- 13 hours ago
The K&C Masterpiece analyzed the outlook for the Cowboys' defense under Christian Parker as the team looks to move past a historically poor 2025 campaign. They discussed the high ceiling of the Parker-Downs connection, potential impact of Dallas’ new additions, the pass-rush upside of Rashan Gary, and more.
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00:00What are your expectations for the Cowboys defense now?
00:05Because, man, I've seen people all over the board.
00:09Some folks are like, yeah, it's not enough.
00:11You can't do it in one offseason.
00:13They're still going to suck.
00:14I've seen other people like, obviously, they're going to be top 10.
00:18The answer probably lies somewhere in the middle.
00:22But that's why I wanted to pick both of y'all's brains and see where are you at
00:26at this moment with defensive expectations, given that, obviously,
00:30we still have to go through the mandatory minicamps, training camp,
00:33and they could still make some moves, everything like that.
00:35I don't know if you have real details on this, Kevin,
00:39but how many games do you feel like the offense cost you last year?
00:45One or two.
00:47You feel like the defense then cost you the rest?
00:49Yes.
00:49Okay.
00:50I feel like this new defense will win you at least two more.
00:56Okay.
00:56And won't look, like, that Bears game was miserable.
00:59And your offense almost made a comeback in that one.
01:02Right.
01:02Even though they were bad.
01:03Like, they had to be bad because they didn't expect for the offense
01:06or the defense to be that poor.
01:08Yeah.
01:10So, I'm looking at it thinking they should be able, like,
01:13the offense alone won you games last year.
01:16Oh, for sure.
01:17And kept you in them, and then you couldn't stop anybody late in games
01:22to be able to do what you needed to do.
01:24Now, that Eagles game's a weird game.
01:26The very first one?
01:27Yeah, where they came back and, like...
01:28I think the offense holds...
01:30Well, actually, the second one, where the Cowboys came back.
01:33The defense stopped them multiple times.
01:35The offense was able to produce.
01:37That's what you needed.
01:38So, as far as the defense goes,
01:40I think you upgraded in a couple of key areas.
01:43Safeties being...
01:44Somebody said one safety alone, a rookie safety isn't enough.
01:48They also added Jalen Thompson.
01:49That's a good addition there.
01:50We like a lot.
01:51That's a very smart addition, especially with what they want to do with this defense.
01:56Adding Downs as a rookie, he's going to have rookie moments,
01:59but the dude is going to play at a higher level
02:01than I think a lot of people expect him to.
02:04But you still, in my opinion,
02:06have a lot of people who have inexperience in the linebacker room.
02:10Just the amount of games that Overshone's played isn't enough still.
02:14He's an electric athlete,
02:15but there's nuance that comes along with it
02:17that just you learn as you're on the field more often.
02:21And Dee Winters is a nice addition, too.
02:23I did like that.
02:24You can take full advantage of that.
02:25So, I got questions about this thing.
02:27But I do think that a full year with Quinnen Williams
02:29is another positive.
02:31A full year with Kenny Clark,
02:33understanding what he's doing is his best thing.
02:36That's what Christian Parker thinks, at least.
02:38That's what he's telling us.
02:40And then I kind of look at the idea that
02:42I've got to be realistic with Christian Parker.
02:44He's calling it for the first time.
02:47I think the dude's smart.
02:48I think he has a great vision for what he wants.
02:50I think he's a detail-oriented guy,
02:53and to be successful in these leagues,
02:55you have to be very detail-oriented.
02:57But now application is going to be a completely different thing.
03:00If you can get that message across,
03:02and those guys can receive it, too.
03:04That's the difference, Kevin.
03:05A lot of times you talk about how great of a teacher somebody is.
03:08Well, communication just isn't one side of it.
03:11Communication, that static and communication
03:14comes somewhere in between if one or the other can't do it.
03:18Evidently, Iberflues couldn't teach it.
03:21And the defensive players couldn't learn it.
03:24Well, if you have Parker, who's really good at teaching,
03:26but the defensive players still can't learn it,
03:28that's a problem.
03:29We'll find those things out this year for sure.
03:32But I do think, just based on what I understand of Christian,
03:36we don't know,
03:36what I understand of what Christian Parker's history is
03:40and what he wants to do,
03:42the design, the disguise, the creativity
03:46will be a lot better
03:47than what we saw from Iberflues last year.
03:50Is there any concern that you have
03:51strictly from the talent part
03:53that one of our philosophies was,
03:55hey, we got a lot of people?
03:56It was.
03:57And I think you'll kind of see that get cold
04:00a little bit during the camp.
04:03Maybe you've got a bunch of cornerbacks
04:05because you're like, I don't know
04:06if all these guys are going to fit.
04:08I don't think it's the worst strategy.
04:10I need options at least,
04:11and then camp will start seeing
04:12which ones belong here and which ones don't.
04:15Rather than going into camp and being like,
04:18you'll find out if you have more darts, right?
04:20Just like the draft.
04:21You have more darts to throw at the board,
04:23you have a better opportunity of hitting.
04:25So I think that's the smart decision,
04:26but you're right.
04:27You want the high-end talent.
04:29Sure.
04:29For sure.
04:30All right, Alec, I'm going to go to you.
04:32I'm going to use a couple of sources
04:33to just kind of feed into this.
04:37CBS Sports had said
04:39that a reason for optimism
04:41for the Cowboys season
04:43was that they used both free agency
04:45and the draft to bolster their defense.
04:48Now, I know there's a lot that goes along to it,
04:50but it's interesting to hear defense
04:51and optimism used for the Cowboys.
04:54And then on DallasCowboys.com,
04:55one of the questions that came in
04:57via the mailbag was,
05:00I keep reading that the Cowboys
05:02can have great success with an average defense,
05:04which I think is a very fair opinion.
05:08But with all the work,
05:10to your point about roster, coaching,
05:13everything else,
05:14are the expectations too low?
05:16Why not a top 10 defense?
05:18So I just wanted to kick
05:20some of those ideas out into the world,
05:22then go to you, Alec,
05:23and then we'll come back around on this.
05:24I think your mentality going into the season
05:27at most should be average
05:30for the defense,
05:31just because a lot of this stuff
05:34is theoretical still.
05:35You know, we're still kind of projecting
05:38Caleb Downs to be,
05:40you know, the slot corner
05:42on almost every rep.
05:43We're still projecting
05:44what the combination of Jalen Thompson
05:47and Malik Hooker
05:48playing alongside each other
05:49is going to look like.
05:50We're projecting that Malik Hooker
05:52is even going to be starting
05:54necessarily.
05:55You know, a lot of this
05:56is still just kind of trying
05:58to have an idea
05:59of what it's going to look like
06:00going into OTAs
06:02and into training camps.
06:03So for now,
06:05I think that's the furthest
06:07I'll let myself go.
06:08But I think it's fair
06:11because of some of the changes
06:12that you did make.
06:13Obviously, the defensive coordinator
06:15needed to go
06:15because the communication
06:17was not good.
06:18I mean, I go back to it,
06:20not that he was going to save
06:21the defense or anything,
06:22but when I asked Jerry
06:24why Logan Wilson
06:25didn't play a single snap
06:26towards the end of the season
06:28and he straight up says,
06:30yeah, somebody didn't get the memo
06:31that he was supposed to be in there.
06:34You have problems.
06:36You don't just have bad players.
06:39You don't have bad luck.
06:41You have problems.
06:43And that's from the top down.
06:44They address that.
06:45So the biggest elephant
06:46in the room is addressed.
06:48But I like that
06:50they went and got Jalen Thompson.
06:52Corey and I talked about it at length.
06:53The show has talked about it at length
06:55that that was probably
06:57the smartest defensive addition
06:59you could have made
07:00in free agency,
07:02pure free agency.
07:03Obviously, everybody wanted Max Crosby.
07:05But in pure free agency,
07:07that was the no-brainer.
07:09You give him the contract
07:10that he is asking for
07:11and you build your defense from there
07:13because, again,
07:15kind of like we talked about
07:16with Caleb Downs,
07:16he fixes more issues than one.
07:19He's a good communicator.
07:20He's good in coverage.
07:21He can support in the run game.
07:23He does a lot of different things.
07:24You can move him around.
07:25So you needed some versatile pieces
07:28that could come in
07:29and answer a couple of questions.
07:31Then, I think you absolutely
07:32nailed it in the draft.
07:33I think you had an awesome draft
07:35that is going to help,
07:36especially in the rotational phases
07:38of your defense.
07:39Some of the pass rush,
07:41I think,
07:41is going to be better
07:42on second and third downs
07:44where you don't have
07:45your premier pass rushers
07:46in their year.
07:47Donovan Ezraku's
07:48are not in the game.
07:49So on and so forth.
07:51The D-Winters trade,
07:52again,
07:53I feel like if you're going
07:54to make a move
07:55to add a linebacker,
07:57you looked at the draft,
07:58you said,
07:58where we are picking
08:00does not make sense
08:01to take one.
08:01So let's go get a guy
08:02who's played in the league before.
08:04You did pretty much
08:06all of the right things.
08:07You got outbid in free agency
08:09a couple of times.
08:10That's not really your fault.
08:12They gave it the effort.
08:14They gave it the attempt.
08:15So I think that you're going
08:17to be probably
08:18at least average
08:19going into the season.
08:21That's where my expectations lie.
08:22From the 817,
08:24top 20 from the 940,
08:26D will be between 14th
08:28in the league
08:29and 22nd,
08:30in my opinion.
08:32And then,
08:33I like this from the 817,
08:35expectations better than last year.
08:37Is that enough?
08:38I mean,
08:38it can't get any worse, right?
08:40And then...
08:41I'm really kind of hoping
08:4213 to 17
08:43would be my goal.
08:45Some might say
08:45that's too low,
08:46but I'm hoping
08:47that they can be there
08:48in year one of this thing.
08:49And so that would be
08:50on the higher end
08:51of average.
08:52So you'd be talking about
08:53average to above average.
08:54And I was thinking
08:55a lot about your question.
08:56Last year,
08:58you were essentially
08:587, 8, and 1
08:59because nobody gave a damn
09:00about the last game.
09:02All right.
09:02So if your defense
09:04could flip two of those games
09:06for you,
09:07now all of a sudden
09:08you're 9, 6, and 1
09:09and that last game
09:10feels really important.
09:11If your offense
09:12could flip one more
09:13of those games,
09:14I think about
09:15that very first,
09:16the season opener
09:17or that game
09:18against Arizona
09:19are the ones
09:20that immediately come to mind
09:21that I'm like,
09:21just not good enough.
09:23So then,
09:24could you be
09:2510, 5, and 1
09:27going into the last game
09:29or something like that
09:30if you've improved
09:31your defense?
09:32But on the flip side,
09:33there were things
09:34that went your way
09:35as well,
09:35like that Giants game
09:37that you think about
09:38that you had no business
09:39really winning that game
09:41or do you feel like
09:43you lucked into a tie
09:44against Green Bay
09:45that they could be
09:47pulled back
09:48the other way?
09:49One of the things,
09:50somebody texted in
09:51and I think this is
09:52a good conversation
09:53because I think
09:54we can all agree here.
09:55They said,
09:56still have no pass rush
09:58to me.
09:59And I can't argue
10:00that they do.
10:01Like, I can't argue
10:02that, I think
10:03Ezraku will be better
10:04this year,
10:05but I can't argue
10:06and guarantee that.
10:07Sure.
10:08I know coming out
10:09of college,
10:10he was a very well
10:11positioned pass rusher
10:13for the future.
10:14That was the idea,
10:15but a lot of people
10:16had higher hopes,
10:17you know,
10:17started drinking that
10:18Kool-Aid a little
10:19too early on him
10:20and I said,
10:21let's pump the brakes
10:21on this and then
10:22Bobby lost his hair.
10:24And so I get it,
10:25but one of the things
10:26Bobby has been
10:28adamant about
10:29and we heard
10:30Christian Parker
10:30talk about this
10:31and the more Alec
10:33that we've seen
10:34these other successful
10:35defenses do this
10:37and emulate it,
10:38it is the difference
10:40of you can pass rush
10:41and that's how you
10:43change a quarterback's
10:44clock or you can
10:45change what he sees.
10:47Okay.
10:48And what we've been
10:49watching the videos
10:50we've been seeing
10:51is more defenses
10:52are manipulating
10:53what a quarterback
10:55sees when he gets
10:56to the line
10:57as soon as the
10:58ball snaps
10:59and then when he
11:00gets into his
11:01drop back.
11:02Dude, you get a guy
11:03under center
11:04and now he's
11:04turned his back
11:05to it,
11:05you can really
11:06manipulate what
11:07they're seeing
11:08and what they've
11:08seen and I think
11:09that's what Christian
11:10Parker is going to
11:11try to do more of
11:12and what ends up
11:12happening there is
11:13quarterback holds
11:14on to the ball
11:15too long trying to
11:15make a new decision,
11:17your clock shrinks
11:19and now you're like,
11:19oh my gosh,
11:20you panic,
11:21throw interceptions,
11:22throw the ball away,
11:22dead plays altogether,
11:23or you hold
11:25on to the ball
11:26too long and now
11:27there's a sack
11:27on the way.
11:28Seattle was top
11:2910 in sacks
11:30this year,
11:31Mike McDonald
11:32was brilliant
11:33at this,
11:33the Chargers
11:34were number 11,
11:36Jesse Minter
11:37was really good
11:37at the same
11:38stuff too,
11:39so the defenses
11:39and the Denver
11:40Broncos had 68
11:41sacks,
11:41they led the league,
11:42they're brilliant
11:43at that too,
11:44so what they do
11:45in the secondary
11:45is really hopeful
11:47to help what
11:48this pass rush is.
11:49Alright,
11:49question about
11:50the pass rush,
11:51specifically just
11:52one player,
11:53I'm not saying
11:54he's going to
11:54change the defense
11:56of the world
11:56or anything.
11:57James Houston?
11:58Not that,
11:59obviously I did
12:00think that was
12:00going to happen,
12:01but is it weird
12:02to you that
12:03Rashawn Gary
12:05never,
12:06ever,
12:07ever comes up
12:08in any of these
12:09conversations?
12:10He had 7.5 sacks
12:11last year,
12:127.5 the year
12:13before,
12:139 the year
12:14before that.
12:15Now,
12:15I'm not saying
12:16he's ready to
12:17take over the world,
12:18but you look at
12:19even his low
12:21prior,
12:21after his rookie
12:22season of 6,
12:23if you're going
12:24to add a player
12:25who can get you
12:266-9 legit sacks
12:28on this team,
12:30that feels like
12:32a good deal
12:33for the team,
12:33but I feel like
12:34he does not
12:35come in conversation
12:36whatsoever.
12:37I'm curious to see,
12:40because I believe
12:41Christian Parker's
12:42first few years
12:43in Green Bay,
12:44he was a defensive
12:45end,
12:46and I'm really
12:47curious to see
12:48how they use him,
12:49because he also
12:49swung around
12:50linebacker roles
12:51and in and out
12:52of those things,
12:52so I have a lot
12:53of questions on
12:54how they want
12:55to use him,
12:56stand-ups,
12:56be in the ground
12:57kind of things,
12:58but Kevin,
12:59I think you're
12:59right.
13:00If you look at
13:01the collection
13:01of sacks
13:02rather than
13:02the individual
13:03sacker,
13:04like Micah Parsons
13:05can get you
13:0613.
13:07Right.
13:08How far away
13:09is that from
13:0968 that the
13:10Broncos had,
13:11though?
13:11Yeah.
13:12As a team,
13:13what is your
13:13pass rush?
13:14Yeah.
13:15And so I agree
13:15with you.
13:16I don't know
13:17how they're going
13:18to use him
13:18or what their
13:19plan is,
13:19but if he can
13:20be part of a
13:21group that can
13:21get to the
13:22quarterback,
13:22that's really
13:23all that matters
13:23to me.
13:24Do you think
13:24he'll start
13:25off the weak
13:25side?
13:27Like ahead
13:28of Barham?
13:30I would like
13:31to say that I
13:32could predict
13:32that.
13:33I don't even
13:33think the
13:34Cowboys know
13:34that.
13:35You can see
13:35him swinging
13:35around in that
13:36left side of
13:36the defense a
13:38little bit,
13:38though.
13:38That's kind
13:39of where I
13:39see him at
13:39the moment,
13:41although he's
13:41played some
13:42really good
13:42right defensive
13:43end,
13:43right outside
13:43linebacker stuff.
13:44So yeah.
13:45Somebody said
13:46Clowney and
13:46Gary feels
13:47like the
13:47same swap.
13:48That's why.
13:49And I felt
13:50like Clowney
13:51got a couple
13:52of gimme sacks
13:53late.
13:53It was nice.
13:55And it padded
13:56things to look
13:56a little bit
13:57better.
13:58But maybe you
13:59have a version
14:00of him that's
14:00a little bit
14:01younger at 28
14:01and can be
14:04a little more
14:05active within
14:06this defense.
14:07And also
14:08familiarity with
14:09Christian Parker
14:10too, I think.
14:10And the person
14:11who said he's
14:11going to get
14:12cut by Green
14:12Bay, but
14:13that's a
14:13financial reason.
14:14Not strictly
14:16a play
14:17reason.
14:18And for the
14:18person who
14:19said...
14:19But do you
14:21have a...
14:21When he comes
14:22in, are you
14:22like, oh,
14:23saving the
14:23defense?
14:24Or are you
14:24like, I have
14:25questions?
14:26I think
14:27everything is
14:27still, I have
14:28questions.
14:28Not saving
14:29the defense,
14:29but it feels
14:30like it's
14:30gone too
14:31far.
14:31Oh, gotcha.
14:32Of like, he
14:33doesn't matter
14:34whatsoever.
14:34I don't think
14:35that's the case
14:36either.
14:37Right now, he's
14:37forgotten for
14:38sure.
14:39If you're
14:39looking to
14:39piecemeal your
14:40pass rush
14:41together, he
14:42seems like an
14:43important cog to
14:44be, if it's
14:44not Ezraku on
14:45this one, maybe
14:46we can hit you
14:47with Gary on
14:47the other
14:48side.
14:48I'm with you.
14:49And that feels
14:50relevant.
14:51By the way, if
14:52you think it
14:53couldn't get
14:53worse than
14:55last year, I
14:57have to admit, I
14:58was astonished to
14:59learn that the
15:00Cowboys were only
15:01third worst in
15:02yards per game.
15:03I assume they
15:04were worse by a
15:05good 20 yards.
15:06They were only
15:06third worst.
15:07Now, when it
15:08came to points
15:09per game, which
15:10is what we
15:10really all care
15:11about, yes, of
15:12course, they were
15:13in dead last
15:14place.
15:14So, 30th in
15:15yards, 32nd in
15:16points, I guess
15:17technically it
15:18could get a
15:18little worse, but
15:19it feels like it
15:20can.
15:20Are you forgetting
15:21about all those
15:21times where the
15:22Cowboys got to
15:23midfield and
15:24attempted to kick
15:25a 58-yard field
15:26goal?
15:26Man, that's
15:27true.
15:27turned around
15:28and you're
15:28like, oh my
15:28gosh, what are
15:29we doing?
15:29The only reason
15:29the other team
15:31didn't get that
15:32extra 30 yards
15:33per drive is
15:34because we just
15:34set them up in
15:35a position where
15:36you're like, no,
15:37don't worry, you
15:37don't have to go
15:37as far.
15:38Yes.
15:38I don't know
15:41what you're
15:42making that
15:42pretty clear, but
15:44thank you very
15:45much.
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