Going into the 2014 season, I think it is important for people to recognize that this defense probably won't be all set going into the year. We're not going to fill the void from the 32nd ranked defense in the league (ypg) by somehow signing a bunch of free agents.
The team was pretty reluctant to restructure many contracts outside of getting under the salary cap, meaning we're obviously focused more on the future than we have been in past years. I don't know if I would say that is in indication that they aren't focused on being competitive this year, or if this rebuild will give Garrett an out or not, but it is what is apparent by the lack of aggressive restructuring of anyone who isn't necessarily in our long term plans.
I fully expect this coming draft will be almost entirely focused on the defense. We might make a move towards OL, WR, or HB, but I for the most part this draft is going to be focused not only on defense, but the defensive line.
(2) Going into the draft, I think they'll want to get at least two if not three starters for the defense. Expect to see at least two rookies starting on this defensive line, perhaps three or a third rookie may end up in the linebacker corps. I would look at all the top defensive ends, defensive tackles, and linebackers expected to go within the first four rounds, because that is what the Cowboys will be looking at, and that will tell you who we're going to target.
Then you have to factor in other recent investments:
(3) JJ Wilcox, Matt Johnson, Tyrone Crawford, Ben Bass, DeVonte Holloman e.t.c. I think we'll see at least two or three of these guys become starters this year. You can basically pencil Wilcox in there already. A lot of people want us to invest in a safety, but we drafted both Wilcox and Johnson fairly high. Wilcox specifically with the idea that he would take some time to develop.
(1) You still have George Selvie, who I'd rather see as a rotational guy, but in the worst case scenario can be your starter at defensive end.
Then you hold out hope that other recent major investments pan out better than they have so far:
(3) Morris Claiborne, Bruce Carter, Brandon Carr. I still don't know why the Cowboys haven't asked Carr to take a pay cut, I think his pay for his performance the last two years is pretty obscene. I hope Sean Lee can really help turn around Bruce Carter, it would be great if Bruce Carter worked out for us, but almost above the two of them we need Claiborne to work out given that we traded up to get him. He needs to turn things around and stay healthy for a change. I like that they'll be going up against healthy young wide receivers with a wide range of attributes.
(1) You have to hope that Sean Lee can stay healthy throughout the year.
(1) Still holding out hope that we can sign Henry Melton at least to a 1 year deal.
And like I said, you'll probably have to go heavy or slightly heavy on defense again in 2015, but at that point it will depend mostly on how things pan out this year.
In closing, a lot of people are complaining about the signings of some of these backup type guys. Well those guys are brought in not because they are going to light up the world, but rather because right off the bat we were scrambling to find some sort of depth because of injuries at linebacker and defensive line. The FO has obviously decided to bring these types of guys in early rather than later in the year, when it is more difficult to scrape the bottom of the barrell, and more difficult to analyze whether it is worth keeping guys. How many guys did we bring in and then cut a week or two later? That is all this is, except it is proactive instead of reactive.
