Dallas Cowboys player who needs to step up No. 2: Brent Urban, Defensive Tackle
One player who seemed to be an underrated signing this offseason for Dallas is Brent Urban who played for the Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans, and Chicago Bears before joining the Cowboys this past offseason.
Urban has never been considered a Pro Bowl player but he’s also played in 72 games with 27 starts in his six seasons. Stout against the run, Urban was an eight-game starter for the Bears last season and had 36 tackles and 2.5 sacks.
He was expected to help replace Tyrone Crawford but was beaten out by rookie Osa Odighizuwa which has led to him hardly seeing the field at all through two weeks. That could change in Week 3 since the Cowboys are expected to be without Carlos Watkins who is normally the starter next to Odighizuwa.
In this game without Watkins, there’s likely going to be a committee approach with rookie Quinton Bohanna getting more snaps but they’re sure to lean more on Urban since he’s the seasoned veteran.
Urban isn’t going to have to play like a star but he does have to do his job well enough to keep the defensive line from being an issue. As long as he does that, they should have a chance in this game — and he could also make the front office look smart should he play to the best of his ability under the bright lights.