The Dallas Cowboys are working their draft room right now to plan their future. There are a few mind sets out there for the draft safety, offensive line, defensive tackle, defensive end and even outside linebacker. Many pundits are saying run stoppers are the main focus.
But maybe they are looking at this wrong. Maybe their focus is wrong. Think about this a slightly different way. The Cowboys should be a formidable offense again next season. I think Wade Phillips is a terrible head coach and was a poor influence on the team. His lack of ability as a coach made the first 8 games of last season a write off.
With a better coaching staff in place for this year the team should be stronger. Essentially, this is a 10 and 6 team without Wade Phillips. Getting Romo back, less Barber and a better Bryant will mean a significant improvement on the offensive side of the ball. The Cowboys should be a top 10 offensive team in the NFL next season. I think the first round draft pick would be wasted on the offensive side of the ball.
Defense. What a problem last season. Phillips really lost control here. This is an area that has to change. The Cowboys have brought in a top notch, pressure defense coordinator. Ryan is well suited to coach the Cowboys defense. His best ever pass rusher was in Oakland, with Derrick Burgess, a far, far cry from the talented DeMarcus Ware. I think under the systems and guidance of Ryan, Ware could be a 20 sack player.
Anthony Spencer will be better. He will be bigger and stronger and will be a much better player. I can foresee him with 8 sacks on the season, playing for a better system. I do not think the Cowboys needs another outside rusher, it would be too early go give up on Spencer, who does have a good talent level. As Parcells said, it takes three years to figure out what you are. Spencer has hit year three.
I think, if you stick at #9, the pick has to be defense, but I think a different option than most are promoting. If the Cowboys have a top 10 offense next year, that will mean in many games they will build an early lead. That usually means the other team will need to pass to get back into the game. Forcing other teams to pass more, means more opportunities to get to a quarterback.
Many teams build their 3 - 4 defense as a bunch of muckers as defensive ends, who have a sole position on the field to solely take up blockers to free playmaking linebackers to make tackles and hopefully sacks. I think Dallas should take a different tact. I would suggest trading down to pick up Adrian Clayborn, DE, Iowa. He is a top notch defensive end, who has come up big in big games. He had 70 tackles last season, 20 tackles for a loss and 11.5 sacks, huge numbers for an end.
With the second round pick, I would target Phil Taylor, Baylor, or if unavailable, trade backwards to target Jerrell Powe, Ole Miss. This would add some serious beef in the middle of the line up, with the simple idea of taking up two blockers on running plays. On passing downs, simply being big and powerful enough to bull rush a guard to hold the pocket (or even better collapse the pocket) is well enough.
On running downs, hold over Igor O, Ratliffe, Brent and the draft pick (Taylor/Powe) could handle the bulk of the plays (mixing in Clayborn). This would add a lot of bulk and size to the line. Rolling these types of players through a game would keep them fresher and allow them to focus on stopping the run.
On passing downs, I would move Ratliffe to defensive end, with Clayborn on the other end. Ware and Spencer coming from the ends, would provide some scary blitz packages. Those four players could combine for 40 plus sacks. This type of attacking defense would help the faulty secondary, as corners would not have to cover for as long, as the front seven would put forward significant pressure.
I think Dallas should try to add a safety, but most of the picks should be spent on the defensive and offensive lines. With an offense that should rank highly in the league, building a top notch pass defense should be a focus for the Cowboys. They are likely not going to be in many close, grind them out games.
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