Why DC must address DT or MLB if possible over CB

[Parcells4Life]

while I'll preface this by saying you don't want to force yourself to a certain position if it's going to be a reach, here's why Dallas needs DT and MLB over CB.

1) remember the team got no inside push against the 1-legged man Rodgers. That is the reason even over Dez's catch they lost. You could have 2 Deion's in the secondary and it won't matter if 1 legged QBs can slice you apart because of lack of pressure up the middle. Also the line couldn't stop the run at all in the 4th of some games last year and it's the same line right now as last year. Multiple Reinforcements are needed and Hardy doesn't count due to suspension.

2) MLB - McClain is out 1st 4 games and with concussion issues who knows how long he can play when he comes back. Lee is a liability for health. Hitchens is awesome but why have him play 4 games at MLB then move to SLB after. It's better to keep at one position the whole year. Right now there's no dependent MLB for 16 games which is critical in this D.

3) I'm of the opinion CBs are like great defensive guards in the NBA are now. Rules don't allow anyone to be dominant you just want guys that can contest and wrap up to not allow big plays. I think if you fix the line you can get corners in the 3rd and 4th and be in good shape. I hope Dallas trades down so it can get 5 picks in first 4 rounds.

 

[silver]

2) MLB - McClain is out 1st 4 games .

I believe McClain is only facing a 4-game fine, not a suspension.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

I'll say this, if the value is there, take a DT, but these guys bust almost as much as QBs do. This fact gets hidden a bit by the 3-4 DEs and NTs that seem to be safer picks, largely due to them being asked to do less, but 4-3 DTs are tough to predict.

 

[XxTDxX]

They like Crawford a lot as that 3 technique which is the DT position that they value. I think they figure that between Hayden, Terrell McClain, Chris Whaley, Davon Coleman, Josh Brent and Ken Bishop they will have some options for their 1 technique.

As for the Middle Linebacker I completely disagree. On Talkin' Cowboys on Dallascowboys.com I have heard Bryan Broaddus and others on multiple occasions say that the Cowboys coaching staff likes Hitchens best as a MLB. This means you have McClain/Hitchens/Brinkley at MLB and Lee/Hitchens/Rivers at WLB. If they draft a MLB in the first 2 rounds they are pretty much saying that Hitchens is at best a backup going forward. I think we saw enough out of Hitchens that he could adequately replace McClain or Lee if one was to get injured. Not to mention Eric Kendricks and Shaq Thompson who are the 2 candidates to be MLB's at 27 are both undersized and lack any time of intimidation factor which I would like to have from my MLB.

 

[Macnalty]

while I'll preface this by saying you don't want to force yourself to a certain position if it's going to be a reach, here's why Dallas needs DT and MLB over CB.

1) remember the team got no inside push against the 1-legged man Rodgers. That is the reason even over Dez's catch they lost. You could have 2 Deion's in the secondary and it won't matter if 1 legged QBs can slice you apart because of lack of pressure up the middle. Also the line couldn't stop the run at all in the 4th of some games last year and it's the same line right now as last year. Multiple Reinforcements are needed and Hardy doesn't count due to suspension.

2) MLB - McClain is out 1st 4 games and with concussion issues who knows how long he can play when he comes back. Lee is a liability for health. Hitchens is awesome but why have him play 4 games at MLB then move to SLB after. It's better to keep at one position the whole year. Right now there's no dependent MLB for 16 games which is critical in this D.

3) I'm of the opinion CBs are like great defensive guards in the NBA are now. Rules don't allow anyone to be dominant you just want guys that can contest and wrap up to not allow big plays. I think if you fix the line you can get corners in the 3rd and 4th and be in good shape. I hope Dallas trades down so it can get 5 picks in first 4 rounds.

Agree with your premise some of your details are off a bit like the McClain suspension.
If we get no more rush from the middle like we did in the Green Bay game we are stuck with having to score 40 points per game when we play a QB who is above the Dalton line, look at the trouble we had with Colt McCoy from Washington. Yes I know Brandon Weeden did his part.
Like the analogy about the NBA and agree with you on the trade down scenario if the talent slides.

 

[AzorAhai]

Mcclain isn't suspended 1st off. The Cowboys also play nickel defense over 50% of snaps, so only 2 LBs will be on the field a ton of snaps. The Cowboys are plenty deep at LB right now. DT is not the sole reason for the lack of pass rush. DE was the problem. That should be better with Hardy and Lawrence coming into his 2nd season. CB is probably the thinnest position on the team right now. You have a team who plays nickel over 50% with only 1 Good CB and 1 half decent one. Who's the 3rd? Claiborne? Patmon? That shouldn't make anyone confident with the CB position. It needs to be addressed early in the draft.

 

[Gaede]

Completely agree with the OP re: DT

We controlled games last year with our offensive line. We owned the clock and punished teams physically and wore them out. We need a defense that does the same. You don't impose your will on other teams with an array of 200 lb cornerbacks.

We need big, fast, strong defensive linemen who hustle to the ball. Whether that's DT or DE. Make teams go 3 and out, or at least wear them down, and that will feed into our offense.

And I completely agree about MLB. I don't trust any of our guys at the spot, really. McClain?? Lee?? Hitchens is good, but how will he perform starting every game, every week?

That's one reason I believe the team would like to draft McKinney. They've shown a lot of interest in him, even after resigning McClain.

 

[xwalker]

while I'll preface this by saying you don't want to force yourself to a certain position if it's going to be a reach, here's why Dallas needs DT and MLB over CB.

1) remember the team got no inside push against the 1-legged man Rodgers. That is the reason even over Dez's catch they lost. You could have 2 Deion's in the secondary and it won't matter if 1 legged QBs can slice you apart because of lack of pressure up the middle. Also the line couldn't stop the run at all in the 4th of some games last year and it's the same line right now as last year. Multiple Reinforcements are needed and Hardy doesn't count due to suspension.

2) MLB - McClain is out 1st 4 games and with concussion issues who knows how long he can play when he comes back. Lee is a liability for health. Hitchens is awesome but why have him play 4 games at MLB then move to SLB after. It's better to keep at one position the whole year. Right now there's no dependent MLB for 16 games which is critical in this D.

3) I'm of the opinion CBs are like great defensive guards in the NBA are now. Rules don't allow anyone to be dominant you just want guys that can contest and wrap up to not allow big plays. I think if you fix the line you can get corners in the 3rd and 4th and be in good shape. I hope Dallas trades down so it can get 5 picks in first 4 rounds.

1. McClain is not suspended.

2. If the 2014 Cowboys had 2 Deion clones, they would have won the Super Bowl.

3. Green Bay is possibly the best team in the league in the short/quick passing game. If they get much pass rush, they just start with the quick passes, especially to Cobb. Defenses know that it's coming and just can't seem to stop it. If defenses adjust by trying to get DL in the quick passing lanes, then the Packers will take the extra time to go back to the intermediate to deep throws.

4. The Cowboys loaded up on veteran LBs. They were prepared to move forward without McClain, and then he decided to accept their offer so he basically a bonus to what they expected to have. Hitchen was solid at MLB as rookie. Brinkley is a solid 2 down MLB that comes out in the Nickel. Gachkar is a very solid backup and borderline starter. Rivers is a good player when healthy. Watson is athletically a near clone of Bruce Carter.

5. They have many options at DT, and few at CB and not enough at DE. Chris Whaley is basically equivalent to a draft pick this year after being an NFL redshirt on IR all of last season. Josh Brent in shape is a very solid run defender at the 1tech DT spot. Ken Bishop showed to have better physical ability than Hayden last season but was very raw coming from a very small college. T. McClain flashed excellent ability but was just never healthy last season. Coleman flash talent, but has to get serious about football and life. Jack Crawford moved from DE to DT for a game last season and that was by far his best performance. Hardy and MIncey have played many snaps at DT in their career which would be an option if they draft another DE.

6. At CB Scandrick is the only quality starter and he really needs to avoid being matched up with the really big receivers. Carr is marginal and is set to get paid 8M. If they had options to replace him, they save all 8M by cutting him. Patmon flashed last season, but how much can be expected from a 2nd year udfa? He is small and probably limited in his upside. At DT the young guys can play a few snaps in the rotation without being a big liability, but at CB is somewhat all-or-nothing. Corey White has size and some ability, but he was cut by the Saints just to save 1.5M so he is probably not the guy they intend to be a true starter. He is probably an upgrade over Moore from last season and can line up with the big receivers. He has played quite a bit in the NFL but players under Rob Ryan don't tend to learn good fundamentals because his focus is tricking things up over playing with good fundamentals. Teams basically need 3 starting CBs and the Cowboys barely have 1.

7. DE is a bigger need than DT. It seems good with Mincey, Lawrence and Hardy; however, Hardy is facing suspension and there is not much behind these 3. The starter and backup at LDE from last season are both gone. MIncey is 31 so he could start to decline at anytime. Hardy is a free agent next season. Hardy and Mincey can play some at DT if that position is a problem but they don't have any DTs that can move to DE so the effective depth is very good at DT and very lean at DE.

 

[xwalker]

Completely agree with the OP re: DT

We controlled games last year with our offensive line. We owned the clock and punished teams physically and wore them out. We need a defense that does the same. You don't impose your will on other teams with an array of 200 lb cornerbacks.

We need big, fast, strong defensive linemen who hustle to the ball. Whether that's DT or DE. Make teams go 3 and out, or at least wear them down, and that will feed into our offense.

And I completely agree about MLB. I don't trust any of our guys at the spot, really. McClain?? Lee?? Hitchens is good, but how will he perform starting every game, every week?

That's one reason I believe the team would like to draft McKinney. They've shown a lot of interest in him, even after resigning McClain.

MLB is effectively 4 deep. I can't think of another position with as much depth.
McClain - Starter
Hitchens - Backup
Lee - Could move back to MLB if needed.
Brinkley - A proven MLB on base downs that needs to be off the field in the Nickel.

Gachkar played ILB in a 3-4 which is very similar to MLB in a 4-3.

The Cowboys are smartly looking to the future in the draft and not just focusing on the immediate need so if they think McKinney is McClain without the character issues, then it's always good to stock up on talent for next season. Also, some people believe that they are considering using him as an SLB that can also rush the passer. Some reports says that some teams see him as a full time pass rusher. The Cowboys have been rumored to be implementing the OTTO position which seems to just be an SLB that is more focused on pass rushing than the normal SLB.

 

[morasp]

this feels like a weak draft to me with a lot of potential guys even in the first round. I hope they pick the safest can't miss guy on the board like they did with Martin last year. Almost every article I read on him said safe can't miss. My preference is for defense just because we've used so many high picks on offense lately.

 

[tm1119]

Im not sure I would even put LB in our top 5 needs. Even further, I'm not sure a rookie LB will even make the 53 man roster.

I think we could add 1 more DT but it's not a huge priority. I think we actually need another pass rusher at the position behind Crawford. Maybe Whaley is that guy, but that's a lot of risk and I wouldn't be too upset if someone beat out Hayden/Bishop. I'd like to add Hardison, Philon, or Bobby Richardson somewhere between the 3rd and 5th rounds.

 

[waving monkey]

I would think we could upgrade the defensive interior. Rod gets a hell of a lot out of marginal talent.

 

[Dwight]

I would think we could upgrade the defensive interior. Rod gets a hell of a lot out of marginal talent.

I feel the same way. Just think if Rod can coach Malcom Brown or Grady Jarrett. Dallas is thin at that position from a talent perspective. I like Crawford but the rest of DTs are nothing to get excited about.

 

[CATCH17]

Does anyone get the feeling Jordan Phillips is gonna slide in round 2?