vs Fowler and Sam Williams. I never liked him as a pick and think he is just a warm body. Why are we wasting time making him a starter and the key RDE spot to boot? Give those reps to Fowler & Williams.

Better run defender. That simple.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Totally agree.

I feel the same way towards Connor McGovern and Tyler Biadasz both starting. Pure favoritism due to veteranship, yet they are not better than their younger backups.

 

[jterrell]

The guy is slow vs Fowler and Sam Williams. I never liked him as a pick and think he is just a warm body. Why are we wasting time making him a starter and the key RDE spot to boot? Give those reps to Fowler & Williams.

Because you play the run stopping players on first down.
Dorance was considerably better than Randy versus thew run and will be much, much better than Fowler or Sam.
Fowler and Sam will get reps including many of the most meaningful ones.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Armstrong isn't great, but he's an underrated player. I'll say it again, he's a Belichick-stye 34 OLB. You notice Belichick doesn't sign the flashy, pass rush-only OLBs --- he likes more stout guys who play with power and are assignment sound. That's Dorance. Never a star putting up the biggest sack numbers, but not a one-dimensional stat-chaser, either.

 

[KDM256]

I've always been skeptical on Armstrong. Kid was drafted out of Kansas with up and down production stat wise but I don't follow B12 football like that but the kid had good measurements and figured staff could develop a diamond in the rough. Armstrong had a perfect opportunity to take the bull by the horns especially with Gregory in and out of the mix for multiple seasons and could never overtake the position in my opinion.

Fast forward to a contract year in year 4 when its sink or swim, now we get 5 sacks in production. If I am being honest, I don't know what type of player this guy is and hope he steps up since Gregory gift wrapped him another perfect opportunity to become a household name and not a guy who shows effort during contract time.

 

[beware_d-ware]

He's like a #2.5 DE to me. Good run defender, adequate pass rusher, doesn't make Gregory type mistakes. But in a passing league, he doesn't have difference-making pass rush juice. He's both uninspiring as a starter and way too productive and well-rounded to ride a bench.

Having a #2.5 is workable when Micah Parsons takes so many snaps at DE. Parsons is the pass rusher that changes gameplans, and Armstrong is good enough to hold down the fort when #11 is out destroying at LB.

 

[thunderpimp91]

I dont get why anyone thinks Armstrong shouldn't start? Fowler has shown his entire career that he is a complementary piece and we need to temper expectations with Williams. Give him some time to ease into the league and put him in situations early where he is set up to succeed. All three should get some snaps, but both Fowler or Williams playing 40+ snaps per game would have this forum hating them by week 3.

 

[beware_d-ware]

Armstrong isn't great, but he's an underrated player. I'll say it again, he's a Belichick-stye 34 OLB. You notice Belichick doesn't sign the flashy, pass rush-only OLBs --- he likes more stout guys who play with power and are assignment sound. That's Dorance. Never a star putting up the biggest sack numbers, but not a one-dimensional stat-chaser, either.

Looking his stats up, I found a BTB article where they pointed out his missed tackle rate. Dorance missed 5% of his tackles, Gregory and Fowler both missed about 25%.

Belichick would like a dude like that.

 

[darthseinfeld]

The guy is slow vs Fowler and Sam Williams. I never liked him as a pick and think he is just a warm body. Why are we wasting time making him a starter and the key RDE spot to boot? Give those reps to Fowler & Williams.

He is better or at least equal to Fowler. He may start, but I would be surprised if he gets more than 500- 550 snaps this year. Parsons and Williams will have him on the bench for alot of 3rd downs

 

[CWR]

Armstrong is a solid DE, at least he was last year. I'm sure Williams will work his way into the starting line up eventually.

 

[exciter]

The guy is slow vs Fowler and Sam Williams. I never liked him as a pick and think he is just a warm body. Why are we wasting time making him a starter and the key RDE spot to boot? Give those reps to Fowler & Williams.

Lawrence put up 14 and 10 sacks playing the 7/9 technique from the left side, with Crawford playing the 5 a couple years back. Lawrence moved to the 5 (without complaint) because Griffin and Gregory weren’t exactly suitable. Lawrence may have have asked to revert back as part of his restructure. Armstrong primarily functioned as his backup and is most suitable player for the role ( run capable) along with Ghoulston. Fowler is a proven JAG and Williams needs some development. My theory anyway!