What do you think of this DL to start the season?

[Irvin88_4life]

I think it goes

Irving, Thornton, T. Crawford, Mayowa

With backups

J. Crawford, McClain, Collins, Russell

Tapper and Jenkins rotating if need be

 

[xwalker]

My 1st team DL to start the season.

T.Crawford...... Thornton......T.McClain.......B.Mayowa

with Irving, J.Crawford, M.Collins, Tapper rotating keeping them fresh.

everyone focuses on DE, but if we can get some sort of pressure out of a couple of these guys, mixed in with a blitz every now and then, we should be ok.

T. Crawford has not taken a snap at DE. Thornton and McClain have both been playing the 1-tech DT spot, not the 3-tech spot.

The starting lineup:
Mayo
T. Crawford
McClain or Thorton
Jack Crawford or Irving

 

[jday]

Again to an extent. Carolina avg 31 points a game their defense ranked 6th in the NFL and 6th in sacks.

I don't think it is that rare for teams to have both offense and defense that one does not suck.

looking at this line and even comparing it to 2014 is a bit of a reach, we don't know. 2014 defense was good at getting turnovers and I think they did great considering we lacked a lot of talent and had injuries to guys like Lee. However walking into 2016 we don't know, right now it is one big guess what this DL and defense in general will do. There are few star players on this defense and they are weak vs the run from what I have seen thus far and they get no pass rush. Irving is a guy we are counting on yet he has managed a half of a sack and he is going to be our pass rusher? I hope he is but based on what he has done it is nothing more than potential. Ryan Russell 0 sacks, Benson Mayowa in 3 season has a total of 2 sacks. Gregory will be out 10 games and in the meantime you have to worry will he test positive again before the 10 weeks is over, he already failed after being given 4 games which lead to the 10. The of course is Lawrence who seems to be the most consistent yet is out 4 games. My hope is the defense steps up but just looking at it with no bias one way or the other it does not bode well. I can hope but right now that is all it is hope

Do you want sacks? Absolutely. Is there a direct correlation between sacks and winning? Not necessarily. But I get it. If you had your druthers, the Cowboys would also fielding a decent pass rush. I'm with you on that...I just don't think it is as important to winning as many people seem to think.

 

[Stash]

I'm not expecting huge returns from him, but at the same time I'm not going to completely discount him.

I am. The only thing he's proven thus far is to be completely unreliable. Until that changes, I refuse to rely on him, and the Cowboys should too.

 

[jday]

I am. The only thing he's proven thus far is to be completely unreliable. Until that changes, I refuse to rely on him, and the Cowboys should too.

I wouldn't say you should rely on him. That's a bit strong. But, here's the other thing to take into consideration. In my lifetime the majority of top tier pass rushers very rarely do anything their first year. So on one hand I get we shouldn't rely on him however, on the other hand, that doesn't mean we should completely write him off as a bust already...tad bit soon, don't you think? I understand the frustration with his suspensions. I get it completely and wouldn't bat an eye if they cut him for it. But if they think he is salvageable, I am also on board with that.

 

[Stash]

I wouldn't say you should rely on him. That's a bit strong. But, here's the other thing to take into consideration. In my lifetime the majority of top tier pass rushers very rarely do anything their first year. So on one hand I get we shouldn't rely on him however, on the other hand, that doesn't mean we should completely write him off as a bust already...tad bit soon, don't you think? I understand the frustration with his suspensions. I get it completely and wouldn't bat an eye if they cut him for it. But if they think he is salvageable, I am also on board with that.

I'm not against that. I'm against anything having to do with planning on that. No decisions should be made that in any way depend on Randy Gregory. Everything should be done keeping in mind the very real possibility that he never plays football again.

Better to treat any contributions from him as a bonus at this point rather than to plan on them and be disappointed yet again.