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The Cowboys don’t really employ any shorties in their secondary unit; there are no Vegetas or first-form Friezas in their group of DBs. Dallas has some length as their corners have arms which allow them to play a bit bigger than what they truly are. What Dallas has isn’t what Seattle had in their hey-day though, and that could be on the verge of changing as the 2019 NFL draft approaches.
One of the first things noticed in Kris Richard’s inaugural season as secondary coach was the team didn’t provide him with new toys to play with. Dallas didn’t spend any draft or free agency capital on defensive backs which fit Richard’s famous physical profile from his time as coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks. Is that all about to change, is the group about to go Super-Saiyan?
During the team’s pre-draft presser on Wednesday, executive VP Stephen Jones answered a question about whether or not the Cowboys will start to trend towards Richard’s preferred style of defensive backs.
Seattle liked their DBs really tall and really long, so it struck me as strange the Cowboys’ front office didn’t get Richard anyone with pedigree that fit the bill in 2018.
Richard proved he knows how to orchestrate a defense, and he proved he was interested in staying with the Cowboys and wasn’t in town as a pit stop to a head coaching gig. He has been given power over the defense, and now there’s a need to get him what he deems necessary to thrive.
Dallas signed George Iloka this offseason, a match-up safety who stands almost 6-foot-4, but he’s more of a rotational guy than what would be considered a starting safety. His salary reflects that’s how the league thinks about him. With the draft coming up there’s opportunity to correct that. Knowing what we know about taking the Cowboys at their word in this presser, fans should know Dallas is walking away with at least one taller DB this draft.
Since Jason Garrett’s first full year as head coach (2011), Dallas has drafted 14 defensive backs. It would be a stretch, pardon the pun, to say any of them beyond Byron Jones match what Richard looked for in Seattle.
Current Cowboys’ DBs are highlighted in blue. The results highlighted in green represent the peak value for each team’s haul, the red represents the valleys.
There’s a lot to dissect here, but look at the overarching point. There isn’t a single Dallas defensive back drafted since Garrett took over who is as tall as the average defensive back drafted by the Seahawks.
Kavon Frazier, who is buried on the safety depth chart, is the only DB who has arm length longer than the average arm length of a drafted Seattle DB.
Despite what you may think about what Dallas has brought in relative to height and length, they aren’t close to what Richard has been used to. His schematic principles can work with various sizes of secondary players, but he obviously feels the taller, longer guys do it better.
Jourdan Lewis likely can’t get off the bench because of his height. Xavier Woods is getting the feeling he’s looked at as replaceable likely because of his height and short arms.
The numbers are slightly less alarming when comparing the 2018 group of Cowboys’ DBs against the hey-day group of Seahawks’ DBs.
Still, there is plenty of work to be done in adding tall and long players if Dallas’ aim is to duplicate what Richard was given to work with in Seattle.
One interesting note is Dallas has a group of backup safeties who now currently fit the bill.
None of them will likely take on a starting role in 2019, but it certainly is a start in the journey towards what they are searching for.
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One of the first things noticed in Kris Richard’s inaugural season as secondary coach was the team didn’t provide him with new toys to play with. Dallas didn’t spend any draft or free agency capital on defensive backs which fit Richard’s famous physical profile from his time as coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks. Is that all about to change, is the group about to go Super-Saiyan?
During the team’s pre-draft presser on Wednesday, executive VP Stephen Jones answered a question about whether or not the Cowboys will start to trend towards Richard’s preferred style of defensive backs.
How much do you take into account Kris Richard and the kind of players he likes to coach when you start looking at defensive backs?
I think it’s what Jason [Garrett] referred to, I mean Will [McClay] does a great job of interacting with our staff, with Jason with his staff, with Kris Richard, with Rod Marinelli, with Kellen Moore, with Marc Colombo, in terms of the type of football player that they need to have success in those systems.
So it’s critical that we visit and there’s no question we’re looking at some different players than we did 3 or 4 years ago in the defensive backfield based on what Kris likes in a player. The height, I mean it’s obvious you go look at what they had in Seattle in terms of the length of their defensive backs, that’s obviously important to Kris and certainly we focus on that even more now that Kris is in the building. Not to mention the play demeanor and those type of things as well, but that’s why it’s so critical that the communication is at a high, high level with our scouting staff and our coaching staff.
Seattle liked their DBs really tall and really long, so it struck me as strange the Cowboys’ front office didn’t get Richard anyone with pedigree that fit the bill in 2018.
“Power comes in response to a need, not a desire. You have to create that need.” – Goku
Richard proved he knows how to orchestrate a defense, and he proved he was interested in staying with the Cowboys and wasn’t in town as a pit stop to a head coaching gig. He has been given power over the defense, and now there’s a need to get him what he deems necessary to thrive.
Dallas signed George Iloka this offseason, a match-up safety who stands almost 6-foot-4, but he’s more of a rotational guy than what would be considered a starting safety. His salary reflects that’s how the league thinks about him. With the draft coming up there’s opportunity to correct that. Knowing what we know about taking the Cowboys at their word in this presser, fans should know Dallas is walking away with at least one taller DB this draft.
Since Jason Garrett’s first full year as head coach (2011), Dallas has drafted 14 defensive backs. It would be a stretch, pardon the pun, to say any of them beyond Byron Jones match what Richard looked for in Seattle.
Drafted DBs: Seahawks vs Cowboys
Current Cowboys’ DBs are highlighted in blue. The results highlighted in green represent the peak value for each team’s haul, the red represents the valleys.
There’s a lot to dissect here, but look at the overarching point. There isn’t a single Dallas defensive back drafted since Garrett took over who is as tall as the average defensive back drafted by the Seahawks.
Kavon Frazier, who is buried on the safety depth chart, is the only DB who has arm length longer than the average arm length of a drafted Seattle DB.
Despite what you may think about what Dallas has brought in relative to height and length, they aren’t close to what Richard has been used to. His schematic principles can work with various sizes of secondary players, but he obviously feels the taller, longer guys do it better.
Jourdan Lewis likely can’t get off the bench because of his height. Xavier Woods is getting the feeling he’s looked at as replaceable likely because of his height and short arms.
The numbers are slightly less alarming when comparing the 2018 group of Cowboys’ DBs against the hey-day group of Seahawks’ DBs.
Hey-Day Seahawks DBs vs Cowboys 2018 DBs
Still, there is plenty of work to be done in adding tall and long players if Dallas’ aim is to duplicate what Richard was given to work with in Seattle.
One interesting note is Dallas has a group of backup safeties who now currently fit the bill.
None of them will likely take on a starting role in 2019, but it certainly is a start in the journey towards what they are searching for.
Gallery
Full Cowboys 2019 Regular Season Schedule
Gallery
Cowboys 7-round Mock Draft: April 15, 2019
Continue reading...