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  • 5 months ago
The K&C Masterpiece questioned how much better does the Cowboys defense look on paper following the draft. They discussed the possibility of Caleb Downs transforming the secondary, Malachi Lawrence’s elite speed vs. his upside as a pass rusher, the Cowboys' improved run-stopping rotation, and more.

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00:00All right, so I have constructed some early thoughts about what could be the first wave
00:07and second wave of the Dallas Cowboys defense. Now, keep in mind, a lot of this could vary
00:13because even when we were talking with Kyle on Monday, he was like, I don't even think they know
00:19quite yet exactly who's going to go where until they test some things out. So please grant me
00:24some grace on some of these things where you're like, I don't know if that's how it's going to
00:28work. I'll think about it. But I want to see how much better you guys think this defense
00:32sounds. Now, what it sounds like could end up not meaning anything. All right, so up front,
00:39you're going to have Quentin Williams, and obviously I'm going to flex the defense a little bit,
00:44so you're going to end up with an extra person or two, depending on the scenario. Quentin Williams,
00:48Kenny Clark up front with maybe Toyo, maybe Otito, maybe Bullard up front.
00:58Then your inside linebackers, I would think it starts with Overshown and Winters with Barsham and
01:07Shmar James potentially the next wave. Outside linebackers, I know this part is where it probably
01:14gets pretty tricky, but let's just say Ezraku and Gary or Malachi Lawrence with James Houston,
01:22Sam Williams, LT Overton waiting in the wings. Duran Bland and Siobhan Revell or Kobe Durant
01:32as your cornerbacks with, you can use, of course, Caleb Downs in the nickel. And when you go that
01:39direction, go Thompson and Hooker as your more established safeties. But depending on how Durant
01:46comes along or if you think it's Carson or Reddy Stewart, maybe even Devin Moore, then maybe you
01:52slide Caleb Downs back. But I wanted to run through like a couple of those levels of what I have
01:58constructed as my pseudo depth chart and see what you guys think. Like if I tell you, let's just say
02:04Quinnen, Clark, and Toya. Then Overshown and Winters with Ezraku and Lawrence or Gary. And then Bland
02:14and Revell along with Downs, Thompson, Hooker. I realize, you know, whether it's Marquise Bell or
02:22anybody else, there's going to be changes. But just when you look at the depth chart or when you hear
02:27that and you look at some of the moves they've made, how much better do you think on paper the
02:32Cowboys defense has really got? And I'm looking at our lads right now. They do a really good job
02:38of this. And they have Tito at the defensive end spot. And so that's a good like and they have
02:43Twio behind Kenny Clark. Look, having Kenny Clark in the middle as your anchor is something that
02:47Christian Parker wanted to do. He said when he was in Green Bay, that was one of Kenny Clark's best
02:52things that he did. Things changed a little bit and then he got away from some of it. But this
02:56is what
02:56he thinks he's best at. Having Quinn in there like that's that solidifies to me that part of that
03:02defense. And we'll find out who plays that up. There's going to be some competition for that
03:06other spot, obviously. Which is what you want. And that's one positive. Sorry, just real quick,
03:11one positive. When I was looking at some of the backups, I'm not saying they're world beaters,
03:15but I'm like, ooh, that could be a real competition there. I can see a world too, Kevin,
03:20where Rashawn Gary in past situations dips down in that defensive end spot. I do not hate that at all.
03:27I do not mind that at all. Because with Malachi Lawrence, like his speed is his factor. So those
03:34third, like I'm not stressed about, he's not even going to start. He is going, he eventually will
03:39become that guy for you more often than not. But early in his career, they're going to say,
03:43let's get you in the situations that give you the best advantage. I really like your linebacker
03:49structure right now. I don't have to rely on Shamar James. That's true. That's the thing that I was
03:54terrified of was, oh gosh. Now, Overshown, you know, I think when it comes to us,
04:01Stolo, baby, when it comes to us, we love the player. We just can't, there's trust in his own
04:07body that he's not going to get hit in the knees or that his knees are fully recovered.
04:12Yeah. You have those kinds of injuries that you have to deal with. And I don't want to rule out
04:17the progression of Shamar James. I think Shamar James, unfortunately, got thrust into a situation
04:21that as a one-off is fine, but more consistently, you're like, woo, he was not ready for that.
04:27That's not to say he can't eventually be ready for that, but you're right. Yeah. You don't want
04:32to start with, well, that's the guy. I have, I'm, I'm, I'm in love with Barum and what he can
04:38do,
04:38Barum, what he can do, but knowing that Dee Winters could be in front of him, kind of showing him
04:44how to
04:44change sideline to sideline and get him back in the groove of his spot. I love that. Kevin, the,
04:50the Ezra Raku, James Houston, Sam Williams, Tyrus Wheat, like combination is kind of fascinating
04:56because he has lots of different tools to go with. And then I, I'm more confident in the secondary
05:02than I, for sure than I was last year. Even, even though, uh, this instability of Revel,
05:08I still have more confidence that you are going to be better there. And man, did you, have you watched
05:14the film watchers video? I think he's phenomenal film watchers one, I think on Twitter. He also,
05:20I check them out on YouTube and, uh, and tick tock all the time. The dude does amazing breakdowns of
05:25plays and he did one on Caleb downs that I was just like, that's why, like, this is why the
05:30intelligence from a six play series against Miami, that was the same play over and over and how he
05:36attacked it differently in order to make sure on the last, last couple of them, he punished their play.
05:41Like, that's why Kevin, I think you have, now you have a playmaker that can also help you in the,
05:45in those situations with the rest of the team. So I like this defense a lot more. I'm not willing
05:50to go out and say that they've leveraged themselves into Superbowl contenders because of it, but I do
05:55know that I feel, I feel Alec, these additions and their growth throughout the season are going to
06:01make you a team that doesn't go, well, we have to score 35 every day or screwed. And I also
06:05realized
06:06that I was kind of going off of more three, four base, which really, as we've talked about is a
06:11misnomer, but whether you, you tell us if there's things that you want to tweak, it's lightning and
06:21thunder in the building. I'm awake now. Yeah. Or just kind of what you think about that setup.
06:26Yeah. I, I think people are going to get caught up too much in looking at it on paper before
06:32mini camp, before training camp starts, because you're going to see three defensive linemen on
06:37paper. Uh, I think more times than not, you're going to be rushing for, if not more, uh, which
06:43again, just because the base exists so you can change up your look, right. Especially with what
06:49Christian Parker is, is, you know, preaching and what we've seen from the Vic Fangio style the past
06:55few years here in Philadelphia and his stop in Denver, even like it, the base exists just so he can
07:01throw multiple looks at you. That word multiple gets used a lot, but it's true in this system.
07:06I think you got better at every single level, but I think my main takeaway, I think you're going to
07:12stop the run pretty well this year. Yeah. And Jerry's something D Winters is better at. He's very good
07:17at it. And Jerry's been preaching that he's been wanting run stoppers for years now. He's got a lot
07:23of them, uh, because I heard Broadus talking about LT Overton, the rookie the other day out of Alabama.
07:29He's not a pass rusher. That's a guy that's going to stop the run for you. I think Rashawn Gary
07:34has
07:34the want to in the run game. I think D Winters has the want to in the run game. I
07:39think Demarvian
07:40Overshown has the athleticism, Caleb Downs coming down from the safety position or playing in the
07:45nickel star slot. I think he's going to come down and make some run stops as well. So that's my
07:50main
07:50takeaway on paper from your layout, Kevin, is you're going to stop the run this year, at least
07:55what it looks like right now. I think you're going to be pretty dang good at stopping the run.
07:59Alec, I know you heard it this morning on below the belt, below the belt, uh, if you will, but
08:03Bobby was talking about what we've been talking about for months now. And that is, but he, he used
08:08a term that, that Christian Parker uses more. Sometimes you can change the quarterback's clock
08:13with pressure. Yeah. Other times you change it with their eyes. Yep. And that's what we've been
08:18discussing is how this defense will look one way, morph into something three times before the
08:24quarterback releases the ball. And now the quarterback is mistaken because the way that
08:28Christian Parker wants these guys, that's the flexibility of each one of these players
08:32can do things that they're not just in one hole. Like, uh, Ty Simpson wanted, uh, Indiana to be
08:38he, he's like these things, they do something different. You're three different plays in one
08:43play. And now you've screwed the quarterback over on his delivery. And that's one of the things
08:47that versatility, that's why you heard so many ands or ors in there because I was like, well,
08:53I'm going to go with this. So it's not just a nonsense graph, but I could see a lot of
08:59stuff
08:59changing.
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