The age-old debate of talent vs coaching, is playing tug a war with this Dallas Cowboys team. The last time the Cowboys had a top 5 ranked defense (in both points and yards allowed) was 2003. The defensive standouts from that unit were, La’Roi Glover, Roy Williams, Darren Woodson, Dexter Coakley, and Greg Ellis to name a few. They were also coached by one of the greatest coaches in NFL History, Bill Parcells. That defensive unit had great talent and a great coach.
Rob Marinelli is regarded as a very good defensive coach. He routinely gets the most production out of average players. Guys like George Selvie are able to produce 7 sacks in a season, Jason Hatcher is able to put up 11 sacks, Jeremy Mincey racks up 6 sacks, and Rolando McClain is able to look like an all pro. The themes from all of his defensive units are high energy and high effort. The question can be asked what is Marinelli capable of, when given some extremely athletic and talented young players? We should find the answer to this question in the Cowboys upcoming season.
The Cowboys received some good news recently with the reinstatement of Randy Gregory. Say what you want about his ability to keep his system marijuana free. Gregory is an extremely talented pass rusher and can really give the Cowboys the speed rusher that they’ve been missing since Demarcus Ware departed. A healthy Randy Gregory should give the Cowboys a great situational pass rusher to start the season. Maybe even a bookend defensive end by the conclusion of the 2018 season. All projections regarding Gregory are based on potential. Which means he has a lot to prove before Cowboys nation view him as the knight in shining armor, coming to save the Cowboys pass rush. Either way you view it, Gregory has star potential and is a player that Marinelli should be able to get some good sack production from.
Bryon Jones was a first round pick with excellent athletic abilities. The Cowboys haven’t figured out exactly how to best utilize Byron Jones. Fifty percent of that blame falls on the Cowboys, the other fifty on the player. Jones has shown the ability to play some tight man coverage on some of the better tight ends and bigger receivers in the NFL. His issue isn’t that he can’t play in the NFL, his issue may be that he can’t play safety in the NFL.
Jones never showed the ball hawking or playmaking abilities as a free safety. He also wasn’t that good in run support, routinely missing tackles and taking bad angles. Moving him to cornerback may save his career and give the Cowboys two very good outside cornerbacks in the process. Getting the most out of a talented player like Jones will require the right combination of players around him and a scheme that allows him to be physical. Kris Richard will bring both of those things to this defensive unit. It will be up to Marnielli to allow Richards to do his thang!
Chidobe Awuzie may have the highest ceiling of anyone on this Cowboys defense. The Cowboys are in desperate need of a lockdown cornerback. Bryon Jones is expected to be that but Awuzie has shown flashes of already being that. According to Pro Football focus Awuzie allowed the least amount of yards per reception last season with seven. When he was healthy he was all over receivers. He checks in at 6’-6’1 and he can run. Jones and Awuzie give the Cowboys two extremely athletic and instinctive cornerbacks. The right coaching along with these player individual talent may give the Cowboys two shutdown corners on the outside.
Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esche are two players with off the chart athleticism. And yes, I’m buying the Jaylon Smith hype! Coming out of college Smith was on of the most disruptive linebackers in that draft. He suffered an horrific knee injury that took him a full year to recover from. Smith played with a brace that interfered with his lateral quickness and change of direction. That brace is supposedly gone, he should be able to play this season without it. That could mean that the Cowboys are getting a healthy and hungry Jaylon Smith. He should also be motivated by the drafting of Leighton Vander Esche.
The expectations are high for young Leighton Vander Esche! He is being compared to hall of fame linebacker Brian Urlacher. Vander Eshce had good production in the one year he started in college. His numbers at the combine jumped off the charts, he showed the ability to make plays and be stout against the run. Vander Esche is penciled in to be the starting middle linebacker or mic. Pairing him and Smith with Sean Lee may give the Cowboys three of the most athletic linebackers in the NFL.
Demarcus Lawrence finally put it all together in the form of a career season last year. He finished third in the league in sacks with 14.5. Produced career totals in quarterback hits, pressures, tackles and tackles for loss. Lawrence was a one man wrecking crew considering that the player with the second most sacks on the team put up seven. The Cowboys finished the season last year with 38 team sacks and Lawrence had 14.5 of them. If the Cowboys are able to put one more guy opposite Lawrence then this pass rush has the ability to be special.
The guys that I named are guys expected to have a huge impact on the Cowboys defense. This team also has some quality depth at all the right positions. Taco Charlton was a first round pick that should get plenty of opportunities to show he has improved from his rookie season. Kony Early has produced in this league on the highest stage and looks to have a good year for the Cowboys (if he makes the team). Anthony Brown and Jourdan Lewis will both get the opportunity to start in the slot. Either one of them may be thrown in the starting lineup if Jones or Awuzie struggle of get hurt. Kavon Frazier shown last season that he can play up in the box and isn’t afraid to deliver a big hit. This team is littered with potential stars and is the deepest defense the Cowboys has had in years. There is still the possibility of adding all pro safety Earl Thomas to the mix!
From a talent standpoint this is the Cowboys most talented defensive unit since 2003. They have speed at every level, individual playmakers at every level, and a good combination of veterans and young players. This unit just needs the right coaching scheme that will put all the pieces in place. We’ve seen what Marinelli is able to produce with average talent. Now let’s see how well he will do with good to great talent. If he isn’t able to utilize the talent on this side of the ball, Secondary coach Kris Richard is lying in the wait. We’ve already seen what Richard is able to do with talented players.
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