What is needed to fix the front 7?

[visionary]

-The hope is Kneeland/maybe Golston returning can replace DLaw's production if he departs via fa. They are both considered strong run defenders, but offer little as pass rushers. Could they replace DLaw's sack production? I think they potentially can.

-There is definitely a need for another edge rusher. Pretty much it's Parsons and players clean up after his pressures. Need another alpha pass rusher that can allow Parsons to see more one on one situations. I am expecting another Lawson type of low level signing to go with returning Sam Williams. This is very similar to WR position, 1 elite player has to receive help.

-Defensive Tackle is a complete mess, all they have is Mazi under contract. Personally, I am in the minority, but don't want to resign Osa if he price tag is close to 20 million. Think you can sign a player at the fraction of his market and get similar production like Detroit's, Onzuk. No matter what happens they are going to have to resign Osa or another veteran. Probably have to add more veteran depth at the position as well. This is a draft priority.

-Linebacker is in similar situation as DT, but due to Overshown's injury. Marist is still developing, really needs a veteran presence next to him. Depth is a serious concern as well. Makes sense to add another young linebacker to the group to replace Damone Clark who hasn't become that player we hoped he would become.

This is the problem with Micah as DE
DE and LB both needs still remain
And he will be making 30 million +

 

[Cowboyny]

According to sports reference Nolan played at 304 this season without loosing any quickness. He could probably gain another 8-10 pounds. All he needs is a little coaching up on hand usage to be a dominant inside passer rusher… he’s already been more productive than either Fletcher Cox or Chris Jones were playing in the SEC!

When I watched film on him, always seem to be on the ground

 

[baltcowboy]

-The hope is Kneeland/maybe Golston returning can replace DLaw's production if he departs via fa. They are both considered strong run defenders, but offer little as pass rushers. Could they replace DLaw's sack production? I think they potentially can.

-There is definitely a need for another edge rusher. Pretty much it's Parsons and players clean up after his pressures. Need another alpha pass rusher that can allow Parsons to see more one on one situations. I am expecting another Lawson type of low level signing to go with returning Sam Williams. This is very similar to WR position, 1 elite player has to receive help.

-Defensive Tackle is a complete mess, all they have is Mazi under contract. Personally, I am in the minority, but don't want to resign Osa if he price tag is close to 20 million. Think you can sign a player at the fraction of his market and get similar production like Detroit's, Onzuk. No matter what happens they are going to have to resign Osa or another veteran. Probably have to add more veteran depth at the position as well. This is a draft priority.

-Linebacker is in similar situation as DT, but due to Overshown's injury. Marist is still developing, really needs a veteran presence next to him. Depth is a serious concern as well. Makes sense to add another young linebacker to the group to replace Damone Clark who hasn't become that player we hoped he would become.

At defensive tackle we need to resign Osa and use an 2nd round pick on this strong group of defensive tackles. I think Mazi can be a solid rotation piece with a strong offseason of workouts. So we would have a solid 3 man rotation.

At defensive end I would gamble the Sam can come back healthy because this is his contract year and then offer Gholston a fair contract. I think we should move on from Tank and lastly sign Micah to an extension before March ends.

Linebacker is easier than most believe. You sign a free agent to pair with Marist that is not that costly. I believe Overshown will be back by midseason. Draft a risk injury/behavior linebacker with one of the comp picks.

 

[exciter]

When I watched film on him, always seem to be on the ground

Lol,
What the hell did you watch?

 

[stilltheguru]

When I watched film on him, always seem to be on the ground

Can you provide said video that you watched?

 

[Zekeats]

is there not a major hurdle to climb for numbers minded FO's though. Take Jerry out of this. That talk is so unimportant.

talk to me like this isnt about Jerry or Dak.

if numbers say drafting those guys high is stupid...what is your plan?

I already asked this in another thread and got ghosted.

if the numbers are so instrumental that you cant pass on a WR to pick a D-Lineman early...what is your plan if a FO cant get over the numbers?

At this point...DT/DL is over-running this board....just do some due diligence and pick a couple of guys one year and keep what sticks. if you can only get good ones in higher rounds(no need to distract with, well, if every other team is picking them early why are you so dug in that it is bad to pick them early...thats a lame argument to kill time)

This draft is supposed to be deep at the position. Is forgoing a Lamb or Micah(crap shoot) not more important than shoring up a HUGE need for this team?

I dont get it at all. Its one draft.

Never said reach. Obviously if theres a generational talent available and mediocre you take the gen, but focus needs to be on beefing up the insides out. Strong physical lines always beat fast finesse lines. Look at Detroit. They built up the lines and are just bullies out there. Yeah, they lost to Wash, but don't forget they lost half their defense to injury. A healthy Detroit wins that game by 20.

 

[darthseinfeld]

-The hope is Kneeland/maybe Golston returning can replace DLaw's production if he departs via fa. They are both considered strong run defenders, but offer little as pass rushers. Could they replace DLaw's sack production? I think they potentially can.

-There is definitely a need for another edge rusher. Pretty much it's Parsons and players clean up after his pressures. Need another alpha pass rusher that can allow Parsons to see more one on one situations. I am expecting another Lawson type of low level signing to go with returning Sam Williams. This is very similar to WR position, 1 elite player has to receive help.

-Defensive Tackle is a complete mess, all they have is Mazi under contract. Personally, I am in the minority, but don't want to resign Osa if he price tag is close to 20 million. Think you can sign a player at the fraction of his market and get similar production like Detroit's, Onzuk. No matter what happens they are going to have to resign Osa or another veteran. Probably have to add more veteran depth at the position as well. This is a draft priority.

-Linebacker is in similar situation as DT, but due to Overshown's injury. Marist is still developing, really needs a veteran presence next to him. Depth is a serious concern as well. Makes sense to add another young linebacker to the group to replace Damone Clark who hasn't become that player we hoped he would become.

Osa is probably more in the 15 to 17 range

Even if we bring him back, the menu is open at DT. Mazi improved throughout the year, but him becoming a 3 down DT is very much in doubt. They could go with a big DT, like Grant or Williams or a penetrator like Harmon or Nolan. Im higher on Nolan than most

DE could be a sweet spot. Williams could fall to that range. If not, Pearce is a day impact player. Basically a combination of Sam Williams and DeMarcus Lawrence as prospects. Nic Scourton is a bit polarizing and I need to watch him more, he gets mocked in that zone. Im not nearly as high on Jalen Carter as some. I think he is an "Ooooo Ahhhh" prospect that will wind up more like Bruce Irvin as a pro. I dont like DE/OLB hybrids too.

 

[darthseinfeld]

I'm assuming your mean osa at 5 tech on run downs because on passing downs he needs to be in the middle with a legit rookie. Playing people like dlaw and Armstrong at dt on passing downs only works on trash teams.

So any plan on bolstering the front 4 has to involve Osa.

What would you rather go with, a big DT like Grant or Williams or a penetrator like Harmon or Nolan

Do you think Mazi can become an effective pass down DT?

 

[darthseinfeld]

too much missing info to even try to fix this

Before I say what it will take to fix the front 7, who is the DC and what defense will they be based out of? Yes I know they will often end up in a nickel variant.

Not that you are wrong, but I will say that legitimately good players can thrive in any system

 

[Cowboyny]

Osa is probably more in the 15 to 17 range

Even if we bring him back, the menu is open at DT. Mazi improved throughout the year, but him becoming a 3 down DT is very much in doubt. They could go with a big DT, like Grant or Williams or a penetrator like Harmon or Nolan. Im higher on Nolan than most

DE could be a sweet spot. Williams could fall to that range. If not, Pearce is a day impact player. Basically a combination of Sam Williams and DeMarcus Lawrence as prospects. Nic Scourton is a bit polarizing and I need to watch him more, he gets mocked in that zone. Im not nearly as high on Jalen Carter as some. I think he is an "Ooooo Ahhhh" prospect that will wind up more like Bruce Irvin as a pro. I dont like DE/OLB hybrids too.

Edge is certainly a need, but it won't matter if this defense continues to struggle against the run. I don't care if they have to play 2 NT's on the early downs and sacrifice some pass rush. This is the draft full of elite NT, 1 Tech's. Cowboys management has to get over that they already used a 1st rd pick on Mazi and that they won't consider a non pass rush DT early in the draft.

Perfect world you find a DT who can do both. If we didn't have so many needs, I would consider moving up to land Graham. Who is the next best balanced DT in this class, one who is strong against the run and has pass rush abilities? Harmon/Nolan, but I also think Grant has potential in that area as well for some development. Draft one and goes a long way of fixing the team's biggest weakness of stopping the run. This helps the defense from getting off the field and in turn helps the offense.

 

[Cowboyny]

Can you provide said video that you watched?

I watched Nolen early in the process when I was looking at all the top DT's. I will try to go back and give you some examples.

 

[Cowboyny]

At defensive tackle we need to resign Osa and use an 2nd round pick on this strong group of defensive tackles. I think Mazi can be a solid rotation piece with a strong offseason of workouts. So we would have a solid 3 man rotation.

At defensive end I would gamble the Sam can come back healthy because this is his contract year and then offer Gholston a fair contract. I think we should move on from Tank and lastly sign Micah to an extension before March ends.

Linebacker is easier than most believe. You sign a free agent to pair with Marist that is not that costly. I believe Overshown will be back by midseason. Draft a risk injury/behavior linebacker with one of the comp picks.

If you can make Osa more of a rotational piece that would be better, but a rotational piece at 20 million is too rich. We need to fix this run defense once and for all. I don't care if we have to sacrifice some pass rush, it won't matter until this weakness has been fixed.

 

[baltcowboy]

If you can make Osa more of a rotational piece that would be better, but a rotational piece at 20 million is too rich. We need to fix this run defense once and for all. I don't care if we have to sacrifice some pass rush, it won't matter until this weakness has been fixed.

Osa has us over a barrel. I bet they consider franchising him. I will say this I wouldn’t have extended him last offseason but he is a top 6 pass rusher for a tackle.

 

[Cowboyny]

DE:
I think Kneeland was drafted to replace D-Law if he leaves. We need Williams to come back fully healthy. If he doesn't we could be in deep poopoo for pass rushers to help Micah. That is why I think DE has a very real possibility to be drafted at 12. Carter if he falls is a no brainer but doubt he makes it to us. Pearce and Green are both very much in consideration to me.

DT:
I hope they can afford to re-sign Odiggy. He's been better than ave at 3T over the last 2 seasons. If we lose him we could be in big trouble because we have all but zero at 1T/NT. Mazi has been ave at best so far. Either way I'm all for drafting a DT high or signing a good FA to come in, probably both actually.

LB:
Overshown is a stud, but he won't be back until Dec at the earliest and actually may never be quite the same. Marist seems to be progressing but Clarke hasn't. Kendricks played better than I expected, but how long can he keep that up? Nick V is a decent back up/jag. IMHO LB is a huge need for this team. I'm really leaning towards taking J Campbell at 44, if he makes it there. If we miss out on him we could be in trouble as it's not a great class.

-We aren't sure how Overshown is going to be after another major knee injury, will he lose his explosiveness?
-Run defense remains the team's biggest weakness, won't matter if we have an elite pass rush if they are always in run/pass situations.

 

[Cowboyny]

Osa has us over a barrel. I bet they consider franchising him. I will say this I wouldn’t have extended him last offseason but he is a top 6 pass rusher for a tackle.

I am not paying 20 million for a 3T that averages 3 sacks per season.

 

[darthseinfeld]

Edge is certainly a need, but it won't matter if this defense continues to struggle against the run. I don't care if they have to play 2 NT's on the early downs and sacrifice some pass rush. This is the draft full of elite NT, 1 Tech's. Cowboys management has to get over that they already used a 1st rd pick on Mazi and that they won't consider a non pass rush DT early in the draft.

Perfect world you find a DT who can do both. If we didn't have so many needs, I would consider moving up to land Graham. Who is the next best balanced DT in this class, one who is strong against the run and has pass rush abilities? Harmon/Nolan, but I also think Grant has potential in that area as well for some development. Draft one and goes a long way of fixing the team's biggest weakness of stopping the run. This helps the defense from getting off the field and in turn helps the offense.

Williams, Pearce and Scourton are all good defenders on the edge. Pearce plays bigger than his size, and will eventually play in 260's. People box him in as a pass rush specialist. Thats incorrect. Id be happy with any of the three. All three are 3 down guys

Fixing the run defense has to come from more than just the draft. You need internal development (Smith, Kneeland, Liufau). You need to add vets in FA.

 

[baltcowboy]

I am not paying 20 million for a 3T that averages 3 sacks per season.

I bet you wouldn’t have paid Pollard 10 million coming off of a broken leg or Steele top 5 right tackle money off of a ACL. Osa is better than both and he is healthy.

 

[Risen Star]

Two new DTs and a strong side DE. Unless Kneeland can improve.

Our DL is trash.

 

[cnuball21]

Easy…re sign Osa, sign another solid vet DT in FA and draft another DT in the 1st 3 rounds.

Sign a vet LBr and draft a LB.

Bring back Lawson or someone similar and draft and Edge.

Will the Cowboys do it? No…they’ll say they can’t be active in FA bc of Dak’s contract which is a lie.

 

[cnuball21]

Williams, Pearce and Scourton are all good defenders on the edge. Pearce plays bigger than his size, and will eventually play in 260's. People box him in as a pass rush specialist. Thats incorrect. Id be happy with any of the three. All three are 3 down guys

Fixing the run defense has to come from more than just the draft. You need internal development (Smith, Kneeland, Liufau). You need to add vets in FA.

Pearce is special IMO…one of my favorite targets at 12 and thinks he’s a guy that would feast on 1:1s opposite 11.