jday
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Disclaimer: The following is obviously not for the TL/DR crowd. However, if the sheer size of this doesn’t scare you away, you should probably note that this is really three threads combined. I combine them because they are three different perspectives on the exact same thing; so to divide the following accordingly would contradict the purpose.
Yesterday, I provided a window into my mind, granting you the opportunity to bear witness to the debate that rages internally over the state of the Cowboys. As I explained yesterday, me (the optimist), myself (the pessimist) and I (the realist) all believe the Cowboys are on the cusp of greatness. Where there is a divide in our multiple opinions is when will the Cowboys finally hoist a Lombardi trophy up in the air?
Without further ado, once again, I will allow you the reader to have “ring side seats” for my 3-way-split take on the Cowboys defense. Yesterday was offense. If you missed it you can find it here: http://cowboyszone.com/threads/ring-side-seats-offense.378227/
Me
I begin with three very important words to consider before you write-off the 2017 iteration of this Cowboys defense: Youth, Speed, & Attitude.
There will certainly be rookie-induced-errors, and the Cowboys as a whole may even lose a game or two as a direct result. Fortunately, with that offense, the Cowboys can afford the occasional bone-headed mistake and lost game. The important take-away to understand is that by season end this defense, as a result of weathering those early blunders, will be great…potentially dominant even.
Despite Jerry’s Wardaddy comments, that really was never what the defense needed…wanted maybe…but it wasn’t what I would call a need (a mandatory component to winning a championship). What this defense really needed was an injection of youth, speed and attitude. Via Free Agency, the Cowboys added Demontre Moore (24), Nolan Carroll (30) and Stephen Paea (29).
Granted, the Cowboys likely did not pick these three up with aspirations of them actually landing starting jobs, however, at the same time, neither should they be viewed as just camp bodies. Of the three, Moore is likely the more intriguing. Not because he seems to be the more talented of the two, and not necessarily because of the team that drafted him (New York Giants), but specifically why he was released:
On December 11, 2015, Moore was waived for violating team rules, reportedly due to having an altercation with fellow defensive lineman Cullen Jenkins regarding headphones. The incident with Jenkins was one of several altercations Moore had with teammates during the 2015 season. So, the Giants as a team don’t like him very much; it’s reasonable to assume that Moore feels much the same way about the Giants.
So while he is certainly a reclamation project, it is nice to know that the one NFCE team that fairly beat the Cowboys (and did so in both meetings last year), will have a player staring at them from across the field looking for an opportunity for revenge starting Sept 10, 2017. He may be garbage in 17 other games, but I suspect in those two games we will see the best of Demontre Moore, while Eli Manning experiences his worst.
Through the draft, 7 of the Cowboys 9 picks were used for defense. And they didn’t simply pick-up a handful of darts and throw it at the dart board hoping one sticks. Based on my research and all the various expert opinions I have soaked in, the Cowboys found solid players that addressed dire needs.
Taco Charlton, while he may not be considered a wardaddy (at least not within the confines of his rookie season), he is a 3-down player that will not be a liability regardless of where Marinelli decides to put him. He has the size, length and requisite athleticism to play any position along the defensive line, save maybe 1-tech…and even then, dependent on the opposing offense, Marinelli may even try him there.
Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis will likely fit right in with the Cowboys current group of DB’s, specifically Orlando Scandrick and Anthony Brown. Watching their tape and various interviews that they have participated in, you get the feeling that they are all cut from the same cloth. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if all four eventually had chips tattooed on their shoulders by season end. Collectively, the rookies and the veterans, all play with an attitude and all have really good long speed and short area quickness. Based on that, I predict very few opposing receivers will break away in 2017 for long touchdowns.
Admittedly, 2017 may not be the year for the Xavier Woods pick to pay dividends. He has to adjust from a Division I college speed of the game to the speed of the game in the NFL. That’s a pretty big leap. That said, this guy was a turnover machine at Louisiana Tech with 14 interceptions over the span of 3 years. So while he may not start, you can expect he will see the field…especially on 3rd and long and in end of the half Hail Mary situations.
The two additions we have not discussed is Jaylon Smith and Charles Tapper, two players that both redshirted their rookie years (2016) due to injury and very well could be significant contributors in their first season; perhaps moreso than any other player currently on that side of the ball, such is their potential. Since they did not see the field in 2016, I am currently viewing them as 2017 draft picks. After all, having found four starters already (Dak, Elliott, Collins and Brown) the Cowboys already doubled the amount of starters you can reasonably expect to find in any given draft.
Charles Tapper, drafted in the 4th round, was a bit of a projection, playing DE in a 3-4 defense for Oklahoma. Despite how he was used, his athleticism (4.59 40; 23 reps; 34” vert; broad 119”; 1.59 10 sec split) screamed and stomped on the floor that he belonged in a 4-3 defense as a RDE. In his first year, disaster struck in the form of a birth defect that went unnoticed throughout his football life to be discovered in the 2016 training camp, known as a L5 Pars Defect.
According to recent reports, he has been cleared to play. Because he is a projection, it is difficult to predict his production. But if his elite athleticism is any indication, it may be extremely difficult to take his brand of speed off the field. He is not just simply fast for his size compared to his peers on the team. Based on his combine performance, he is one of the fastest (if not the fastest) defensive lineman playing at his size in the NFL. Consider this formula: Speed + Mass = Pain. Yes, fellow NFCE quarterbacks not named Dak, I am speaking to you.
Jaylon Smith was largely regarded a potential Top 10 pick before the devastating knee injury that occurred in a bowl game following the 2015 season. Like Tapper, Jaylon also is a bit of a projection since he was unable to participate at the 2016 combine. That said, based on his tape, the kid plays extremely fast. And he is not just an athletic freak of nature. Like Sean Lee, he is a student of the game and plays with excellent instincts to pair with what looks to be next level athleticism. He can cover. He can blitz. And he can hit. And he does all three with extreme prejudice towards the opposing offense.
This is not new information from me, but I predict that the defense as a whole, at the end of the day, hinges on Jaylon and Sean. If Sean can stay healthy and Jaylon can return to the level of play he exhibited at Notre Dame, the defense as a whole will be a Top 10 unit by season end. For clarification, bear in mind I don’t mean to say that their numbers will be top 10 in consideration of the entire season, but were you to compare their stats from the mid-point of the season to the end, they will be comparable to the other elite defenses in the league.
It is at times like this that having the Right Kinda Guys becomes important. Because if the Cowboys have in fact collected a group of players that give their all in practice and on gameday, have the right attitude and approach towards getting better, and study tape like Sean Lee, their collective youth will be an asset by season end, not a hindrance.
Myself
Say what you will of Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne, they balled out in 2016; they earned the money they were able to secure through Free Agency. Don’t believe me? Then you are looking at the wrong statistics. When you head over to NFL.com, the default measuring stick for defenses is yards allowed. But, considering the Cowboys were a bend, don’t break defense in 2016, much of the yards they allowed were by design. And even then, they still ranked 14th in the league.
However, the true measuring stick for any defense at the end of the day is points allowed. The Cowboys allowed 306 points which was good enough to rank them 5th overall compared to 31 other teams. Let that sink in.
That doesn’t sound like a ranking that justifies a defensive rebuild. If anything, the Cowboys should have signed who they could and reloaded. Unfortunately, mismanagement of the cap earlier in this century dictated they couldn’t pay everyone; judging by who they brought back on defense, they honestly couldn’t pay anyone. Gone is Brandon Carr, Morris Claiborne, JJ Wilcox, Barry Church, and Terrell McClain. That’s 4 starters out of the available 11 players to put on the field. They may not have been ideal candidates for Marinelli’s defense based on their collective skill set and athleticism (or lack thereof), but they certainly were capable of holding down the fort with solid to great play while developing the younguns the Cowboys acquired through the recent draft.
Now the Cowboys faithful are expecting the recent youth movement to pay immediate dividends. And the truth is, that honestly isn’t very realistic for 2017. Maybe 2018 and beyond the Cowboys will begin to get a return on their investments, but starting out I suspect it won’t be pretty….not in the least.
Speed + Inexperience = Going fast in the wrong direction.
Consider the above formula. Granted, the Cowboys are a whole lot faster overall on defense. I think we can all agree that is good direction for the defense to go, given the speed of offenses in this era of football. The direction, however, is not the problem; it’s the lack of experience, and how that said deficiency early on will negate and nullify their improvement in overall speed.
As it stands, the Cowboys have no idea how their depth chart is going to shake out following preseason. We don’t know who will start on the outside at corner. We don’t know who will start inside in the Nickel. The defensive line is a collection of never-beens that we hope can out-hustle the opposition in the fourth quarter, where defenses typically earn their pay check, as a result of that overly-hyped Marinelli rotation. For the moment, we have Jeff Heath penciled in a Strong Safety and Byron Jones at Free Safety. Truth be told, those are the only two positions we have any degree of certainty on who will start…and for Heath that is more about our other options to replace him than it is about his ability to solidify that role.
Demarcus Lawrence and Tyrone Crawford, by merit of seniority, are the likely candidates for leaders along the front line. While both seem to be vocal and ideal for that role as a result of their collective charisma and attitude, if you can’t speak with your play on the field when it counts, you shouldn’t speak at all. Both have flashed promise; I can admit that. But until they can be more consistent, I suspect given this new group of young unprovens, Aaron Rodgers would still be able to march right down the field to setup a game winning field goal in the playoffs. In fact, I doubt he even needs those closing seconds (and a not called hold penalty) to win the game; more than likely he just runs the clock out because up to that point he has scored at will.
I’m certainly happy about that draft haul of Corners and Defensive lineman. It definitely addressed a need. But we are simultaneously talking about two positions that take the most time to get rookies up to speed. Rare is the defensive end and/or corner that comes in and immediately garners Pro Bowl consideration. Extremely rare. And that, my friends, is for very good reason.
As for the potential emergences of Jaylon and Tapper, I’m not buying it….at least, not this year. Jaylon is coming back from a devastating knee injury (an injury that ended careers not too long ago) and has been out of football for over a year. It’s going to take time for him to get up to speed. Tapper certainly has the essential athleticism and size to wreak havoc all across the defensive line, however, we haven’t seen it on tape. It’s kind of like the whole Taco over TJ Watt conversation we’ve been having recently. The Cowboys selected Taco because they had plenty of tape of Taco doing exactly what they would want him to do here, whereas Watt had never played with his hand on the ground and would likely be nothing more than a passrushing defensive end on passing downs in the early going of his career. The same could be said of Tapper, as far as his tape is concerned. Being a champion in the underwear Olympics is one thing. Being a champion defender on the gridiron is a whole nutter thang.
I
There is no question this defense is going to take time to solidify. The real question is how long? If you look at it from that perspective and you have been watching the Cowboys for 10 years or more, you know that is still an improvement on yesteryears. There was a time not so long ago the Cowboys faithful had no faith in this coaching staff’s ability to develop young talent.
Furthermore, while the RKG mantra was oft ridiculed in its early beginnings, we fans are finally beginning to see the merits of this approach. Take Greg Hardy: clearly not an RKG, despite all the talent in the world and no longer in the league as a result, despite, still being more than capable to start at the serviceable age of 28 . What is an RKG? Loves football, good teammate, not just willing, but wants to put in the work to be better. Puts in time in the gym. Watches the tape. Studies hard, practices hard, plays had.
Part of the issues people had with the RKG refrain was a misunderstanding of what it truly was. It wasn’t about their off-the-field persona, though, I’m sure Jason would insist if they are taking care of everything they need to as it pertains to football, the off-the-field stuff will take care of itself. There is truth to that, but it is not the whole truth. Because at the end of the day, people make mistakes. And for NFL players, those mistakes have a tendency to get magnified.
I love this defense given its current make-up. The fact that it is a young defense is a huge part of that adulation. Because I know, given the right coaching up, the right attitude, and the right approach these players will eventually touch their ceiling. And when they all collectively do, the NFCE and the rest of the league will have some splaining to do to 31 other team owners.
My gut tells me that could very well happen this year. Following the question of “when?” is the question will it be by that time too late? Can this offense win despite a defense that is in dire need of growing up and growing up fast? And by season end, will they have collected enough of those wins to get a shot in the playoffs? If this Cowboys team makes the playoffs, I feel really good about where the defense could be at that point.
But in the early going, it’s going to be ugly. And remember, I still believe (regardless of which me has the stage) much hinges on the health of Lee and Jaylon’s ability to come back from his knee injury. If those two can be what we think they can be as a tandem, it is reasonable to hope for the rest of that youthful defense to follow suit.
Realistically speaking though, the odds are poor that everything the Cowboys need to go right will in fact go right. Better to prepare for a 50/50 split of things going right and things going wrong. And then you simply have to hope that 31 other teams have more things go wrong than the Cowboys. Injuries happen. Father-time happens. Decline in ability due to resting on laurels happens. The Cowboys have less to fear than most when it comes to injuries and father-time in consideration of how young overall this team is.
However, the Cowboys did have an amazing 2016. It would be easy for the young players of that season to adopt a status quo approach to getting better, considering how much success they were able to have in 2016. We, as a fan base, have to prepare that inevitably someone will fall off. I haven’t the slightest clue who that would be, but once again, we have to hope that said individual is not considered a critical cog in the machine that is the Dallas Cowboys.
In essence, if you are an optimist, I would only temper your expectation with the understanding that this defense will not be playing their best football starting in September 2017; it may even be ambitious to expect that to happen in October. If you want specifics for when to expect a tangible improvement, circle the Thanksgiving game. If they haven’t shown improvement up to that point, I suspect that’s where the turn will occur. If it doesn’t occur by then, it might not occur at all in 2017.
If you are a pessimist, temper your negativity with the understanding that this defense will get better. It might not happen this year, but with another dose of a defensive heavy Free Agency (which the Cowboys will have more freedom to make a splash in, considering the cap savings via Romo’s retirement) and draft, this defense is absolutely well on its way to being great again.
Thoughts?
Yesterday, I provided a window into my mind, granting you the opportunity to bear witness to the debate that rages internally over the state of the Cowboys. As I explained yesterday, me (the optimist), myself (the pessimist) and I (the realist) all believe the Cowboys are on the cusp of greatness. Where there is a divide in our multiple opinions is when will the Cowboys finally hoist a Lombardi trophy up in the air?
Without further ado, once again, I will allow you the reader to have “ring side seats” for my 3-way-split take on the Cowboys defense. Yesterday was offense. If you missed it you can find it here: http://cowboyszone.com/threads/ring-side-seats-offense.378227/
Me
I begin with three very important words to consider before you write-off the 2017 iteration of this Cowboys defense: Youth, Speed, & Attitude.
There will certainly be rookie-induced-errors, and the Cowboys as a whole may even lose a game or two as a direct result. Fortunately, with that offense, the Cowboys can afford the occasional bone-headed mistake and lost game. The important take-away to understand is that by season end this defense, as a result of weathering those early blunders, will be great…potentially dominant even.
Despite Jerry’s Wardaddy comments, that really was never what the defense needed…wanted maybe…but it wasn’t what I would call a need (a mandatory component to winning a championship). What this defense really needed was an injection of youth, speed and attitude. Via Free Agency, the Cowboys added Demontre Moore (24), Nolan Carroll (30) and Stephen Paea (29).
Granted, the Cowboys likely did not pick these three up with aspirations of them actually landing starting jobs, however, at the same time, neither should they be viewed as just camp bodies. Of the three, Moore is likely the more intriguing. Not because he seems to be the more talented of the two, and not necessarily because of the team that drafted him (New York Giants), but specifically why he was released:
On December 11, 2015, Moore was waived for violating team rules, reportedly due to having an altercation with fellow defensive lineman Cullen Jenkins regarding headphones. The incident with Jenkins was one of several altercations Moore had with teammates during the 2015 season. So, the Giants as a team don’t like him very much; it’s reasonable to assume that Moore feels much the same way about the Giants.
So while he is certainly a reclamation project, it is nice to know that the one NFCE team that fairly beat the Cowboys (and did so in both meetings last year), will have a player staring at them from across the field looking for an opportunity for revenge starting Sept 10, 2017. He may be garbage in 17 other games, but I suspect in those two games we will see the best of Demontre Moore, while Eli Manning experiences his worst.
Through the draft, 7 of the Cowboys 9 picks were used for defense. And they didn’t simply pick-up a handful of darts and throw it at the dart board hoping one sticks. Based on my research and all the various expert opinions I have soaked in, the Cowboys found solid players that addressed dire needs.
Taco Charlton, while he may not be considered a wardaddy (at least not within the confines of his rookie season), he is a 3-down player that will not be a liability regardless of where Marinelli decides to put him. He has the size, length and requisite athleticism to play any position along the defensive line, save maybe 1-tech…and even then, dependent on the opposing offense, Marinelli may even try him there.
Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis will likely fit right in with the Cowboys current group of DB’s, specifically Orlando Scandrick and Anthony Brown. Watching their tape and various interviews that they have participated in, you get the feeling that they are all cut from the same cloth. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if all four eventually had chips tattooed on their shoulders by season end. Collectively, the rookies and the veterans, all play with an attitude and all have really good long speed and short area quickness. Based on that, I predict very few opposing receivers will break away in 2017 for long touchdowns.
Admittedly, 2017 may not be the year for the Xavier Woods pick to pay dividends. He has to adjust from a Division I college speed of the game to the speed of the game in the NFL. That’s a pretty big leap. That said, this guy was a turnover machine at Louisiana Tech with 14 interceptions over the span of 3 years. So while he may not start, you can expect he will see the field…especially on 3rd and long and in end of the half Hail Mary situations.
The two additions we have not discussed is Jaylon Smith and Charles Tapper, two players that both redshirted their rookie years (2016) due to injury and very well could be significant contributors in their first season; perhaps moreso than any other player currently on that side of the ball, such is their potential. Since they did not see the field in 2016, I am currently viewing them as 2017 draft picks. After all, having found four starters already (Dak, Elliott, Collins and Brown) the Cowboys already doubled the amount of starters you can reasonably expect to find in any given draft.
Charles Tapper, drafted in the 4th round, was a bit of a projection, playing DE in a 3-4 defense for Oklahoma. Despite how he was used, his athleticism (4.59 40; 23 reps; 34” vert; broad 119”; 1.59 10 sec split) screamed and stomped on the floor that he belonged in a 4-3 defense as a RDE. In his first year, disaster struck in the form of a birth defect that went unnoticed throughout his football life to be discovered in the 2016 training camp, known as a L5 Pars Defect.
According to recent reports, he has been cleared to play. Because he is a projection, it is difficult to predict his production. But if his elite athleticism is any indication, it may be extremely difficult to take his brand of speed off the field. He is not just simply fast for his size compared to his peers on the team. Based on his combine performance, he is one of the fastest (if not the fastest) defensive lineman playing at his size in the NFL. Consider this formula: Speed + Mass = Pain. Yes, fellow NFCE quarterbacks not named Dak, I am speaking to you.
Jaylon Smith was largely regarded a potential Top 10 pick before the devastating knee injury that occurred in a bowl game following the 2015 season. Like Tapper, Jaylon also is a bit of a projection since he was unable to participate at the 2016 combine. That said, based on his tape, the kid plays extremely fast. And he is not just an athletic freak of nature. Like Sean Lee, he is a student of the game and plays with excellent instincts to pair with what looks to be next level athleticism. He can cover. He can blitz. And he can hit. And he does all three with extreme prejudice towards the opposing offense.
This is not new information from me, but I predict that the defense as a whole, at the end of the day, hinges on Jaylon and Sean. If Sean can stay healthy and Jaylon can return to the level of play he exhibited at Notre Dame, the defense as a whole will be a Top 10 unit by season end. For clarification, bear in mind I don’t mean to say that their numbers will be top 10 in consideration of the entire season, but were you to compare their stats from the mid-point of the season to the end, they will be comparable to the other elite defenses in the league.
It is at times like this that having the Right Kinda Guys becomes important. Because if the Cowboys have in fact collected a group of players that give their all in practice and on gameday, have the right attitude and approach towards getting better, and study tape like Sean Lee, their collective youth will be an asset by season end, not a hindrance.
Myself
Say what you will of Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne, they balled out in 2016; they earned the money they were able to secure through Free Agency. Don’t believe me? Then you are looking at the wrong statistics. When you head over to NFL.com, the default measuring stick for defenses is yards allowed. But, considering the Cowboys were a bend, don’t break defense in 2016, much of the yards they allowed were by design. And even then, they still ranked 14th in the league.
However, the true measuring stick for any defense at the end of the day is points allowed. The Cowboys allowed 306 points which was good enough to rank them 5th overall compared to 31 other teams. Let that sink in.
That doesn’t sound like a ranking that justifies a defensive rebuild. If anything, the Cowboys should have signed who they could and reloaded. Unfortunately, mismanagement of the cap earlier in this century dictated they couldn’t pay everyone; judging by who they brought back on defense, they honestly couldn’t pay anyone. Gone is Brandon Carr, Morris Claiborne, JJ Wilcox, Barry Church, and Terrell McClain. That’s 4 starters out of the available 11 players to put on the field. They may not have been ideal candidates for Marinelli’s defense based on their collective skill set and athleticism (or lack thereof), but they certainly were capable of holding down the fort with solid to great play while developing the younguns the Cowboys acquired through the recent draft.
Now the Cowboys faithful are expecting the recent youth movement to pay immediate dividends. And the truth is, that honestly isn’t very realistic for 2017. Maybe 2018 and beyond the Cowboys will begin to get a return on their investments, but starting out I suspect it won’t be pretty….not in the least.
Speed + Inexperience = Going fast in the wrong direction.
Consider the above formula. Granted, the Cowboys are a whole lot faster overall on defense. I think we can all agree that is good direction for the defense to go, given the speed of offenses in this era of football. The direction, however, is not the problem; it’s the lack of experience, and how that said deficiency early on will negate and nullify their improvement in overall speed.
As it stands, the Cowboys have no idea how their depth chart is going to shake out following preseason. We don’t know who will start on the outside at corner. We don’t know who will start inside in the Nickel. The defensive line is a collection of never-beens that we hope can out-hustle the opposition in the fourth quarter, where defenses typically earn their pay check, as a result of that overly-hyped Marinelli rotation. For the moment, we have Jeff Heath penciled in a Strong Safety and Byron Jones at Free Safety. Truth be told, those are the only two positions we have any degree of certainty on who will start…and for Heath that is more about our other options to replace him than it is about his ability to solidify that role.
Demarcus Lawrence and Tyrone Crawford, by merit of seniority, are the likely candidates for leaders along the front line. While both seem to be vocal and ideal for that role as a result of their collective charisma and attitude, if you can’t speak with your play on the field when it counts, you shouldn’t speak at all. Both have flashed promise; I can admit that. But until they can be more consistent, I suspect given this new group of young unprovens, Aaron Rodgers would still be able to march right down the field to setup a game winning field goal in the playoffs. In fact, I doubt he even needs those closing seconds (and a not called hold penalty) to win the game; more than likely he just runs the clock out because up to that point he has scored at will.
I’m certainly happy about that draft haul of Corners and Defensive lineman. It definitely addressed a need. But we are simultaneously talking about two positions that take the most time to get rookies up to speed. Rare is the defensive end and/or corner that comes in and immediately garners Pro Bowl consideration. Extremely rare. And that, my friends, is for very good reason.
As for the potential emergences of Jaylon and Tapper, I’m not buying it….at least, not this year. Jaylon is coming back from a devastating knee injury (an injury that ended careers not too long ago) and has been out of football for over a year. It’s going to take time for him to get up to speed. Tapper certainly has the essential athleticism and size to wreak havoc all across the defensive line, however, we haven’t seen it on tape. It’s kind of like the whole Taco over TJ Watt conversation we’ve been having recently. The Cowboys selected Taco because they had plenty of tape of Taco doing exactly what they would want him to do here, whereas Watt had never played with his hand on the ground and would likely be nothing more than a passrushing defensive end on passing downs in the early going of his career. The same could be said of Tapper, as far as his tape is concerned. Being a champion in the underwear Olympics is one thing. Being a champion defender on the gridiron is a whole nutter thang.
I
There is no question this defense is going to take time to solidify. The real question is how long? If you look at it from that perspective and you have been watching the Cowboys for 10 years or more, you know that is still an improvement on yesteryears. There was a time not so long ago the Cowboys faithful had no faith in this coaching staff’s ability to develop young talent.
Furthermore, while the RKG mantra was oft ridiculed in its early beginnings, we fans are finally beginning to see the merits of this approach. Take Greg Hardy: clearly not an RKG, despite all the talent in the world and no longer in the league as a result, despite, still being more than capable to start at the serviceable age of 28 . What is an RKG? Loves football, good teammate, not just willing, but wants to put in the work to be better. Puts in time in the gym. Watches the tape. Studies hard, practices hard, plays had.
Part of the issues people had with the RKG refrain was a misunderstanding of what it truly was. It wasn’t about their off-the-field persona, though, I’m sure Jason would insist if they are taking care of everything they need to as it pertains to football, the off-the-field stuff will take care of itself. There is truth to that, but it is not the whole truth. Because at the end of the day, people make mistakes. And for NFL players, those mistakes have a tendency to get magnified.
I love this defense given its current make-up. The fact that it is a young defense is a huge part of that adulation. Because I know, given the right coaching up, the right attitude, and the right approach these players will eventually touch their ceiling. And when they all collectively do, the NFCE and the rest of the league will have some splaining to do to 31 other team owners.
My gut tells me that could very well happen this year. Following the question of “when?” is the question will it be by that time too late? Can this offense win despite a defense that is in dire need of growing up and growing up fast? And by season end, will they have collected enough of those wins to get a shot in the playoffs? If this Cowboys team makes the playoffs, I feel really good about where the defense could be at that point.
But in the early going, it’s going to be ugly. And remember, I still believe (regardless of which me has the stage) much hinges on the health of Lee and Jaylon’s ability to come back from his knee injury. If those two can be what we think they can be as a tandem, it is reasonable to hope for the rest of that youthful defense to follow suit.
Realistically speaking though, the odds are poor that everything the Cowboys need to go right will in fact go right. Better to prepare for a 50/50 split of things going right and things going wrong. And then you simply have to hope that 31 other teams have more things go wrong than the Cowboys. Injuries happen. Father-time happens. Decline in ability due to resting on laurels happens. The Cowboys have less to fear than most when it comes to injuries and father-time in consideration of how young overall this team is.
However, the Cowboys did have an amazing 2016. It would be easy for the young players of that season to adopt a status quo approach to getting better, considering how much success they were able to have in 2016. We, as a fan base, have to prepare that inevitably someone will fall off. I haven’t the slightest clue who that would be, but once again, we have to hope that said individual is not considered a critical cog in the machine that is the Dallas Cowboys.
In essence, if you are an optimist, I would only temper your expectation with the understanding that this defense will not be playing their best football starting in September 2017; it may even be ambitious to expect that to happen in October. If you want specifics for when to expect a tangible improvement, circle the Thanksgiving game. If they haven’t shown improvement up to that point, I suspect that’s where the turn will occur. If it doesn’t occur by then, it might not occur at all in 2017.
If you are a pessimist, temper your negativity with the understanding that this defense will get better. It might not happen this year, but with another dose of a defensive heavy Free Agency (which the Cowboys will have more freedom to make a splash in, considering the cap savings via Romo’s retirement) and draft, this defense is absolutely well on its way to being great again.
Thoughts?
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