The Return Of Brent and Lawrence

[Cebrin]

There is no way the Cowboys would have gone to all that trouble to get Brent back on the field if they thought he was just another guy.

Truth

 

[Cebrin]

Middle of our defense with Crawford, Brent and Ro would be a lethal combo. That will allow others to play better as pass rushers.

 

[Cebrin]

Be assured my post wasn't directed at anyone, yourself included -- only expressing my thoughts, nothing more. Actually, I hadn't read many of the posts that preceeded mine. It's really nothing critical -- that's not my style. In fact, I'm honestly pretty much in agreement with what you posted. Are we cool now?

We were never uncool my friend. The internet has a way of allowing words to be topsy turvy. I also did not mean to come off as snarky. Was just keeping it real.

 

[Galian Beast]

We're going to see how well the front office is drafting and how good of a coach marinelli is with the huge investment we made in Lawrence. We need him to produce a pass rush even if it is just on 3rd downs.

If he can help lower our defensive 3rd down conversion rate, it'll go a long way towards winning us games.

 

[gdogg24]

With Brent people gotta know he's the guy that would be best suited to play the 1-tech in this defense. I'm getting that a lot of people are underestimating the effect that has. Also Okoye is getting ready to come back he has as much a chance as making an impact as either of these guys.

 

[dogunwo]

Brent was never a threat as a pass rusher, although he was powerful and managed to get significant push on those opposing him. He's stout against the running game, which is something that this DL would certainly find extremely useful. I'm thinking if he's able to return to his former conditioning, he'll see enough action to factor into our plans for the playoff push and possibly beyond. At his best, he'll never be elite but he's solid enough to matter.

Right. Not much pass rush. Brent stops backs from just hitting the pile and getting two to three yards. Those will now be no gains.

 

[dogunwo]

We're going to see how well the front office is drafting and how good of a coach marinelli is with the huge investment we made in Lawrence. We need him to produce a pass rush even if it is just on 3rd downs.

If he can help lower our defensive 3rd down conversion rate, it'll go a long way towards winning us games.

I think Hitchens has shown fourth round worth to this point, as well as Martin obviously showing his. Street has played like a rookie WR. If you think a player is worth the trade of two certain picks, you make that move, it shows conviction in your scouting. So far the rest of the draft has made it not some huge draft fail overall if Lawrence is just a rotation guy IMO

 

[Bullflop]

We were never uncool my friend. The internet has a way of allowing words to be topsy turvy. I also did not mean to come off as snarky. Was just keeping it real.

Nice . . . me likey! Your Brent post was right on track -- just wanted to be clear. And yep, we're cool, m'friend.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

I would like to see how much this defense improves when D-Law and Carter and Brent come in. I don't care much for Brent but that is what it is.

 

[Bullflop]

Brent was doing pretty well before Marinelli ever stepped into the picture. I can't help but wonder what's to be expected of him once Marinelli takes him under his wing. I can easily visualize that arrow pointing straight up.

Also, he's quite high on Lawrence, saying his body is much more developed since he worked so hard on the weights during his rehabbing time off. Claims his body has been "transformed." Nice.

 

[Doomsday101]

With the addition of Lawrence and Brent this defense has a good shot at improving over the course of the season as opposed to getting worse as they did last year. I think they are already better defense than what we have seen in the last couple of season

 

[CATCH17]

I don't expect Brent to be very good this year. If he can get his form back then that would be huge but I can't see him having a 2 year layoff and coming back and playing at a high level.

He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would take care of his body. Hopefully im wrong.



When is Lawrence officially eligible to play?

 

[jday]

Well Rolando wasn't about good or bad coaching. Rolando had problems he was going through. The guy was a ex-top 10 NFL pick.



I'm speaking on more of his whole body of work. And once again, that was a different defense. I'm not saying he won't amount to anything. I'm just not expecting much. I don't think eh's the player Mincey or Crawford are right now. Especially having taking time off from football. I'm rooting for him just not expecting much.

The important thing is to know what to expect. He is a prototypical 1-tech DT. Mincey and Crawford are DE's and by design they will have the stats to support their paycheck. For 1-tech, you won't see the gaudy sack/tackle numbers, but if he is doing his job, everyone else on that line will benefit. His job is to hold the point of the attack, even when double-teamed. His job is to push the pocket and not allow the QB an escape route to step up into.

 

[xwalker]

With Brent people gotta know he's the guy that would be best suited to play the 1-tech in this defense. I'm getting that a lot of people are underestimating the effect that has. Also Okoye is getting ready to come back he has as much a chance as making an impact as either of these guys.

It's too bad that the game day roster is limited to 46 players. They've only had 4 DTs active in each game this season. T. Crawford and Melton are locks for the game day roster. For whatever reason, Marinelli seems hell-bent to kept Haydnen in the lineup. That just leaves 1 spot for Brent or Okoye.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

The important thing is to know what to expect. He is a prototypical 1-tech DT. Mincey and Crawford are DE's and by design they will have the stats to support their paycheck. For 1-tech, you won't see the gaudy sack/tackle numbers, but if he is doing his job, everyone else on that line will benefit. His job is to hold the point of the attack, even when double-teamed. His job is to push the pocket and not allow the QB an escape route to step up into.

I meant Tyrone Crawford and Melton. Not Mincey. I'm well aware of what his role SHOULD be. It shouldn't be much different than what it was a few years ago. He's here to push the pocket and command some double teams. If he does that than fine. He's already exceeded my expectations.

 

[gdogg24]

It's too bad that the game day roster is limited to 46 players. They've only had 4 DTs active in each game this season. T. Crawford and Melton are locks for the game day roster. For whatever reason, Marinelli seems hell-bent to kept Haydnen in the lineup. That just leaves 1 spot for Brent or Okoye.

That's true wow well then in that case I'd have to go with Brent (Akoye could have a chance to play before Brent though), Hayden's been playing the 1 all year you want to be able to have a decent rotation. Brent and Hayden sounds like a pretty good situation there. Still running three deep at the 3-tech is a pretty good place to be in. All this of course presuming these guys can play.

 

[xwalker]

That's true wow well then in that case I'd have to go with Brent (Akoye could have a chance to play before Brent though), Hayden's been playing the 1 all year you want to be able to have a decent rotation. Brent and Hayden sounds like a pretty good situation there. Still running three deep at the 3-tech is a pretty good place to be in. All this of course presuming these guys can play.

They will have some difficult decisions to make. You don't really want to make too many changes to a team that is winning.

The Brent situation is tricky because I think Marinelli likes having 3 guys that can play 3-tech and is fine only having one true 1-tech on game-day. Brent and Hayden are both 1-tech only types. They've had T. McClain as the 4th DT the past couple of weeks, in part because he can play 1-tech or 3-tech.

I don't think Marinelli will want to bench Hayden so that would put both Hayden and Brent on the game-day roster and leave them short at the 3-tech spot.

One option would be to carry 5 DTs and 1 less DE. DE Lavar Edwards only played 4 snaps against the Seahawks. If a DE was injured during the game, T. Crawford could always take some snaps at DE.

I see Okoye as similar to T. McClain in that he's played both 1-tech and 3-tech in the past. I don't know if he's really an upgrade over T. McClain at this point.

The good thing is that both Okoye and Brent are good insurance in case of injuries. The Cowboys don't have to make a decision on Okoye until as late as week 14. IIRC Brent can return as early as week 11 but I think they can wait another week or two beyond that if they're not ready to activate him.

 

[gdogg24]

They will have some difficult decisions to make. You don't really want to make too many changes to a team that is winning.

The Brent situation is tricky because I think Marinelli likes having 3 guys that can play 3-tech and is fine only having one true 1-tech on game-day. Brent and Hayden are both 1-tech only types. They've had T. McClain as the 4th DT the past couple of weeks, in part because he can play 1-tech or 3-tech.

I don't think Marinelli will want to bench Hayden so that would put both Hayden and Brent on the game-day roster and leave them short at the 3-tech spot.

One option would be to carry 5 DTs and 1 less DE. DE Lavar Edwards only played 4 snaps against the Seahawks. If a DE was injured during the game, T. Crawford could always take some snaps at DE.

I see Okoye as similar to T. McClain in that he's played both 1-tech and 3-tech in the past. I don't know if he's really an upgrade over T. McClain at this point.

The good thing is that both Okoye and Brent are good insurance in case of injuries. The Cowboys don't have to make a decision on Okoye until as late as week 14. IIRC Brent can return as early as week 11 but I think they can wait another week or two beyond that if they're not ready to activate him.

Well that sure is a good time to get fresh bodies in there.

 

[Idgit]

I was in my car listening to either Talkin' Cowboys or Cowboys Break this week and they quoted one of the other DLs re: the return of Brent and whether or not he was likely to contribute. I had a trouble with the stream, so I don't know which player it was, other than that he was supposedly a locker-mate. But the guy reportedly said that Brent is looking outstanding in what they've seen and that he's just really quick and they're looking forward to getting him out there. Mickey immediately followed that up with a comment regarding him still being overweight, as you might expect.

In any event, Brent's one of those players who was having an obvious impact on the game even if it hadn't yet shown up in the stats. It's the same as Crawford was doing prior to the season, or the same as Hatcher did the few seasons before lasts when it became readily apparent to everybody. Josh Brent is capable of upgrading our 1 tech, and I think he can upgrade it significantly. The only real question is how much of an effect the time off is going to have for him.

My expectation: he'll start slowly and ramp up over the course of 4-5 weeks to be playing at a high level again at the end of the season. It'll be interesting to see what we do to make space for him and Lawrence and possibly Okoye on the roster when we need it.

 

[Cebrin]

I don't expect Brent to be very good this year. If he can get his form back then that would be huge but I can't see him having a 2 year layoff and coming back and playing at a high level.

He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would take care of his body. Hopefully im wrong.



When is Lawrence officially eligible to play?

I'm thinking he spells this week or comes next week. Really depends on if he's been studying the play book so he can put the knowledge on the field.