Dallas Cowboys: 5 Breakout players who could emerge in 2021

Dallas Cowboys breakout player No. 3: Osa Odighizuwa, Defensive Tackle

For years, Tyrone Crawford was the Swiss Army Knife on the Dallas Cowboys defensive line. He never recorded any eye-popping stats with his best season coming in 2018 when he had 34 tackles and 5.5 sacks. Even so, the 2012 third-round pick from Boise State simply always did his job, no matter what that entailed.

He played defensive end in a 3-4 scheme before sliding inside to play the three-technique. He then moved back outside to play right defensive end when they couldn’t find anyone to start opposite DeMarcus Lawrence. As if that wasn’t enough, he even moved from the inside to the outside during games as well, showing his versatility at every turn.

Following the 2020 campaign, the 31-year-old Crawford elected to call it a career, and he’s going to be sorely missed. Having said that, there’s a young player who could end up taking on Crawford’s role sooner, rather than later.

Osa Odighizuwa was the 75th overall pick, taken in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft — six picks earlier than Crawford was taken in his class. Like Crawford, Odighizuwa is a bit of a ‘tweener’ at 6-foot-2 and 280-pounds. He’s on the light side for a defensive tackle but on the larger side for a defensive end.

That could lead to him moving around a lot as well for the Cowboys, with the three-technique being his primary home. He’s also proving that he has no fear as the UCLA product took a small dig at Tom Brady, saying he’s not very mobile while also saying he’s “a little older.”

Odighizuwa’s combination of athleticism and power should help him succeed in the NFL and it wouldn’t be a surprise at all to see him take off early — especially since this roster is rather thin on the defensive line which opens the door for him to get his chance to shine.