Dallas Cowboys: How Rolando McClain suspension hurts defense

The Dallas Cowboys have three starters on their defense who have been suspended by the NFL for violating the substance abuse policy this offseason, as it was announced on Thursday that linebacker Rolando McClain will be suspended for 10 games.

The offseason for the Dallas Cowboys defense has been one to forget and one full of suspensions, with not only defensive ends Randy Gregory and DeMarcus Lawrence both being suspended for four games apiece due to violating the substance abuse police, but an even bigger hit was announced on Thursday by the NFL with the 10-game suspension of Rolando McClain occurring.

Speaking of Lawerence, the appeal of his suspension was upheld by the NFL on Thursday as well, meaning he’ll have to serve the entire four-game suspension.

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This is the second consecutive year McClain has been suspended by the NFL in violating the substance abuse policy, as it was announced around this time last year he violated the same policy.

Having three big-time starters out for the defense is tough for the Cowboys, but what really hurts is the fact McClain is one of the top players on the defense for a team that overall struggles on that side of the football.

This is the third season for McClain with the Cowboys, and this will be his sixth season in the NFL, but looking back to last season, McClain played in 11 games with 80 total tackles (50 solo) wth two sacks and one interception for a 12-yard touchdown.

In two seasons in a Cowboys uniform, McClain has played in 24 regular-season games, totaling 161 tackles (115 solo) with three sacks and three interceptions.

McClain has been an important player for the Cowboys defense as possibly the top linebacker on the team, just behind Sean Lee. Both of them have had problems staying on the field for Dallas, though Lee’s issues are due to injury, rather than the reasons McClain can’t stay on the field. Lee missed two games last season with concussion issues. Even with those two games missed, Lee finished with 128 total tackles (76 solo) with 2.5 sacks, which were the first two of his career.

Pro Football Focus listed McClain as the 28th ranked linebacker last season, with a grade of 71.1 overall. He had a 43.8 grade with his run defense but came in with a grade of 83.3 with his pass defense, as he totaled 652 snaps in ’15.

McClain’s pass defense is a great help to the Cowboys defense, as he is like having another defensive back at times with the athleticism he brings to the roster, but he’s not going to help the defense when he is continually being suspended by the NFL. If this current 10-game suspension holds up, that will be 14 games lost in two seasons due to suspensions.

This suspension really hurts the Cowboys, as if you remember, McClain once retired after his first three seasons with the Oakland Raiders. Once he returned to the NFL, McClain has played well when he was on the field, but again, when he’s not on the field, this defense will hurt a lot.

Also, there is the fact rookie linebacker Jaylon Smith, a second-round pick, most likely won’t play this season, and third-round selection defensive tackle Maliek Collins suffered a broken foot during OTAs, so the help needed from the draft won’t be available for all games this season, either.

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Having a defense that didn’t play great as a whole last season mostly returning (allowed 347.9 yards per game), added in with the aforementioned three suspensions, the Cowboys are in trouble on that side of the football. Some thought the defense was in trouble before McClain’s suspension (myself included), but now there is even more pressure on this defense, hampering a lot of progress this team needed to have this season.