News: USA Today: Cowboys DB room intriguing mix of potential, upside Quinn will try to evolve

[atlantacowboy]

Its an intriguing mix of rookies and injury prone players.

 

[gimmesix]

Tyler Coyle deserves a mention, no?

He's intriguing because of his measurables, but right now, he'd have to be considered more of a practice squad possibility. UDFAs surprise every year, so maybe he'll be more than that.

 

[plasticman]

Which is really where you want to begin the rebuild. When you have an all time atrocious defense, begin repairing it in the secondary. Everybody knows that.

I can't stop feeling a slight tinge of sarcasm in your posts.

It is true that a significant part of the 1981 team's ability to field undrafted free agents the secondary had to do with the defensive front four of Randy White, Too Tall Jones, John Dutton, and Harvey Martin. Three of them were top five overall picks in the draft. The other might be the NFL all time leader in sacks.

They didn't begin tallying sacks until the following season 1982. In that season a 31 year old Harvey Martin had 8 sacks through a strike shortened 9 game season. That would expand out to 14 sacks in a 16 game season. he retired after the 1983 season.

If my defense were truly atrocious, I would begin the repair job on the front four. In the case of the Cowboys, I really feel the first step to improving the defense is the overall health. They can't get better if they can't get on the field. In 2019, 9 of 11 defensive starters played in 13 or more games. In 2020 that number fell to 5 defensive starters.

 

[Risen Star]

I can't stop feeling a slight tinge of sarcasm in your posts.

It is true that a significant part of the 1981 team's ability to field undrafted free agents the secondary had to do with the defensive front four of Randy White, Too Tall Jones, John Dutton, and Harvey Martin. Three of them were top five overall picks in the draft. The other might be the NFL all time leader in sacks.

They didn't begin tallying sacks until the following season 1982. In that season a 31 year old Harvey Martin had 8 sacks through a strike shortened 9 game season. That would expand out to 14 sacks in a 16 game season. he retired after the 1983 season.

If my defense were truly atrocious, I would begin the repair job on the front four. In the case of the Cowboys, I really feel the first step to improving the defense is the overall health. They can't get better if they can't get on the field. In 2019, 9 of 11 defensive starters played in 13 or more games. In 2020 that number fell to 5 defensive starters.

I agree. The key is a healthy Trysten Hill and Neville Gallimore.

 

[john van brocklin]

Cowboys DB room intriguing mix of potential, upside Quinn will try to evolve

Dan Quinn was brought in to replace the one-year fiasco of Mike Nolan in order to fix one of the worse defenses in Dallas Cowboys team history. As difficult a task as it will be for the whole group and each of the position coaches to ensure their troops improve, the onus is likely to be the defensive passing game coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. and defensive back coach Al Harris.

They might have the toughest job on the staff, getting their respective unit ready for this season as the Cowboys’ DB room is very inexperienced. The team has a lot of teaching to do to get the unit where it needs to be, but their first job is to decide which players will make the 53-man roster. Here’s a breakdown of the various candidates as OTAs roll on.

Trevon Diggs
Kelvin Joseph
Anthony Brown
Donovan Wilson
Damontae Kazee
Jourdan Lewis

Click to see the full breakdown of the various candidates

We like our guys!

 

[JBond]

Safety Donovan Wilson looks to be quite a find in the 6th round. Kudos to Jerry, McClay, Stephen, et al for scouting and choosing him.

Looks like a lot of competition in camp.

Quinn has tools to work with at DB, LB, and DL. No reason why this defense can’t be top 5. No excuses.

If we finish in the top 12 ( yards and points) I will be very excited! It will mean we overcame the rookie mistakes that are bound to happen early and grew together as a team. We can score a ton of points and other coaches understand this. They will be running and gunning with aggressive game plans until we prove we can slow them down and create turnovers due to poor throws on over-agressive play calls. Parsons need to be a beast. I think he will be. Diggs and Parsons are going to be difference makers in my opinion.

 

[AsthmaField]

Where did you get such a notion?......just from watching him play. I think the main thing I remember is the drop in the last giants game.
A lot of players are universally viewed as a top 20 pick , and turn out to be avg or less in NFL.
He had a great college career, but that might not carry to the NFL.
It is early, and last year was a messed up year, but I need to see him be more of a impact player, which is what a # 1 pick should be.

He was anointed by jerry and many fans and Zoners, before he ever played a down in NFL, I am not going to do that till he shows more than
he has.

To be clear, when I asked “where did you get such a notion?”, I was specifically talking about his draft stock.

You said: “And about Lamb, it is funny no one questions why other teams passed on lamb ! I don’t think many teams saw him as a first round talent.”
That is the only part of your post that I quoted because that was the part that I feel you were so off with.

In response to my question, you talk about watching him play as a Cowboy and a drop he had vs. the Giants. That has nothing to do with how teams viewed him prior to the draft. You talk about how some top 20 picks don’t pan out… which, again, has nothing to do with his stock before he was drafted. You not anointing him before his rookie season and you talking about needing to see him this season, also have zero to do with how teams saw him pre-draft.

So, I’m still wondering how you know that “not many” teams had a first round grade on CeeDee?

 

[AsthmaField]

I agree. The key is a healthy Trysten Hill

Do you mean physically healthy or mentally healthy? Or both? And do you consider sullen or pouting to be a mental handicap?

 

[DandyDon52]

To be clear, when I asked “where did you get such a notion?”, I was specifically talking about his draft stock.

You said: “And about Lamb, it is funny no one questions why other teams passed on lamb ! I don’t think many teams saw him as a first round talent.”
That is the only part of your post that I quoted because that was the part that I feel you were so off with.

In response to my question, you talk about watching him play as a Cowboy and a drop he had vs. the Giants. That has nothing to do with how teams viewed him prior to the draft. You talk about how some top 20 picks don’t pan out… which, again, has nothing to do with his stock before he was drafted. You not anointing him before his rookie season and you talking about needing to see him this season, also have zero to do with how teams saw him pre-draft.

So, I’m still wondering how you know that “not many” teams had a first round grade on CeeDee?

ok 16 teams passed on him, as a rd 1 pick. that is half the league.
if dallas doesnt pick him we cannot know where he would have been picked, it would all be speculation.

If other teams thought he was a great player, and would be great in nfl, 16 teams would not have passed on him.
A TE was grabbed at what 5 this last draft. So I dont think and it is just imo that other teams the 1st 16 did not see him as
a worthy rd 1 pick.
So, I’m still wondering how you know that “not many” teams had a first round grade on CeeDee.........we will never know that

 

[doomsday9084]

Can someone here tell me what the advantages are of a player with longer arms?

Obviously you can reach thrown balls a little bit further away but its a matter of inches. A fast player or a guy with a big vertical is going to have significantly more range than a slow guy with long arms. The only consistent thing I can think of is in man to man physical situations where longer arms give you an advantage over your opponent but is it really that much more of a factor than size, speed and strength?

I get that having longer arms is better than having short arms but I just don't see that its such a huge advantage that you would prioritize it over everything else. It seems like a weird thing to prioritize. If someone said the cowboys were prioritizing athleticism or something, I would get it but this?

 

[ondaedg]

Marinelli's quick twitch fetish has been replaced by Quinn's obsession with length.

I expect similar results.

I don't think it's the player fetishes the coaches have. Marinelli's defense was an offensive coordinators dream to play against due to the predictability especially of the front seven. Hopefully Quinn will be the nightmare.

 

[CouchCoach]

I find it interesting how much buzz the Legion of Boom still gets and how little the best front 7 in the league, at that time, gets mentioned. Avril, Bennett and Wagner were at the top of their game with Wagner being the best MLB in the league without the credit.

Would they have become the LoB without that front 7? They were a very good secondary, not unlike the one the Cowboys had in the 90's. But that front 7, that was the magic.

It seems that Quinn is more focused on the first line of defense because he knows he must stop the run first or his secondary is going to be tackling a lot more RB's than he'd like.

I like this secondary, young, hungry and got some speed. But they need a stout front 7 and I like that they spent some FA dough and draft capital on that.

The more time Quinn spends with this D, the more I believe Booger that Parsons was always the guy.

 

[johneric8]

Can someone here tell me what the advantages are of a player with longer arms?

Obviously you can reach thrown balls a little bit further away but its a matter of inches. A fast player or a guy with a big vertical is going to have significantly more range than a slow guy with long arms. The only consistent thing I can think of is in man to man physical situations where longer arms give you an advantage over your opponent but is it really that much more of a factor than size, speed and strength?

I get that having longer arms is better than having short arms but I just don't see that its such a huge advantage that you would prioritize it over everything else. It seems like a weird thing to prioritize. If someone said the cowboys were prioritizing athleticism or something, I would get it but this?

It's not just long arms! If this was the case they would sign Edward scissor hands... It's about talent first. Think about it, height is valued in quarterbacks right? Same thing.