Dallas Cowboys: Randy Gregory’s return makes D-Line scary
By Randy Gurzi
The Dallas Cowboys got great news when defensive end Randy Gregory was reinstated and now their pass rush could be tough for opponents to deal with
The NFL made their ruling and the Dallas Cowboys couldn’t be more thrilled. After a full year-long suspension for repeated substance abuse violations, defensive end Randy Gregory is allowed to rejoin the team.
An announcement was made Tuesday afternoon after the league reviewed Gregory’s request for reinstatement earlier this season. The reinstatement is conditional, meaning he has to show he still has a plan in place to stay clean and passes mandatory drug tests.
While the team acted as if Gregory wasn’t going to be there in 2018, they have to be thrilled to get their 2015 second-round pick back. As for Gregory, he’s excited about his return after a long and difficult time for him.
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"“I’m very excited,” Gregory said via Jori Epstein of SportsDay. “Thanks to the ones who supported me and stood by me. It’s a lot more to the story than it seems and it took me a lot to get to this point. Now I’m ready to make some plays.”"
Gregory was considered by many draft experts to be a top-15 talent in the 2015 NFL Draft, but a failed drug test at the Scouting Combine devastated his stock. Dallas took a gamble in the second round, using the No. 60 overall selection on the Nebraska edge rusher.
After missing four games due to injuries as a rookie, Gregory started getting dealt suspensions. He played in just two games in 2016, before being placed on a minimum suspension of one calendar year in January of 2017.
Now with him back and hopefully focused, the potential of the defensive line is downright scary. They’ve added first-round pick Taco Charlton, free agent Kony Ealy and saw another former second-round pick, DeMarcus Lawrence, break out and become a star.
They also have defensive tackle David Irving, who had seven sacks in just eight games last season. Unfortunately, Irving has been suspended the first four games of this season but was able to overcome missed time in 2017 to break out.
Dallas is also high on 2018 fourth-round pick Dorrance Armstrong and still has the ever-consistent Tyrone Crawford as well. Suddenly a position of weakness looks like an incredible strength.
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Of course, this all depends on whether or not Gregory can get back into shape and become a factor. If he does, this line could be an absolute nightmare for opposing offensive lines.