As far as the DT interior goes:
Maliek: –as what’s been much of his career, he will continue to flash and have mere moments here and there on occasions, he may have 2 tackles for losses, and half a sack. But the problem is he will have those kind of moments over a 3 game span vs having them all in one game. More tease than substance. You won't see a guy that is consistently getting in the backfield and changing the dynamics of interior trenches. - and don'tcha feel it’s only a matte of time before those usual wheels-injuries creep upon him as what usually happens yearly with him?
- Crawford: continues to do his best work when he is in nickel rush packages in the interior, as seen by his stunt/twist move to the outside to lone sack vs Skins.
If he is starting or subbing at DE, he easily gets handled by most OTs. So if/when he is out, we lose some ability at nickel DT. Waiting on vet Kerry Hyder to take up slack as he basically
a Crawford type role player.
- A. Woods: " Human Log " come and goes too often to me, I didn’t care for how he does so well at home/but struggled on road vs run in 2018.
Imo, He’s just serviceable enough until we can get a more impact 1 tech guy.
- Covington: This is guy I’m watching out more than “ Human Log “ but not sure if he is enough of full time difference maker and if he can sustain more than just in rotation packages.
But he was after the QB vs Miami on a couple occasions including a hit on Rosen that took him out of game for a short time. I’d like to see how he fairs in this 4-3 vs Texan’s 3-4 long term wise.
T. Hill – rookie clearly a work in progress, but he showed some mobility, hustle, pursuit ability in his NFL debut. I still want to re-watch his work vs Fin's in limited rotation role.
But questions remain if Trysten will continue to get rotation snaps and game -day active once both Crawford and Woods are due to return.
- Team may be taking look at reserve DE joe Jackson inside at nickel to see if he helps to get a push. Expect a lot of experimenting and change up packages inside as season goes on.
This unit overall could prove to be our Achilles heel come playoff time.
- The kind of sheer ability and impact performance the Cowboys would love in the interior is David Irving 2017 short year where between 4 game suspension and 4-5 games missed
due to high ankle sprain- he still amassed 7 sacks in just 8 games in just rotation/nickel role.
But we don’t have that kind of player on this roster at this time.
