Twitter: Mike McCarthy talks Cowboys Defensive Changes

[Stash]

From our perspective as outsiders, yes, it looks crazy but we all gravitate toward what we experienced success with in the past. So, I understand why this route would look appealing to him.

Garrett did. That's how we ended up with Kiffin and Marinelli. And we all know how that worked out...

 

[Stash]

im betting he does LIke Taco who was in the dog house with coaches needed a change of his environment to get some production from him.. TH will get coached up and hopefully has renewed attitude with the new staff..

if not well after year 3 he will be ion the bubble but he was rookie in a broken system , so a clean slate would be refreshing from fans..get passed it...

So the Cowboys blow two of their top three draft picks since 2017 and it's the fans' fault and they need to "get past it"? Oh brother...

 

[Reverend Conehead]

Hopefully this puts an end to the 3-4 nonsense

Yeah, it's hard for a team to switch to the 3 - 4. I remember a lot of bumps in the road when the team did it before.

 

[blueblood70]

So the Cowboys blow two of their top three draft picks since 2017 and it's the fans' fault and they need to "get past it"? Oh brother...

yes 2019 season is over, new staff inserted, clean slate , yes let it go until we see some actual games from the guy.. nothings blown until it is, all teams have failed draft picks weve seen number ONE #! overall picks be busts..if it were easy and all the pics worked out wed be in fantasy land because they dont..

like I said its a new era lets see how this new coaching staff handles players like TH before we keep harping on it..

 

[big dog cowboy]

And we all know how that worked out...

No kidding!

 

[McKDaddy]

Garrett did. That's how we ended up with Kiffin and Marinelli. And we all know how that worked out...

I agree with you, just saying i can understand the "why"

 

[Stash]

yes 2019 season is over, new staff inserted, clean slate , yes let it go until we see some actual games from the guy.. nothings blown until it is, all teams have failed draft picks weve seen number ONE #! overall picks be busts..if it were easy and all the pics worked out wed be in fantasy land because they dont..

like I said its a new era lets see how this new coaching staff handles players like TH before we keep harping on it..

You can "let it go" if you feel you have to. Nobody else does. We can handle bad news as well as good news and don;t have to cover our eyes when the team makes mistakes. The fact is that this team has gotten nothing from it's top 2017 and 2019 picks which has hurt them considerably. I'm not just going to forget about that fact.

 

[Stash]

I agree with you, just saying i can understand the "why"

Yeah, familiarity breeds contempt, from me anyway!

 

[xwalker]

So does this mean they will draft a S and Heath will be gone, finally.
Draft a true DT, and it means Crawford will be gone, no more moving him from DT to DE to DT to DE.
No more 1 tech / 3 tech BS. Can't draft the best players because he "does not fit" one or the other.
Can Harris / Linguist fix Awuzie and Jones (if kept) and other DB's to actually turn and look for the ball and get picks.
Will the Talking Head DLaw shut up and play.

Yes, this off season already far better and interesting than if Garrett was still around. As interest would be at a minimum.

This. I would be satisfied if we drafted 1 or 2 O linemen and focused the rest of the draft on the other side of the ball.

They should focus on adding talent, regardless of position.

If the Jones boys had told Will McClay to just draft the best players and had kept the coaching staff away from pressuring him to pick a need position (DL), McClay would not have drafted Taco or Hill.

Adding size at DT can often be done for a bargain in free agency. Last off-season the Saints signed DT M.Brown from the Pats for 5M per (3 years, 15M). That looked like a huge bargain when he was part of the brick wall that Zeke was hitting in that game.

DT Gerald McCoy played on a 1-year, 7M deal in 2019. He averaged playing 63% of the snaps which is a solid number for a starting DT.

If the BPA at #17 in the 2020 draft is an elite DL, great then the Cowboys should draft that player. If the BPA is a CB then draft that player. Even if the BPA is an OT that would be OK also. Tyron has not played more than 13 regular season games that past 4 seasons.

The other issue is that the 1st year with a new coaching staff makes it very difficult to evaluate "need" on the current roster. Some players will be better than expected with the new coaching staff and some will be worse than expected. Picking scheme specific players over players with a slightly higher draft grade often ends in failure (Taco over TJ Watt).

 

[blueblood70]

You can "let it go" if you feel you have to. Nobody else does. We can handle bad news as well as good news and don;t have to cover our eyes when the team makes mistakes. The fact is that this team has gotten nothing from it's top 2017 and 2019 picks which has hurt them considerably. I'm not just going to forget about that fact.

nice narrative I stand by my statement,

btw 2017 Taco may have been failure here but his attitude and mix with this staff vs his actual talent was more of the issue, he looks like a ok player but lets call him a mistake. however, awuzie, lewis, and woods are still contributors from that draft.

2018 seriously that a bust group? nearly the entire 7 rounds was a solid draft what we didnt get a HOF players so it doesnt fit your narrative? LVE, Cwill, Gallup, all starters at some point.. Covington, Schultz, Wilson and Armstrong are contributors..

2019 cant be judged as of yet IMO not enough time. Amari was essentially our #1, Pollard looks great, Conner was IR, and again too soon to judge.

a lot of these players are still in development, you can choose to say they all are busts as far as the overall drafts go but its not as bad as you are claiming..

 

[xwalker]

Hey, he was active on game day! Well, at least twice.

Hill was active for 7 games.

They played him at 1tech DT instead of the position they drafted him to play and the position he played in the preseason, 3tech DT.

 

[quickccc]

Just me, but if you look at the huge emphasis he placed on interceptions with the Packers, I'm thinking the #1 priority of his D will be stopping the run and forcing teams to pass 30+ times a game. This, of course, creates more opportunities for interceptions. So my guess, we'll see a huge change in our interior DLmen responsibility. Changes that have them focused on stopping the run, not worrying about sacks like under Marinelli. In other words, it wouldn't surprise me to see them go after the big 325+lb space-eating DT. If you think about this makes sense since our division has TWO young QBs ( Giants and Skins) who DO NOT wanna throw the ball 30+ times a game. Imagine playing the Giants and/or Skins and stopping their running game cold, forcing 30+ throws. Chances of turnover increase significantly ........

Great news hearing about the 4-3 scheme. Now we don’t have to be so pre-occupied with DLaw trying to learn a new position, ditto with the rest of the DL and LBs.

Every defense has a priority with stopping the run, but it’s a difference what they imagine they can do … and how they go about accomplishing that and succeeding with that.
Marinelli had a run stop priority too, but yet believed and devoted in his one gap shooting up field and slanting down the line, and never invested in top-notch big boys at the point of
attack run stoppers.
He didn’t want sheer size-girth and power determining the factor vs the run in the trenches, but more so based off quick- twitch movement.
The result was being out of position and teams flat out “out- physical “ us as Jerry termed it.

It would make sense to stay in a scheme that coaches think we can operate effectively now without forcing current players to have to take a year or two to adjust and master
- as we are in a win it all now mode ..vs two years adjustment period down the road.

This will also pay huge dividends to Robert Quinn (should we be able to re-sign him) as he could continue to work effectively in a scheme he succeeds best in.. vs a 3-4 scheme he struggled at Miami.
Some players are just more comfortable and natural in one scheme more than others.

 

[Doomsday101]

I hold a grudge, as I think the guy has lived long enough on past reputation. He might be yet another "good guy" but I think he and his outdated ways have hurt this team and held it back. Undeniably so in selecting Taco Charlton and (thus far) Trysten Hill.

Appears he has been hired as DL coach, so not sure he will have the same input on draft picks.

 

[Stash]

nice narrative I stand by my statement,

Truth is what it is. Hard truth that you clearly can't handle. I'll stand by that.

btw 2017 Taco may have been failure here but his attitude and mix with this staff vs his actual talent was more of the issue, he looks like a ok player but lets call him a mistake. however, awuzie, lewis, and woods are still contributors from that draft.

In terms of what the Cowboys did with their 2017 1st round pick, "mistake" is putting it mildly. And mentioning the other players being "contributors" doesn't change that one bit. Nice try at diversion.

2018 seriously that a bust group? nearly the entire 7 rounds was a solid draft what we didnt get a HOF players so it doesnt fit your narrative? LVE, Cwill, Gallup, all starters at some point.. Covington, Schultz, Wilson and Armstrong are contributors..

Never brought up, but clearly more diversion, attempted to soothe your wounds.

2019 cant be judged as of yet IMO not enough time. Amari was essentially our #1, Pollard looks great, Conner was IR, and again too soon to judge.

Again, more attempted diversion, I was specific in mentioning Charlton and Hill.

a lot of these players are still in development, you can choose to say they all are busts as far as the overall drafts go but its not as bad as you are claiming..

I'm not talking about "a lot of players", I'm talking about two busts, Charlton, and thus far, Hill.

Save the attempts to sugarcoat things or divert from what's actually being discussed in a vain effort to excuse every Cowboys mistake.

 

[quickccc]

Hill was active for 7 games.

They played him at 1tech DT instead of the position they drafted him to play and the position he played in the preseason, 3tech DT.

Likely because Antwuann Woods, the 1 tech starter was hurt a portion of the year, and DL needed the backup depth behind Chris Covington, while Maliek (who surprisingly had his first injury free season in a contract year) with the likes of Crawford (before he got hurt?) Kerry Hyder and later Michael Bennett mixed in the 3 tech nickel rotation.

BTW, I'm hearing McCarthy is interested in talking to holdover asst. DL coach Leon Lett, who dealt with the DTs.

 

[Stash]

Appears he has been hired as DL coach, so not sure he will have the same input on draft picks.

Sure hope not. But if memory severs, he was also "assistant head coach" while defensive line coach for Gruden in Tampa, so you know he held considerable weight and voice. Regardless, everyone looking at the change in Oakland is viewing it as a mistake and the guy who did a great job getting fired for "a guy that Gruden knows".

 

[blueblood70]

Truth is what it is. Hard truth that you clearly can't handle. I'll stand by that.



In terms of what the Cowboys did with their 2017 1st round pick, "mistake" is putting it mildly. And mentioning the other players being "contributors" doesn't change that one bit. Nice try at diversion.



Never brought up, but clearly more diversion, attempted to soothe your wounds.



Again, more attempted diversion, I was specific in mentioning Charlton and Hill.



I'm not talking about "a lot of players", I'm talking about two busts, Charlton, and thus far, Hill.

Save the attempts to sugarcoat things or divert from what's actually being discussed in a vain effort to excuse every Cowboys mistake.

nice use of the word diversion,

so many times to try and divert me from he real truth.. you sir are a pessimist and choose to call thes drafts busts before they play out..

have fun in that pond, I'm in the realists pond, no not the blinded homer pond but I look around the NFL and overall averages show we are simply right on par for how drafts work out across the league..

just because we are so inmate here with our players hangng on every snap etc etc doesnt change the fact that we are a pretty solid drafting team, some years we have more failures , some a lot of success.. I see our offense made up of nearly all draft picks and very high producing ones, we have some issues on defensive picks that need correcting but as team the DC do not get a ton of high priced FAs, so the drafts worked out pretty well..

new Staff maybe we finally have the same success on defense as we have on offense..
thats what I see.. time will tell..

 

[dfense]

@Rayman70 Bro, are you reading this? McCarthy just stated our D will stay with a 4 man front, in other words, a 4-3 defense. I'm sure we will add some elements of a 3-4 or 5-2 front, but overall, it will remain a 4 man front.

One thing that is being said that will change is bringing in much bigger DTs, which is what we have been asking for years since Marinelli was against and hurt us badly.

I don't think the DTs were bad against the run. The problem was they were crap at pass rushing so they could be blocked 1 on 1 which let teams double the ends at times which led to positive off tackle runs. Better penetrating DTs would be great, especially against the pass.

 

[Stash]

nice use of the word diversion,

so many times to try and divert me from he real truth.. you sir are a pessimist and choose to call thes drafts busts before they play out..

Taco Charlton is gone in case you hadn't noticed. Nothing left to "play out" there. And Hill couldn't even get on the field to this point.

have fun in that pond, I'm in the realists pond, no not the blinded homer pond but I look around the NFL and overall averages show we are simply right on par for how drafts work out across the league..

You're the blindest of homers. The self-inflicted ones, too fragile to admit it when anything goes wrong with their favorite team.

just because we are so inmate here with our players hangng on every snap etc etc doesnt change the fact that we are a pretty solid drafting team, some years we have more failures , some a lot of success.. I see our offense made up of nearly all draft picks and very high producing ones, we have some issues on defensive picks that need correcting but as team the DC do not get a ton of high priced FAs, so the drafts worked out pretty well..

We were drafting very well, but since 2017 we haven't. There's no sugarcoating or getting around the fact that totally missing on our 1st round pick - while passing up an All-Pro sack leader has seriously hurt this team. Or that despite the clear need, our top pick in 2019 couldn't even crack the active roster. Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.

new Staff maybe we finally have the same success on defense as we have on offense..
thats what I see.. time will tell..

That's something we can agree on.

 

[Stash]

I don't think the DTs were bad against the run. The problem was they were crap at pass rushing so they could be blocked 1 on 1 which let teams double the ends at times which led to positive off tackle runs. Better penetrating DTs would be great, especially against the pass.