The Dallas Cowboys lost two of their best defenders this offseason but they can still be better in 2020.
In 2018, the Dallas Cowboys were one of the more impressive defenses in the NFL. According to Pro Football Reference, they were sixth in the league in points surrendered and seventh in yardage. That changed in 2019 as they fell to 11th in points and ninth in yards — but they also struggled to come up with key stops down the stretch.
This season, there has been an overhaul on that side of the ball and this has led to some questions among the fan base as they’re worried the team will take another step in the wrong direction on defense.
That might not be the case, however, as we dive into their defensive depth chart and identify four reasons the Cowboys defense could improve in 2020, even after losing some key starters.
4. Their young corners can play
Losing Byron Jones is tough. He was a leader on their defense and did a great job in coverage. Having said that, it’s understandable why Dallas didn’t want to make him the top-paid cornerback in the NFL — his lack of game-changing plays.
While Jones did often lock his guy down, the NFL is a pass-happy league and eventually, the receivers will win. For that reason, the guy who creates turnovers is the one who gets paid — which is at least the way Dallas looked at it.
In the place of Jones is going to be rookie Trevon Diggs, free-agent addition Daryl Worley, and veterans Chidobe Awuzie and Anthony Brown. Further down the depth chart is Reggie Robinson, another rookie with a lot to offer.
None of these players are the caliber of Jones but they can all play. And should Dallas be better at the line of scrimmage, these players should be able to do their jobs since they won’t be stuck on an island forever.
3. The interior of the D-line is finally stout
One of the big problems of the Rod Marinelli era on defense for Dallas was their intention to the interior of the defensive line. They did believe in having a good three-technique that could generate pressure but they weren’t as sold on the one-technique.
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Marinelli believed they could plug nearly anyone into this role and while he did have his share of success, it seems as though it would have been even easier for him to get more talent to work with. Now that he’s gone, it seems the front office and new staff would agree that this is the better way to go.
Dallas made it a priority to address the defensive tackle spot as they added a big nose tackle in Dontari Poe. They also did a good job replacing Maliek Collins ‚— an underrated player in his own rights — who left in free agency. With Collins out, the Cowboys landed Gerald McCoy on a three-year deal, which gives them two solid players in the middle of the line.
Of course, doubters will point to their lack of talent on the edge. With DeMarcus Lawrence locking down the left side, the Cowboys are rolling the dice opposite him with Aldon Smith (who hasn’t played in four seasons), Dorrance Armstrong, and veteran Tyrone Crawford.
While it’s true there are some unknowns there, the strength inside is something they haven’t had in many years. Not only will that help against the run but McCoy is more than capable of getting after the quarterback as well, which will surely help this defense.
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.
1. Mike Nolan is an improvement
There was a misconception about the Cowboys defense that they were just awful in 2019. As previously mentioned, this isn’t true as they did rank in the top-10 for yardage surrendered. The problem was they didn’t make the big plays, which was pointed out by Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Hill pointed out that Dallas was 19th in the NFL in sacks and 30th in turnovers, which has been a huge problem for them for years now. He says a big part of the problem was due to the scheme, and lack of versatility shown by the outgoing defensive staff.
"“Reasons for the lack of splash plays, outside of a so-called lack of playmakers, included a refusal to blitz and predictable coverages under former defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli, and passing game coordinator Kris Richard, who called the defenses the past two seasons.” — Hill, Fort Worth Star-Telegram"
With Mike Nolan coming in, this is going to change. Hill says Nolan will stick with the base 4-3 defense but plans to also sprinkle in some 3-4 looks, which is what he has primarily run in the past. And so far, the players are into what they are hearing.
Xavier Woods, the returning safety, has expressed his happiness that the team will be disguising defenses more, getting away from the “vanilla” coverage that Hill highlighted.
Simply put, Mike Nolan is a better defensive coach at this point in his career than Rod Marinelli. There was a time the Tampa-2 was all the rage but teams need to learn to adapt and evolve, sadly that wasn’t happening in Big D.
It is now, which is the No. 1 reason to believe the defense will be better in 2020 than they were a season ago.