Cowboys Roster Series: The Defense
NFL Team Column
By Russell Easley
2009 NFL Draft Coverage
Somehow it seemed appropriate, for the roster series, to do a piece on the defense as a whole, instead of individual units. I say this because many analysts (by which I mean ex-players – most actual journalists try to learn about new players before they see them on tv) are misreading the changes that have been made this offseason. All they can see is that we have lost players, including three starters. A superficial analysis will tell you that’s bad. But let’s take a closer look.
When NFL Network analysts were answering the question “Is the Dallas defense going to be better or worse this year?” they seemed to agree that the Cowboys defense would be worse. What was their rationale? Warren Sapp was quick to point out the loss of Tank Johnson as a reason. I would put that in the category of “curious” when it comes to opinions, and I think I’m being generous in doing so. I would like to ask Mr. Sapp “How badly are you going to miss a player who had all of 22 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 forced fumble ?” It was further pointed out the loss of perennial pro-bowler (sarcasm, in case you missed it) Chris Canty would, combined with other defensive “losses” such as safety Roy Williams, doom the Doomsday defense to mediocrity. To coin a phrase, that’s something that makes you go “hmm”.
Overall, the Cowboys defense got sufficiently better to be an early favorite to be a top five unit. Here’s why I think so: Tank Johnson was clearly not a good fit as a 3-4 nose tackle. He made his fame by being a 4-3 defensive tackle with the Bears, but as a Cowboy he was practically non-existent. Last year Cowboy fans used to joke about not knowing Tank was still on the team. After the Philadelphia debacle he showed his true colors by voicing his anticipation of leaving town.
Junior Siavii, on the other hand, is a player who is completely anonymous to most NFL fans, but is a NT that Wade Phillips is very high on. He reluctantly let him go last year at the end of training camp, but as soon as he became available again in the offseason, Wade brought him back. Phillips is no slacker when it comes to evaluating defensive talent. And it’s not like Siavii (or whoever wins the backup spot this offseason) is going to see a ton of reps in place of pro bowler Jay Ratliffe.
At defensive end, Igor Olshansky will replace the departed Chris Canty. They are similar players, the main difference being that Olshansky is better against the run. Olshansky also has been tutuored in the Phillips 3-4, when Wade was his defensive coordinator in San Diego.
Recently, I watched, painful as it was, the ending of the Baltimore Ravens game last year. Over and over. You know, the one where the defense allowed the Ravens to close out Texas Stadium history with not one, but two long runs for touchdowns to win the game. I watched those particular plays for what seemed an eternity, in slow motion. Most of us fans and commentators alike blame safety Ken Hamlin for his inability to make a play those two times. But I gotta tell you, there’s something I noticed. On both of those plays, it grows pretty obvious the more you look at it, LB Zach Thomas was targeted and steamrolled by key blocks. He was the guy that allowed the ball carrier to reach the secondary. Zach Thomas is not around anymore to get pancaked like that. We’ll see how Brookings does in his stead. Brookings has better size and should be an upgrade.
Another linebacker the Cowboys lost was Kevin Burnett, an athletic player who may just be starting to come into his own in this league. That one might hurt a little. But in his stead we drafted a whole slew of young athletic linebackers, including third rounder Jason Williams, probably one of the most athletic linebackers in the draft. Time will tell on this one. I’m not ready to call it an upgrade yet. Nor am I ready to call it a downgrade. Let’s call it a maybe/maybe not.
It’s a given in the NFL that Roy Williams the safety can’t cover. It’s like saying “kick early, go for it late”. A basic truth. That’s not to say he’s not going to have success this year for his new team, the Cincinnati Bengals. They run a style of defense that’s more suited to Roy’s talents. Instead we have a young, up and coming safety in Gerald Sensabaugh, who can actually cover and is a soild special teams player. It’s difficult to overstate what having a safety who can cover means to this defense’s success. That’s a definite upgrade. Continuing on with the secondary, the Boys raised some eyebrows by trading starting corner Anthony Henry to Detroit for Jon Kitna. Yes, Henry was a starter, but had lost a sufficient number of steps and “health points” and he was probably not going to start this year anyway. And as it turns out, the Boys have lots of fine young cornerbacks who really have good man/press coverage skills. This will allow Phillips to be more creative with blitz packages and bringing pressure on the quarterback from a variety of places. Look for the Cowboys to continue the trend of being among the league leaders in sacks in 2009. Again, more upgrades.
Besides the positive changes we’ve seen on defense, there’s always the fact that the best defensive player in the league, DeMarcus Ware, plays here. Then there’s one of the best nose tackles (Jay Ratliffe), a top flight corner (Terrence Newman), an emerging leader at SILB (Bradie James), a solid run stuffing DE (Marcus Spears), and two potentialy talented young cover corners (Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick) returning for another season.
So far, realizing that training camp hasn’t even started, this defense looks like it could have great potential (at least in the small amount of practice we have seen them in thus far). They look good enough to make you wonder if they are really that good or is the offense deciding to take the early summer off. I can’t wait to find out.
By Russell Easley
2009 NFL Draft Coverage
Somehow it seemed appropriate, for the roster series, to do a piece on the defense as a whole, instead of individual units. I say this because many analysts (by which I mean ex-players – most actual journalists try to learn about new players before they see them on tv) are misreading the changes that have been made this offseason. All they can see is that we have lost players, including three starters. A superficial analysis will tell you that’s bad. But let’s take a closer look.
When NFL Network analysts were answering the question “Is the Dallas defense going to be better or worse this year?” they seemed to agree that the Cowboys defense would be worse. What was their rationale? Warren Sapp was quick to point out the loss of Tank Johnson as a reason. I would put that in the category of “curious” when it comes to opinions, and I think I’m being generous in doing so. I would like to ask Mr. Sapp “How badly are you going to miss a player who had all of 22 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 forced fumble ?” It was further pointed out the loss of perennial pro-bowler (sarcasm, in case you missed it) Chris Canty would, combined with other defensive “losses” such as safety Roy Williams, doom the Doomsday defense to mediocrity. To coin a phrase, that’s something that makes you go “hmm”.
Overall, the Cowboys defense got sufficiently better to be an early favorite to be a top five unit. Here’s why I think so: Tank Johnson was clearly not a good fit as a 3-4 nose tackle. He made his fame by being a 4-3 defensive tackle with the Bears, but as a Cowboy he was practically non-existent. Last year Cowboy fans used to joke about not knowing Tank was still on the team. After the Philadelphia debacle he showed his true colors by voicing his anticipation of leaving town.
Junior Siavii, on the other hand, is a player who is completely anonymous to most NFL fans, but is a NT that Wade Phillips is very high on. He reluctantly let him go last year at the end of training camp, but as soon as he became available again in the offseason, Wade brought him back. Phillips is no slacker when it comes to evaluating defensive talent. And it’s not like Siavii (or whoever wins the backup spot this offseason) is going to see a ton of reps in place of pro bowler Jay Ratliffe.
At defensive end, Igor Olshansky will replace the departed Chris Canty. They are similar players, the main difference being that Olshansky is better against the run. Olshansky also has been tutuored in the Phillips 3-4, when Wade was his defensive coordinator in San Diego.
Recently, I watched, painful as it was, the ending of the Baltimore Ravens game last year. Over and over. You know, the one where the defense allowed the Ravens to close out Texas Stadium history with not one, but two long runs for touchdowns to win the game. I watched those particular plays for what seemed an eternity, in slow motion. Most of us fans and commentators alike blame safety Ken Hamlin for his inability to make a play those two times. But I gotta tell you, there’s something I noticed. On both of those plays, it grows pretty obvious the more you look at it, LB Zach Thomas was targeted and steamrolled by key blocks. He was the guy that allowed the ball carrier to reach the secondary. Zach Thomas is not around anymore to get pancaked like that. We’ll see how Brookings does in his stead. Brookings has better size and should be an upgrade.
Another linebacker the Cowboys lost was Kevin Burnett, an athletic player who may just be starting to come into his own in this league. That one might hurt a little. But in his stead we drafted a whole slew of young athletic linebackers, including third rounder Jason Williams, probably one of the most athletic linebackers in the draft. Time will tell on this one. I’m not ready to call it an upgrade yet. Nor am I ready to call it a downgrade. Let’s call it a maybe/maybe not.
It’s a given in the NFL that Roy Williams the safety can’t cover. It’s like saying “kick early, go for it late”. A basic truth. That’s not to say he’s not going to have success this year for his new team, the Cincinnati Bengals. They run a style of defense that’s more suited to Roy’s talents. Instead we have a young, up and coming safety in Gerald Sensabaugh, who can actually cover and is a soild special teams player. It’s difficult to overstate what having a safety who can cover means to this defense’s success. That’s a definite upgrade. Continuing on with the secondary, the Boys raised some eyebrows by trading starting corner Anthony Henry to Detroit for Jon Kitna. Yes, Henry was a starter, but had lost a sufficient number of steps and “health points” and he was probably not going to start this year anyway. And as it turns out, the Boys have lots of fine young cornerbacks who really have good man/press coverage skills. This will allow Phillips to be more creative with blitz packages and bringing pressure on the quarterback from a variety of places. Look for the Cowboys to continue the trend of being among the league leaders in sacks in 2009. Again, more upgrades.
Besides the positive changes we’ve seen on defense, there’s always the fact that the best defensive player in the league, DeMarcus Ware, plays here. Then there’s one of the best nose tackles (Jay Ratliffe), a top flight corner (Terrence Newman), an emerging leader at SILB (Bradie James), a solid run stuffing DE (Marcus Spears), and two potentialy talented young cover corners (Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick) returning for another season.
So far, realizing that training camp hasn’t even started, this defense looks like it could have great potential (at least in the small amount of practice we have seen them in thus far). They look good enough to make you wonder if they are really that good or is the offense deciding to take the early summer off. I can’t wait to find out.
posted by The Gryphon at 10:32 AM
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