Dallas Cowboys Have Biggest Roster Hole Remaining in NFC East

Wins and losses aside, the Dallas Cowboys have the biggest roster hole of any team in the NFC East. The defense needed help and defensive end remains a major concern in big D.

Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate in today’s NFL Sports Debate. Two brothers from New York yell, scream, and debate sports.

TODD:

Last week, we discussed the NFC North and the biggest hole that remains on a roster in that division. The decision doesn’t come down to the weakest team or the best team with one glaring flaw that will prevent them from winning a title. This is strictly speaking the biggest hole that exists.

We move on to the NFC East where four pretty even, highly flawed teams do battle. The Redskins won this division last season in a bit of a surprise. They have a pretty solid roster again this year. The biggest hole could arguably be on last year’s second place club, Philadelphia, at the position of number-one wide receiver, but that is getting too specific for this exercise. The Eagles have a number of wide receivers at their disposal, including a handful who could be solid contributors. None of them qualify as elite, game-breaking, number-one types, but the position in general isn’t bare for this team.

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The answer comes down to Dallas and New York and the defensive side of the ball. Dallas has a dearth of pass rushers. New York has few, if any, quality linebackers. My decision for the biggest hole in the NFC East comes down to game plan. The Giants always fill linebacker with spare parts; it is part of their identity, feeling as though the position can be adequately played by wasting few resources. Just because it hasn’t worked out that way in recent years doesn’t mean the plan has changed. This linebacking corps looks like this by design.

As for the Cowboys, their defensive line is trashy, and they surely are terrified about that. This is not how a team looks to play defense, by forgoing the front four and the pass rush. That is almost the opposite of 2016 football.

Instead of adding a quality starting piece early in the draft at defensive end, the Cowboys used their second pick on a player who will miss the entire season. They didn’t add an end until the fourth round, and that player, Charles Tapper, immediately looks like he may start for them.

This is not good news; not a praising write-up of Tapper. This is how sorry defensive end looks for Dallas. Last year, it finished 25th in the NFL in sacks. And of those 31 total sacks, six went out the door with Greg Hardy, the team’s most talented defensive lineman. The players battling for that spot in the lineup this year (Tapper, Ryan Russell) have never even started an NFL game before.

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And oh yeah, Dallas’ best pass rusher, DeMarcus Lawrence, is facing a four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. He will appeal the suspension but is expected to miss some time even if it’s not a full quarter of the season.

No one quite knows how good the Dallas offense can be this year. The opposite remains true for the defense considering the issues along the front. This is the biggest hole any NFC East team has.

DAN:

While I find the Cowboys to be better than both Philadelphia and New York, they certainly have the biggest hole of any team in the NFC East. Initially I would have placed the hole in the backfield of Dallas’ defense, as the Cowboys were 30th in the NFL last season in interceptions. But their passing yards allowed per game average was solid, therefore the biggest NFC East hole is indeed at defensive end for the Cowboys.

Not only was Dallas very bad at recording sacks last season, they were worst in the entire NFL at causing fumbles, collecting only three all year. Their run defense wasn’t much better, a mediocre 22nd in the league with 120.9 rushing yards per game given up on average. The most glaring deficiency to me is passes defensed, because in a passing league the only way to stop an offense is to successfully defend against the pass. The Cowboys were last in the NFL in that defensive category. Despite all of this, Dallas managed to hold opponents to only 23.4 points per game, a respectable 16th in the NFL.

The stats for last season were not good, so Dallas needed to bring in help on defense. I love Ezekiel Elliott, but can’t help but wonder if Dallas should have traded up to steal Joey Bosa away from San Diego. I suppose this was likely impossible, since the Chargers wanted Bosa and sat exactly one pick ahead of the Cowboys. But leaving the draft with only one defensive end and two defensive lineman overall is lacking. The team’s biggest weakness from a season ago certainly feels less than filled.

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This hole on defense is the biggest at any position in the NFC East, but Dallas will likely overcome it. Teams might not have to worry much about a steady pass rush, or the Cowboys’ ability to stop the run, but simply improving the turnover differential will be enough for Dallas to put together a winning season.