What type of defense do we really want?

[Cowboyny]

Over the Marinelli years, all of us often complained that his scheme was far too simplistic. It wasn't opponent specific, not much disguise, success on defense was more execution based. It allowed young prospects to play relatively early in their careers due to the simplicity of the scheme. We are all aware that his scheme was exposed in that Ram playoff loss and was bad ever since. Last season, even the worst starting QB's around the league, were having success against this defense. Change was needed.

This year has been an utter disaster. Shortened off-season didn't help, where the coaches, players, front office deserve to share the blame. Mike Nolan will become the scapegoat, but they need major changes are needed to turn around this unit. Need the right DC that the team believes in, need to allow him to bring in his own staff, so everyone is on the same page, need to bring in scheme specific players. It is utter garbage what MM said, we will draft the best players, not ones who better fit the scheme.

The simplistic scheme Marinelli ran only took us so far, if this team truly wants to become a legit contender, they are going to need a modern, diverse, talented, defense to get them there. If players don't fit, get rid of them, if they aren't smart enough, do the same. This unit is so bad, they can almost start from scratch.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Over the Marinelli years, all of us often complained that his scheme was far too simplistic. It wasn't opponent specific, not much disguise, success on defense was more execution based. It allowed young prospects to play relatively early in their careers due to the simplicity of the scheme. We are all aware that his scheme was exposed in that Ram playoff loss and was bad ever since. Last season, even the worst starting QB's around the league, were having success against this defense. Change was needed.

This year has been an utter disaster. Shortened off-season didn't help, where the coaches, players, front office deserve to share the blame. Mike Nolan will become the scapegoat, but they need major changes are needed to turn around this unit. Need the right DC that the team believes in, need to allow him to bring in his own staff, so everyone is on the same page, need to bring in scheme specific players. It is utter garbage what MM said, we will draft the best players, not ones who better fit the scheme.

The simplistic scheme Marinelli ran only took us so far, if this team truly wants to become a legit contender, they are going to need a modern, diverse, talented, defense to get them there. If players don't fit, get rid of them, if they aren't smart enough, do the same. This unit is so bad, they can almost start from scratch.

Amazing.................you dance around blaming every little thing besides what the real big issue is and thats that these players just suck. lack of talent.

Marinelli is the #1 culprit for that as he was passing on great players because they didnt fit his scheme and telling them to draft raw recruits like Taco and Hill that he thought he could magically coach up. Then you can blame Jerry, then Garrett for wanting some fool like Zeke over Ramsey.

Get ANY DC you want, until the talent gets serious upgrade at all 3 levels, this defense will continue to be bad. Its going to take two more good years of drafting mostly defense and taking Zeke, Jaylon, Cooper money and applying that towards the defense.

Dak is going to have to earn his big contract by playing without a great Oline and without the security of a great RG going forward. Which personally, I am not worried about as he has been doing that for a year and a half already and doing it well.

 

[Parcells4Life]

Give me the blitzing 4-3 like Jim Johnson had in Philly and Spagnuolo has learned from him.

It destroyed any team that had a weak OL as the Cowboys can attest to in the early 2000s. It is the best neutralizer for pocket QBs which Brady admits.

If you’re looking for something that would stop Mahomes, there isn’t.

 

[jaythecowboy]

Amazing.................you dance around blaming every little thing besides what the real big issue is and thats that these players just suck. lack of talent.

Marinelli is the #1 culprit for that as he was passing on great players because they didnt fit his scheme and telling them to draft raw recruits like Taco and Hill that he thought he could magically coach up. Then you can blame Jerry, then Garrett for wanting some fool like Zeke over Ramsey.

Get ANY DC you want, until the talent gets serious upgrade at all 3 levels, this defense will continue to be bad. Its going to take two more good years of drafting mostly defense and taking Zeke, Jaylon, Cooper money and applying that towards the defense.

Dak is going to have to earn his big contract by playing without a great Oline and without the security of a great RG going forward. Which personally, I am not worried about as he has been doing that for a year and a half already and doing it well.

That is overkill. There is no way you should need $50 million dollars and 2 years of drafting defense to have a good one. Either/or should be enough.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

The last time we had a top D, Wade Phillips was the DC, using the 3-4 scheme. Two years ago the 49ers had one of the best Dlines in the league using the 4-3 scheme. Lately, we've had to read about how good/great the WFT D is, especially the DLine. Then you see the Bucs have turned their D around in less than 3 years. I remember after we lost the playoff game to the Packers almost ten years ago, the first thing Stephen Jones said after to loss, we will fix this during the offseason ........guess what, we're still waiting. My point is, I'm not sure scheme or DC matters that much until Jerry and Stephen value a top defense as much as an offense. It's not hard to see they want the league's BEST offense with defense to get by.
No question Nolan has had his issues and will likely be fired, but let's be honest, this D was a mess before he came. Notice how we tried to cover the Dline issues with a quick fix by signing what 4-5 free agents ( McCoy, Griffen, Poe, Smith ).

So for me, other than getting Dak signed, I'd like to see every cap space dollar AND draft picks invested exclusively in the D over the next two years.

 

[fivetwos]

Over the Marinelli years, all of us often complained that his scheme was far too simplistic. It wasn't opponent specific, not much disguise, success on defense was more execution based. It allowed young prospects to play relatively early in their careers due to the simplicity of the scheme. We are all aware that his scheme was exposed in that Ram playoff loss and was bad ever since. Last season, even the worst starting QB's around the league, were having success against this defense. Change was needed.

This year has been an utter disaster. Shortened off-season didn't help, where the coaches, players, front office deserve to share the blame. Mike Nolan will become the scapegoat, but they need major changes are needed to turn around this unit. Need the right DC that the team believes in, need to allow him to bring in his own staff, so everyone is on the same page, need to bring in scheme specific players. It is utter garbage what MM said, we will draft the best players, not ones who better fit the scheme.

The simplistic scheme Marinelli ran only took us so far, if this team truly wants to become a legit contender, they are going to need a modern, diverse, talented, defense to get them there. If players don't fit, get rid of them, if they aren't smart enough, do the same. This unit is so bad, they can almost start from scratch.

Nice post and thanks.

You're very right, but the problem is simple....they are trying to run Nolans multi front thing with the players that are used to Marinellis simplicity.

I'm all for something that shows multi looks, but it's going to take a while since they dont sign viable free agents. Probably 2-3 offseasons by which time other holes pop up.

That's the Jones way. Hope that we all hope.

 

[CapnB]

Type of defense where we keep about 3 to 4 players we have now and get rid of the other 7 to 8

 

[jazzcat22]

No matter what type defense it still comes down to the players learning and executing the scheme, game plans and plays.
Also need smart players. We have not had too many of them so it seems.

I prefer a 4-3 team that blitzes at the right time. And that does not mean on 3rd down every time. But also need the players with speed to actually get to the QB, not "almost" got there.
Can't have a player like that at every position, but they need more than they have.

 

[USArmyVet]

Amazing.................you dance around blaming every little thing besides what the real big issue is and thats that these players just suck. lack of talent.

Marinelli is the #1 culprit for that as he was passing on great players because they didnt fit his scheme and telling them to draft raw recruits like Taco and Hill that he thought he could magically coach up. Then you can blame Jerry, then Garrett for wanting some fool like Zeke over Ramsey.

Get ANY DC you want, until the talent gets serious upgrade at all 3 levels, this defense will continue to be bad. Its going to take two more good years of drafting mostly defense and taking Zeke, Jaylon, Cooper money and applying that towards the defense.

Dak is going to have to earn his big contract by playing without a great Oline and without the security of a great RG going forward. Which personally, I am not worried about as he has been doing that for a year and a half already and doing it well.

While we would have been better off having drafting Safety Juan Thornhill over POS DT Trystin Hill, don't forget the idiots in charge that drafted Taco Charlton over TJ Watt in 2017 and the same ones that took an injury project in LB LVE over LB Darius Leonard (picked 17 picks later by Indy) in 2018 as well as taking an injured LB Jaylon Smith over DT Chris Smith in 2016.

Just imagine a defense with the likes of LB's Darius Leonard and TJ Watt along with DT Chris Smith and S Juan Thornhill on defense........just 4 picks chosen differently would have changed the overall look of this defense dramatically.

 

[Jipper]

at this point I would settle for one that is not historically bad

how my standards have dropped

 

[QuincyCarterEra]

One that can lead to vet minimum players consistently have career years, and a defense that despite a lack of talent still prevented points.

Oh wait.... that's what we had before Richard got here.

 

[nightrain]

Complex schemes require players who are smart and disciplined enough to put a lot of work in watching film studying opponents. Most NFL players have physical gifts, it's the players who can add intangibles like work ethic, smarts and drive to their resume who excel in the league.

The culture in Dallas is toxic for such a hard line, performance based business like football and has likely poisoned many on the current roster. It's likely going to take some reengineering of ways and means in Dallas to foster an environment of self motivation. It looks to me like the Cowboys are pretty much a show up and play on Sunday group with not much going on M-F except physical conditioning and on field practice (going through the motions).

Jones is worst type of person you an have running an NFL team. When the boss is the biggest fan, excuses and manufactured praise seep into the organization, eroding the edge necessary to maintain mental toughness and a killer's instinct. Players conform to the lack of accountability and become complacent and unmotivated relative to their peers.

No scheme can work if the players have not bought in are not putting the work in. Have to change the culture before you worry about the scheme.

 

[foofighters]

Over the Marinelli years, all of us often complained that his scheme was far too simplistic. It wasn't opponent specific, not much disguise, success on defense was more execution based. It allowed young prospects to play relatively early in their careers due to the simplicity of the scheme. We are all aware that his scheme was exposed in that Ram playoff loss and was bad ever since. Last season, even the worst starting QB's around the league, were having success against this defense. Change was needed.

This year has been an utter disaster. Shortened off-season didn't help, where the coaches, players, front office deserve to share the blame. Mike Nolan will become the scapegoat, but they need major changes are needed to turn around this unit. Need the right DC that the team believes in, need to allow him to bring in his own staff, so everyone is on the same page, need to bring in scheme specific players. It is utter garbage what MM said, we will draft the best players, not ones who better fit the scheme.

The simplistic scheme Marinelli ran only took us so far, if this team truly wants to become a legit contender, they are going to need a modern, diverse, talented, defense to get them there. If players don't fit, get rid of them, if they aren't smart enough, do the same. This unit is so bad, they can almost start from scratch.

One that stops the offense...

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

Amazing.................you dance around blaming every little thing besides what the real big issue is and thats that these players just suck. lack of talent.

Marinelli is the #1 culprit for that as he was passing on great players because they didnt fit his scheme and telling them to draft raw recruits like Taco and Hill that he thought he could magically coach up. Then you can blame Jerry, then Garrett for wanting some fool like Zeke over Ramsey.

Get ANY DC you want, until the talent gets serious upgrade at all 3 levels, this defense will continue to be bad. Its going to take two more good years of drafting mostly defense and taking Zeke, Jaylon, Cooper money and applying that towards the defense.

Dak is going to have to earn his big contract by playing without a great Oline and without the security of a great RG going forward. Which personally, I am not worried about as he has been doing that for a year and a half already and doing it well.

Are you dak's mother? Are you dak's agent?
Shameful the way you dance around every excuse except when it comes to the coddled dak.
THE EVENTUAL FINAL NAIL IN THE COFFIN WILL BE FOOLISLY PAYING DAK HIS MONIES AND IGNORING THE DEFENCE AND BRINGING IN CHEAP CHUMPS THAT JERRY LIKES!

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

While we would have been better off having drafting Safety Juan Thornhill over POS DT Trystin Hill, don't forget the idiots in charge that drafted Taco Charlton over TJ Watt in 2017 and the same ones that took an injury project in LB LVE over LB Darius Leonard (picked 17 picks later by Indy) in 2018 as well as taking an injured LB Jaylon Smith over DT Chris Smith in 2016.

Just imagine a defense with the likes of LB's Darius Leonard and TJ Watt along with DT Chris Smith and S Juan Thornhill on defense........just 4 picks chosen differently would have changed the overall look of this defense dramatically.

Yes, we sorely need a crystal ball for drafts.

 

[Mr_437]

I like McClay, but dude can't draft defense for nothing. It's about the players...this team doesn't have much talent on defense. Doesn't matter the alignment when guys don't bite.

 

[G2]

By drafting players that can contribute. Stop overreaching for players like Taco Charlton, Gregory, Claiborne, etc.... Get players that are ready to go, ready to make plays. No drug problems, no arrest record, no injury history. Just get solid players. Jerry Jones continues to play with his Ant Farm and put his faith in players that barely do anything.

Next, let a legit coordinator take over. Not a retread. Not a "Local guy." Not a promotion within. A different culture.

We need a defense that has some balls. That has Moxi. That wants to smash the opposing offense and destroy them. Not help them up off the field and pat their backside. Mean.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Aggressive.

 

[visionary]

1. Innovative aggressive DC
2. Smart players who love football
3. Great 1T and 3T DT
4. Strong intelligent MLB
5. Very very good FS
6. Very very good RDE
7. Decent/good CB and SS

A consistently great defense is always always built up the middle

 

[USArmyVet]

Yes, we sorely need a crystal ball for drafts.

Doesn't take a crystal ball to know Watt was better than Taco, that Dallas needed a safety and not a known lazy DT, and not to draft a busted up LB in Smith.