 | |||||||
Thursday afternoon saw the Dallas Cowboys finally pull off a trade with
the Miami Dolphins in order to acquire defensive end Robert Quinn. The move
gives them some much-needed depth at a very important position in football.
This is the same Cowboys team that already boasted one of the NFL’s top
defenses, at least going off of last season. Dallas relied on their defensive
prowess to the tune of 10 wins, including an impressive victory over the New
Orleans Saints where they only allowed 10 points.
Most of the band is coming back together in 2019 for the Cowboys, that
is assuming DeMarcus Lawrence is back (we’ll put a bookmark in that for now).
Randy Gregory is suspended indefinitely at the moment but Quinn will help
mitigate (and potentially overcome) that loss. That means there’s a possibility
the Cowboys could be even better.
Robert Quinn joining Rod Marinelli, and Kris Richard, has inquiring
minds wondering whether they could be the NFL’s best defense in 2019. Good
Morning Football kicked the idea around on Friday and all three analysts agreed
there’s some merit to the idea.
Looking at the defense by position groups it’s hard
to find a place where Dallas doesn’t have at least enough to get through a
game. Assuming the best, and obviously no injuries, there’s definitely a case
that no one is better.
Defensive Line
Dallas will hopefully be headlined by
Tank Lawrence as mentioned, and the addition of Quinn will fortify their group
all the more. While there’s no David Irving for sure this season the
Cowboys do also have Christian Covington and Kerry Hyder to add to an
already-impressive group.
A lot
will hinge on Taco Charlton taking the next step in his third season and Tyrone
Crawford certainly has his moments every season (fingers crossed on no more
issues with him). There’s a possibility that Dallas lands a defensive tackle
with the 58th overall pick, and adding somebody to the rotation of Maliek
Collins and Antwaun Woods certainly can’t hurt.
Linebackers
While
Lawrence might be the headliner of the Cowboys defense, right there with him
are, without question, Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith. The Cowboys are
at a place where Sean Lee is a depth player for them, for crying out
loud.
For so many years the Cowboys have operated to a degree where the most impressive position group on the team was the offensive line. In 2019, the linebackers will definitely challenge that with the three men up top and specialty players like Joe Thomas helping to make things interesting in depth situations.
Secondary
Even though he just had hip surgery, we now live in a world where Byron Jones is a top cornerback in the NFL. With Chidobe Awuzie and Anthony Brown rounding out things, not to mention Jourdan Lewis as a fourth option, the state of that position is pretty stable.
Safety
remains a question mark for the Cowboys as they are hoping that Xavier Woods
takes the next step and for something to be figured out next to him. The
Cowboys signed George Iloka and while that can certainly be a bridge of sorts
the bridge has to lead to somewhere. Perhaps that’s to the 58th overall pick
and a player like Johnathan Abram, or perhaps it’s to something else. Who
knows.
Overall
the Cowboys are definitely in the conversation for best defense in the NFL, but
that’s such an ever-changing thing. Consider that the Jacksonville Jaguars
looked like the next group that would dominate for a long time after the 2017
season and that they hardly repeated that form one year later.
The
Chicago Bears are probably the team that most would say is the best defense
right now, but there will be other challengers, too. Dallas has work to do if
they want that top spot and a lot of their plans and hopes hinge on it
happening.