4 Reasons the Dallas Cowboys defense will be improved in 2020

2. They’re playing it safe, finally

Safety was a position that Rod Marinelli seemed to hate nearly as much as nose tackle. Year after year, the Cowboys fan base was teased with them looking at a player who they believed would come in and shore up the secondary. First, it was Earl Thomas. Then it was Jamal Adams. Heck, even Tyrann Mathieu was available twice and they scoffed at adding the play-maker.

Then, there was the draft of 2019. After missing on star player after star player, the fan base was about to get its reward. Rather than overpay a veteran in free agency, or in a trade, they were going to get a star safety in the second round. It was all but a sure thing after they spent several of their allotted 30 visits on safeties.

Stars aligned as the Cowboys were then on the board with both Taylor Rapp and Juan Thornhill looking for homes. So what did Dallas do? They drafted Trysten Hill, a defensive tackle who had a questionable football character after feuding with collegiate coaches and finishing his final season in the NCAA on the bench.

Rather than re-opening that wound further, let’s look to the positives of 2020 — Dallas finally seemed to realize they needed to do something at safety. For that reason, they added Ha Ha Clinton-Dix in free agency, which was one of the more underrated moves in the offseason.

Clinton-Dix is a ballhawk, which is something the Cowboys need desperately on defense. On top of that, his addition allowed them the flexibility to draft CeeDee Lamb at No. 17, rather than feeling like they had to go defense there.