Optimistic about our D

[Batman1980]

Teams w/ top 5 D's understand that up the middle is the most important on D, and that you will not have a super bowl caliber D w/o a dominant DL, and you will not have a dominant DL playing 3 techs out of position.

The play starts at the ball and when you can disrupt the other team's ability to hold the ball in a clean pocket for a pass or a hand-off, you're already one leg up. This is such a simple concept a 5 year old could grasp it. Shame Jerry can't.

 

[Flamma]

I'm optimistic about our D this year too. More so than I can remember. But they're going to have to be good this year for any level of success. We can't keep hiding them. We can't expect the offense to keep scoring just to keep up like those many years with Romo. It's probably not going to work this season.

 

[StarBoyz83]

Just hoping the d is above average. Hopefully they can turn a corner.

 

[ShiningStar]

Just hoping the d is above average. Hopefully they can turn a corner.

regardless where one sits, i think we are ALL hoping for this.

 

[StarBoyz83]

regardless where one sits, i think we are ALL hoping for this.

I'm sure were all tired of having a poor defense after all these years.

 

[buybuydandavis]

And if Lee makes that much difference, we have a poorly constructed D.

I'd say that for most any defensive player, but not Lee. He doesn't just diagnose the play for himself, he does it for those around him too. They get the advantage of all his tape work and real time diagnostics. That's how you can make a huge difference. You make the people around you better too.

I wouldn't think there are more than a handful of defenders in the league even competing with Lee on this score.

With a lot less experience in the back seven, Lee's contribution should continue to make a huge difference, even with the increase in talent.

 

[buybuydandavis]

And when you're evaluating a D, it's all important. Yds, pts, 3rd downs, TO's, all of it. Yds is the easiest and most accurate way for a standalone stat. Pts are inaccurate because not all pts given up are on the D.

Points or Yards *per drive*.

Our defense was overrated in 2014, 2016 because the strength of the ball control offense limited drives.

 

[Billyd]

Richards is solid and potentientially a Dcord Candidate if Rod retires..As far as optimism goes, Id be all for a solid one tech, but Sjones already confirmed that wont happen, and backed it up in the draft...

A Safety wont fix a non existent one tech..Those of you that are on that train...Idgi..a safety wont fix an injury to Lee either..

BEST we can hope for is Brice and Maybe Woods to get all coached up, and Collins heals and goes back to 3tech..Keeping the guards on the tackles, keeps Lbrs clean...

Safeties dont do that..At least not since Church was here..Maybe Frazier can duettt or one of the Udfas can..Either way unless we pull a hankins, or Someone else, and SJones Already decided that..Its what we got now Baby..Id be optimistic but prepared for stumbles..

 

[Melonfeud]

Defensive losses:
Hitchens
Matt Eberflus
Scandrick
Wilber
Mayowa
Benwikere

Defensive additions:
Joe Thomas
Ealy
LVE
Chris Richard
Armstrong
Covington
UDFAs
Gregory?

Our recipe for winning last season was very obvious

In games we gave up 332 yards or less we were 9-1. The one loss being the lowest yards we allowed all season, Seahawks allowing only 136 yards. In games we gave up more than 332 yards we were 0-6.

I saw last night while surfing thru some posted links where Benson Mayowa has landed up in Phoenix with x #19 Brice Butler

 

[jobberone]

optimistic with caution. DL, LB, and DB not settled so lots of question marks.

 

[Hadenough]

Anyone who believes the Cowboys had anywhere near the 8th best defense in the league last year probably also believes the Steelers had the 5th best defense.

Neither are even remotely close to that.

I agree! But I am very excited about seeing this group of LBs we have. Smith looks explosive and LVE looks fast too. Maybe Lee will finally have some help and these LBs can cause problems!

 

[Silver N Blue]

Anyone who believes the Cowboys had anywhere near the 8th best defense in the league last year probably also believes the Steelers had the 5th best defense.

Neither are even remotely close to that.

Who in this league and day and age of football brings an elite defense to the table like the boys of the 90s, Bears, Ravens, Hawks....very rare to have a truly elite defense. Right now you would have to say the closest to elite is the Jags. Just because you have a defense ranked in the top ten doesn't mean the defense is great just means it is a tad better than the average which is par for the course. The NFL is and has been for some time an offensive league. Agree with you though the Rod approach is a rubber band stamp stretch, give some points up, but don't break.

 

[morasp]

The biggest boost to the defense may come from getting a focused Zeke back this year. Similar to the ball control Gibbs used to run with John Riggins and the hogs for the Commanders it's hard to score when you don't have the ball. And fewer defensive snaps reduces the chances for injuries.

 

[QuincyCarterEra]

I saw last night while surfing thru some posted links where Benson Mayowa has landed up in Phoenix with x #19 Brice Butler

And Benwikere went there too.

 

[Stash]

They finished as the 8th overall defense last year. It’s been years since we have had a championship caliber defense— but I think we are on our way— with only a couple holes/flaws. Here is why I believe this unit jumps from top 10 to top 5 this year:

1. PassRush depth. We have not been this deep in a long time. Marinelli wants a strong rotation— and I think this unit is deep and talented enough to consistently disrupt teams passing games even more than they did last year.

2. LBer team speed. Jaylon is healthier and showing more explosiveness. LVE is the best athlete at LBer in this draft class. His speed and coverage ability will help shrink the field. Joe Thomas and Covington are nice additions and Wilson and/or March-Lillard round out a nice corps.

3. Kris Richard. Enough has been said about him already— but a tougher mentality and a more aggressive style should result in more turnovers and better secondary play.

Our only legit holes are at S and 1Tech. Irving/Collins/Ward/Price is not a bad interior rotation— and with the pressure from DE, some of these guys will see favorable matchups.

Safety is where we can get hurt imo. We are young and vulnerable on the back end. Adding ET would go a long way to shoring this hole up— but even if the trade doesn’t occur, I think they will be protected by a great passrush and better overall coverage by the LBs.

Barring setbacks from injuries (Lee/D Law in particular) I think this D can shoulder more of the load than they have in years. Excited to see them take the field and hopefully take the next step in their development.

I would put myself in the "cautiously optimistic" category when it comes to my expectations of the defense. While I agree with most everything you've said, when the best one can say about the defensive tackle rotation isn't "not bad", that's concerning to me. Too often last year, I saw teams run in this defense when they wanted and needed to. The Eagles put up over 200 yards in the one game that mattered. While I like much about the pass defense aspect as you pointed out, I'm concerned about the run defense.

 

[Doc50]

The play starts at the ball and when you can disrupt the other team's ability to hold the ball in a clean pocket for a pass or a hand-off, you're already one leg up. This is such a simple concept a 5 year old could grasp it. Shame Jerry can't.

I dunno, Bm. The 'Boys have surely grasped that concept on offense, with their blue chip OL.

And the DL gets to practice against and learn from those dudes.

Marinelli is old, but he still knows more about D than most. He's had input to getting the players on the DL; now it's on him to make it work.

I have confidence that we'll see improvement this year, but I agree that we need a dominant DT to emerge.

 

[Stash]

A lot of the optimism seems to stem from getting SEA's DC that they didn't want and when he was the secondary guy had 3 out of 4 pbers. They are in a secondary rebuild and did not want this guy. I do not get the buzz on this guy at all. His old team, a better D team, doesn't want him and he takes a demotion to come to another team.

Is this that "oh, he'll be better because he's a Cowboy" thinking? I just do not get this, what am I missing about Richard?

I think you're missing the fact that Richard developed those "3 out of 4 pbers ", he didn't simply inherit them. They became Pro Bowlers under his teaching, not before.

 

[Stash]

I didn't read it that way. Carroll is a D coach and he didn't keep his DC. And if he's respected, shouldn't he have received DC interest from other teams?

I am not saying he's a bad coach because I don't know a lot about him but I didn't see great things from him in SEA with a better front 7 than ours and 3 pbers in the secondary.

You should look into it more deeply. There's a lot you're missing. Before taking the job here, Richard in fact interviewed for the Colts head coaching job.

 

[MCMetal69]

I think safety is the most troublesome spot...................You can get away with using average players throughout the season , but when playoff time rolls around and the QB's are all pretty much top-notch , you don't stand much of a chance against an Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady with their pinpoint accuracy and abilities with JAGS as your safeties.....................

 

[Verdict]

Wow just stumbled upon this.

Only 10 defensive players were active for all 16 games last season- Jaylon, Byron, Brown, Tank, Woods, Crawford, Damien Wilson, Taco, Collins, and Wilber.

Yeah, and Taco is soft. Not very reassuring is it?