Giants-Style Pass Rush May Already Be In House
I’m on record as saying that the Giants upset of the Patriots would not have been possible if the ‘07 Cowboys had held home field and represented the NFC in Arizona. I stick by that assertion; I did not see consistent push from anybody other than
Demarcus Ware and
Greg Ellis during the season, though
Jay Ratliff had streaks of inside push.
That doesn’t mean the Cowboys don’t have the horses to generate the type of rush New York created. If you’ll recall, their regular ends
Osi Umenyiora and
Michael Strahan had strong games, and the Patriots guards had no answer for
Justin Tuck, who brought power and speed up the gut and for
Barry Cofield, who generated late push.
The Giants stayed in their base 4-3 most of the game, but had the numbers to run an inside rotation, as the Cowboys did in the ’90s when they had
five DTs —
Russell Maryland, Tony Casillas, Leon Lett, Jimmie Jones and
Chad Hennings — who could get you. The starters Maryland and Casillas were the least gifted rushers who could clog up running lanes. Lett and Jones were quick, powerful inside sneaks who came into the game fresh and could embarrass guards and centers as the game wore on and fatigue set in — just like Tuck did in the middle quarters of the Super Bowl.
The conditions were not right for the Cowboys to paste together their version of an ‘07 Giants-style rush or an early ’90s Cowboys style rush, but these guys will be key to unleashing that rush this year:
–
Todd Grantham. The new DL coach is known for teaching technique and a source I trust told me he will be a big upgrade over the departed
Kacey Rogers, whom my guy and another source faulted for not getting the most out of his talent. We all saw what
John Garrett did to upgrade the tight ends’ play last year. If Grantham can bring out that type of change, we’ll see the Cowboys team sack numbers jump up to 6 to 10 over all this year.
–
Tank Johnson/Jay Ratliff. I’m listing these guys as a single entry, because they feed off each other. Ratliff has been the Cowboys version of
Justin Tuck, a late round draftee who showed early on that he had the power to rush inside. The Cowboys gave him a big extension last year based on his rush skills. But Ratliff had to play the vast majority of the snaps at nose tackle because of
Jason Ferguson’s bicep injury in the season opener. For the first half of the season, he manned this spot alone.
It’s hard to be a situational rusher when you’re trying to hold your ground on first and second down running plays. Nose tackle is an attrition position and the high number of downs didn’t help Ratliff’s production. Johnson was signed mid-season to take early down snaps at the nose, but he was rusty and was not familiar with the technique the Cowboys wanted, according to
Wade Phillips. A full offseason of conditioning and coaching should let the Tank take a lot more run downs, and let Jay Ratliff be the Jay Ratliff we saw in ‘05 and ‘06. Ratliff only notched three sacks last year. He’s got the talent to get twice that many.
–
Jason Hatcher. Aside from
Tony Romo, Jason Hatcher was the most exciting player I saw the first week of training camp last year. Here’s what I wrote about him last July 30:
Keep a close eye on
Jason Hatcher when the Cowboys play the Colts next week. He offers the best hope of being
Demarcus Ware’s partner in crime early this year. The defensive coaches have put Hatcher at LE and let him master that spot. He’s supplying steady pressure right in the QB’s face.
He’s eating up everybody who tries to block him.
Pat McQuistan got the better of Demarcus Ware on a few plays, but Hatcher whipped him off the edge. Hatcher abused [James] Marten with a vicious spin move. He’s got a mini repertoire now and the lineman can’t figure him out. In addition
he’s got the most explosive first step among the d-linemen. It’s not even close. Cross your fingers and toes that he has a breakout season. The Cowboys rush needs him — badly.
A few days after I wrote this, Hatcher suffered a hamstring injury running wind sprints under Rogers’ direction.
Jerry Jones was apparently incensed by this and chewed Rogers out in full view. Jones’ reaction may have been a bit harsh but his anger was founded; Hatcher was not the same player when he returned. The explosion was gone. He’s got the skills to be
Chris Canty’s bookend in the base three man line and be a rotational force on passing downs.
–
Chris Canty. He had a mini breakout season. He was the immovable force on run downs at RE and showed a strong pass rush in key situations. He had a very important sack in the second Giants game when the score was tied and the teams were trading haymakers in the center of the field. He’s got all the talent in the world but had only 4 sacks last year. Grantham could turn him into a seven to eight sack guy. If Grantham does that, Canty will go to Honolulu next February — and Jerry Jones will be glad he signed Canty to a long extension
before his game exploded.
