Pass rush depth remains a key concern

[DarkVader33]

You dont change a historically bad defense week 10.

You change it by ditching the guy in charge of it and replacing 80% of it in the off season.

I didn’t say the results would be better. And it didn’t take until well 10 to realize how bad it was. You have to try different things as a coach to see if something works. He knew how to either blitz more or use more man coverage, as well as many other possibilities, but he didn’t want to. That’s purely on him.

 

[DarkVader33]

I don't care if he still wants to be in the spotlight. I mean, I do, but as long as he isnt making any decisions, then Im fine.

This seems like a shift towards letting the guys who get paid to know football make the decisions vs Jerry picking up the phone and trading for Lance, or Mingo or Milton without even talking to anyone.

And THAAAAANK God!!

Exactly!

 

[BlindFaith]

That’s purely on him.

Yes it was.

Im not defending him, just pointing out that you cant polish a turd.

 

[Stash]

Good catch on Wilson. Never showed up in games to the point I thought he was out more than just 2 games.

Another guy the new staff has clearly shown they don’t want back.

Bland though, just because he only missed 5 games doesnt mean it wasnt affecting his play for more.

I don't think it was solely due to injury.

And sure, if you want to blame Eberflus for all the horrendous acquisitions on defense, then ok? Either way, they were still horrendous.

And yes, they will improve by leaps and bounds. Mostly because they will be new players or players being healthy. With a healthy does of CP and some willingness to actually be creative and adjust game to game.

Agreed.

 

[gimmesix]

We traded for Gary. Reworked his deal, but its was still far from cheap.

Pickens gets top 5 money.

Baileys the highest paid kicker.

The other additions werent simply bargain, basement deals.

This year has been different. Why? Who knows. Probably because Jerry knows his time on this earth is running out.

I don't view trades and paying our own free agents the same as paying outside free agents. This front office has shown that it is willing to pay NFL-leading contracts to its own free agents. It has shown it doesn't mind taking on big contracts in trades. What it hasn't shown over the past 13 years is the willingness to give more than a short, small-money (NFL-wise) contract to an outside free agent.

Thompson is the only real change from the modus operandi. Fans may buy into more changing than that, but I think they are simply forgetting and ignoring previous seasons. I mean, we made Dak the highest-paid QB. We made Lamb the second-highest-paid receiver. We paid Kenneth Murray Jr. $7.5 million on the final year of his deal. We gave Dante Fowler a one-year, $6 million/$8 million deal last year.

Cobie Durant (one year, up to $5.5 million), Otitto Ogbonnia (one year, $3 million), Jonathan Bullard (one, year, $2 million), P.J. Locke (one year, $4 million), etc., is no different than our usual free agency.

Compare it to 2025: Payton Turner (one year, $3 million), Solomon Thomas (two years, $8 million), Javonte Williams (one year, $3.5 million), Robert Jones (one year, $4.5 million), Fowler (one year, $8 million ... with incentives), Miles Sanders (one year, $1.77 million). And that's not including those trades: Murray (one year, $7.5 million), Kaiir Elam (one year, $2.5 million).

Now, I did leave the offensive players out of the 2026 group, but it doesn't really change anything. Outside of Thompson, our efforts in free agency look pretty much the same as far as player acquisition goes. I do think we took more risks on potential last year, bringing in those failed first-rounders, but that was the change we made to the modus operandi last year. This year, we reverted to primarily signing cheap, more proven role players ... other than Thompson.

 

[gimmesix]

You dont need to convince me that Eberflus was horse shyte.

I just think he could have tried more with scheme while he also clearly didn't have much to work with.

I think we sometimes look for a scapegoat or reasons to hope things will be better. I don't think we can hope that just a change in scheme is going to fix things or just a change in talent. Hopefully, we've accomplished both of those well this offseason ... even though I have no faith in the front office to get that done.

I'm not really sure why I diverged into talking about his failure to adjust because I don't think any coach is going to succeed if we don't give him the talent that he needs to do it. I think Quinn ultimately failed here because we didn't give him enough, and we accidentally stumbled on Parsons for him.

 

[BlindFaith]

I don't view trades and paying our own free agents the same as paying outside free agents. This front office has shown that it is willing to pay NFL-leading contracts to its own free agents. It has shown it doesn't mind taking on big contracts in trades. What it hasn't shown over the past 13 years is the willingness to give more than a short, small-money (NFL-wise) contract to an outside free agent.

Thompson is the only real change from the modus operandi. Fans may buy into more changing than that, but I think they are simply forgetting and ignoring previous seasons. I mean, we made Dak the highest-paid QB. We made Lamb the second-highest-paid receiver. We paid Kenneth Murray Jr. $7.5 million on the final year of his deal. We gave Dante Fowler a one-year, $6 million/$8 million deal last year.

Cobie Durant (one year, up to $5.5 million), Otitto Ogbonnia (one year, $3 million), Jonathan Bullard (one, year, $2 million), P.J. Locke (one year, $4 million), etc., is no different than our usual free agency.

Compare it to 2025: Payton Turner (one year, $3 million), Solomon Thomas (two years, $8 million), Javonte Williams (one year, $3.5 million), Robert Jones (one year, $4.5 million), Fowler (one year, $8 million ... with incentives), Miles Sanders (one year, $1.77 million). And that's not including those trades: Murray (one year, $7.5 million), Kaiir Elam (one year, $2.5 million).

Now, I did leave the offensive players out of the 2026 group, but it doesn't really change anything. Outside of Thompson, our efforts in free agency look pretty much the same as far as player acquisition goes. I do think we took more risks on potential last year, bringing in those failed first-rounders, but that was the change we made to the modus operandi last year. This year, we reverted to primarily signing cheap, more proven role players ... other than Thompson.

I don't understand this idea that signing your own "doesnt count". If you draft well, the resigning your own is a good thing.

3/4s of this board would have lost its mind if we let Pickens walk.

I get what your saying though. Jerry hasnt gone all in since Dion. Regardless of what he says.

This year is different.

 

[gimmesix]

I don't understand this idea that signing your own "doesnt count". If you draft well, the resigning your own is a good thing.

3/4s of this board would have lost its mind if we let Pickens walk.

I get what your saying though. Jerry hasnt gone all in since Dion. Regardless of what he says.

This year is different.

Re-signing our own isn't any different than what we've been doing. Jerry and Stephen have always re-signed their own ... and we've still gone 30 years without making an NFC Championship Game.

What I'm looking for is signs of change ... because since 2013 we've tied one hand behind our back as far as roster building goes. Of course, we weren't exactly succeeding before that, but I believe that that was because we tied a different hand behind our back because Jerry just didn't care about the draft and thought he could just buy what he needed in free agency.

I believe the only time since Jimmy's days that we used all areas of roster building well is when Parcells was hired as coach. I believe he was building the team that we needed but he burnt out too soon and we have failed to build a complete roster since then ... as well as have had some coaches who failed us. (I believe Wade Phillips had the best chance of succeeding with the roster that Parcells built, but he didn't have the mental makeup to do it.)

I see the signing of Jalen Thompson being different this year, but that's all. Anything else is just hope that's not based on evidence. The Joneses are still building the roster the same way they've been doing it since 2013. I'm glad that Parcells taught them to put more emphasis on the draft, but they've put too much emphasis on it and have failed to make full use of free agency, leaving holes in the roster for the best teams to take advantage of.

 

[75boyz]

Despite the defensive additions, the Cowboys’ pass rush is an area needing reinforcement, especially at EDGE. Veterans like Joey Bosa, Von Miller, Cameron Jordan, and Kyle Van Noy remain available and could be signed closer to training camp. Such a move would align with new defensive coordinator Christian Parker’s rotational scheme and could raise the unit’s ceiling.

Veteran EDGE players available for Cowboys

Joey Bosa had 5.0 sacks, nine tackles for loss, 16 QB hits, and five forced fumbles last year

Von Miller recorded 9.0 sacks and 15 QB hits despite playing just 37% of defensive snaps

Cameron Jordan posted 10.5 sacks, 15 tackles for loss, and 15 QB hits on 54% of snaps

Kyle Van Noy, two-time Super Bowl champ, remains motivated after a recent 2.0 sack season

Excellent post. Not as glaring as offensive tackle or offball linebacker still but close.

 

[Verdict]

The Cowboys have edge rush depth. They might not be proven, but that doesn't mean they can't do the job either. We don't need 10 DE's on the roster.

At some point if you add a guy who gets three sacks he’s bumping off a three sack player.

 

[Verdict]

Re-signing our own isn't any different than what we've been doing. Jerry and Stephen have always re-signed their own ... and we've still gone 30 years without making an NFC Championship Game.

What I'm looking for is signs of change ... because since 2013 we've tied one hand behind our back as far as roster building goes. Of course, we weren't exactly succeeding before that, but I believe that that was because we tied a different hand behind our back because Jerry just didn't care about the draft and thought he could just buy what he needed in free agency.

I believe the only time since Jimmy's days that we used all areas of roster building well is when Parcells was hired as coach. I believe he was building the team that we needed but he burnt out too soon and we have failed to build a complete roster since then ... as well as have had some coaches who failed us. (I believe Wade Phillips had the best chance of succeeding with the roster that Parcells built, but he didn't have the mental makeup to do it.)

I see the signing of Jalen Thompson being different this year, but that's all. Anything else is just hope that's not based on evidence. The Joneses are still building the roster the same way they've been doing it since 2013. I'm glad that Parcells taught them to put more emphasis on the draft, but they've put too much emphasis on it and have failed to make full use of free agency, leaving holes in the roster for the best teams to take advantage of.

I “think” that this year we actually made a legitimate attempt to rebuild the defense. The players we added seem to be much better quality overall. They may not be top tier but it’s not dumpster diving like we have done in past years.

I also think that the Cowboys aren’t really “cheap” they just over value comp picks and have handicapped themselves by trying to game the comp pick system.

 

[gimmesix]

I “think” that this year we actually made a legitimate attempt to rebuild the defense. The players we added seem to be much better quality overall. They may not be top tier but it’s not dumpster diving like we have done in past years.

I also think that the Cowboys aren’t really “cheap” they just over value comp picks and have handicapped themselves by trying to game the comp pick system.

Jerry has said in the past that they chose this philosophy based on not getting their money's worth out of Carr. They paid him to be Deion and he wasn't. He has said before that they made the conscious decision to sit out the feeding frenzy of free agency.

The positive steps we've seen the last couple of seasons IMO is instead of targeting whoever is left after the first couple of weeks of free agency, they've targeted the same cost-caliber of player when free agency started. I also see signing Thompson to a three-year deal as a positive step.

But I don't really consider this year any more of a legitimate attempt than say when Quinn took over as defensive coordinator. After bombing with Mike Nolan, we hired Quinn and brought in DT Brent Urban, DT Carlos Watkins, DE Tarell Basham, FS Malik Hooker, FS Damontae Kazee, SS Jayron Kearse and LB Keanu Neal. We then drafted Micah Parsons, Kelvin Joseph, Osa Odighizuwa, Chauncey Golston, Nahshon Wright and Jabril Cox. That was 13 new players on defense (actually 15 because we also drafted Quinton Bohanna and Israel Mukuamu).

And that's just one example of that kind of offseason. There are others when we've changed a staff or coordinator. How does that differ from this year? Last year was an anomaly in that we seemed to target failed first-rounders. Most years after a defensive change have been like the 2021 offseason. The front office gets the DC the players he wants as long as (generally) they are cheap.

 

[ShiningStar]

We didn’t have a real coaching staff with McCarthy ?

Problem is Dak doesn’t have much time left. And who knows how long we can keep this top offense intact.

Another wasted season developing a future defense could be costly.

IT wasnt about the coaching staff, Jerry didnt want to win big, just enough, he was building an empire. Two different ideals going on, Dallas was not in the football game, Jerry was very open about this

 

[wecasa]

Won't matter if your LT and RT are turnstiles on the offensive side of the ball.

 

[Stash]

Games missed

Bland: 5 games
Diggs: 9 games
Revel: 10 games
Carson: 9 games
Hooker: 5 games
Wilson: 2 games

They were never healthy and never on the field together enough to have any chemistry, which combined with their limited ability was the kiss of death for our coverage

Particularly stinging was Revel, who being our third round pick, was the inspiration for Jerry’s now infamous “no redshirt years” quote.

Thanks for those numbers.

There were definitely more than I thought.

What also struck me in reading the list and looking at the names. Who played well when they did play?

I don’t think any of them - or any defensive players overall - had what would be considered a good season.

 

[Diehardblues]

Games missed

Bland: 5 games
Diggs: 9 games
Revel: 10 games
Carson: 9 games
Hooker: 5 games
Wilson: 2 games

They were never healthy and never on the field together enough to have any chemistry, which combined with their limited ability was the kiss of death for our coverage

Particularly stinging was Revel, who being our third round pick, was the inspiration for Jerry’s now infamous “no redshirt years” quote.

Thanks for providing detailed info on secondary injuries. I knew it was decimated as we watched the games. Bland and Diggs never seemed themselves playing with lingering injuries. Which with no pass rush fueled the futility on defense. We ended up with all too often a backup secondary most of us weren’t even familiar with. Revel did come on and provide us some hope he could become a player moving forward but injuries slowed him as well.

Couple this with injuries at LB and huge loss of talent on Edge in offseason it was a recipe for disaster regardless the scheme, which obviously didn’t help. The trade for Q and acquisition of Clowney provided along with death of Marshawn provided a temporary spark but fizzled out.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Last year, everything was wrong. The talent was no good, we had massive injuries in the secondary (don't people remember the game or two when practice squad corners were trying to play safety?), and what we did have out there didn't even know where to line up. As stash said, when not a single player on the defense has a good year, something is very wrong. I think at the end, Eberflus was rebelling or something... Remember when he refused to take Murray off the field?

Just an epic storm of ineptitude.

But I can't say it's all Eberflus when the year before Zimmer wasn't much better, and I think Zimmer is a good coach. (And for the zillionth time, Micah was on that atrocious defense.)

I'm sure we'll be better because we almost have to be. But people are going way overboard on the Parker hype when he's never even coordinated or called an NFL defense before. Even if he turns out to be good, he won't have it all figured out his first time on the job.

 

[Chuck 54]

I think you may

Despite the defensive additions, the Cowboys’ pass rush is an area needing reinforcement, especially at EDGE. Veterans like Joey Bosa, Von Miller, Cameron Jordan, and Kyle Van Noy remain available and could be signed closer to training camp. Such a move would align with new defensive coordinator Christian Parker’s rotational scheme and could raise the unit’s ceiling.

Veteran EDGE players available for Cowboys

Joey Bosa had 5.0 sacks, nine tackles for loss, 16 QB hits, and five forced fumbles last year

Von Miller recorded 9.0 sacks and 15 QB hits despite playing just 37% of defensive snaps

Cameron Jordan posted 10.5 sacks, 15 tackles for loss, and 15 QB hits on 54% of snaps

Kyle Van Noy, two-time Super Bowl champ, remains motivated after a recent 2.0 sack season

I think you may have it backwards.
We have plenty of depth at edge for pass rushing.

What we don’t have is an actual proven, productive pass rusher(s) as starter(s). Gary and Houston are the only guys on the current defense who are proven as at least moderate pass rushers. You don’t expect 10+ sacks from either player, but you feel they have proven they can give you pressures and possibly 6-7 sacks given opportunities.

What we don’t have is a proven, front line pass rusher on the edge. We “hope” Ezeraku takes a step forward in this area. We hope MLawrence brings some juice off the edge in his rookie year. We hope Barham can bring pressure from various spots in his rookie year. The bottom line is we have improved the secondary, both at S and CB, and we believe Winters and Overshown will be a big improvement in our LB coverage and range.

That’s all good because we have no idea where the pass rush will come from or if it will come with any consistency at all. We have a plan and hope, but we have no sure thing at this point.

 

[Kwyn]

Thanks for those numbers.

There were definitely more than I thought.

What also struck me in reading the list and looking at the names. Who played well when they did play?

I don’t think any of them - or any defensive players overall - had what would be considered a good season.

No, they were all below average last year.

According to PFF, I believe Hooker was the best of the bunch but his score was still below.

A really underwhelming group and, while I share the excitement about Downs, CB, DE and LB are still weaknesses.

Two year project and honestly without a stud difference maker at edge or CB, it may not be enough next year either.

NFL is hard