Can the Dallas Cowboys get away with this building their “championship defense” via the draft? Yes, they can, but it may take too much time. Rookie contracts in the NFL are good for essentially 5 seasons. The first 4 seasons are negotiated based on where the rookie is picked in the draft. The team will then have the option of a fifth year (on first round picks) with the player if they want to keep him.
For this approach to work the Cowboys would have to hit on 2 picks for a four-year span to be able to field at least 8 good to great players. Is this possible? It’s a possibility but unlikely. For the Cowboys to be able hit on 8 good players over a 4-year period they would need to be Nostradamus. Let’s be honest it’s taken them the last three drafts to find a solid pass rusher and if you ask me they still haven’t.
To put some context to the likelihood of this happening, let’s look at the Cowboys roster and see which players have been productive players and were draftees.
Last season the best player on the Cowboys defense was Sean Lee. Lee has been a great player for the Cowboys since being draft. He struggled with injuries earlier in his career but has seem to have shaken that bug the past two years. Sean lee was a second round draft pick for the Cowboys in 2010. Since taking Lee in 2010 the Cowboys haven’t drafted a pro bowl player on defense. That doesn’t mean that they haven’t drafted any productive players.
Bruce Carter was drafted in 2011 in the same round as Sean Lee. Carter and Lee were really good together in the 3-4 scheme that Wade Philips ran. The Cowboys lost Carter because of scheme changes and he wasn’t playing at a high enough level to warrant paying. The same can be said for both Morris Claiborne (1stround 2012) and JJ Wilcox (3rd round pick 2013), both players walking this off season. These are three solid players that the Cowboys had to let walk because the production hadn’t met the standards for being compensated with a new contract. In the same time period the Cowboys have kept some solid players on the roster as well.
On the current roster the Cowboys still have a few guys that they’ve drafted and retained. Tyrone Crawford has been a solid player for the Cowboys since being drafted in 2012. Crawford has player every position on the Cowboys defensive line. I think he is best suited to play defensive tackle but they want him to play the right defensive end for run support. Crawford hasn't shown himself to be a dominate pass rusher but he does everything good. He’s good at supporting the run, has can get to the passer, and he shows the effort on every play. He has been a solid player.
Kyle Wilbur is another player that was drafted in 2012 and the Cowboys have kept on the roster. Wilbur was drafted to play strong side linebacker. He has since been asked to fill in at linebacker and defensive end when they need him to. Wilbur isn’t good in space but holds up good at the point of attack and is a solid tackler. Every team needs guys like Crawford and Wilbur, but when the draft is being used to build your defense you have to get more production out of these rotational players. Which leads me to the only first round defensive pick the Cowboys have hit on since 2010 Byron Jones.
Bryon Jones was taken in the first round of the 2015 draft. Jones has been the player that the Cowboys were hoping to get. His athletic talents have translated well to the NFL and he has gotten better in each of his two season. He plays good in the slot and when match up against bigger, athletic tight ends. Jones also plays that center field safety position really well. He hasn’t broken through yet as one of the top safeties in the league but he is on the rise.
Free Safety, and Weak side linebacker are the only positions on this defense that are set. The good thing is that both of these players are draft picks of the Cowboys. For the past 5 seasons the Cowboys have taken two starting players Sean Lee and Byron Jones. This doesn’t look good for the building a championship defense theory.
The 2016 draft looks like it might justify the Cowboys building the defense via the draft. This past year the Cowboys hit gold on rookies Dak Prescott and Zeke Elliot. They also found two potential starters on defense in Maliek Collins and Anthony Brown.
Maliek Collins showed some flashes of being a really good defensive tackle. He was good in the run game and got to the quarterback a few times this past season. I’m not anointing him the next great Cowboys defensive linemen, but if he can be a good player at the spot that’s one more position on the defense filled.
Anthony Brown really impressed in his rookie campaign. He was forced into action after Morris Claiborne went down with injuries. He had his struggles but he continued to make play after play all season. I can’t decide if Brown is a legit number one defensive back or not. I do know that he can be a really good number two. That means that the Cowboys have one of the defensive backs spots covered.
The two wildcards in this whole thing will be Jaylon Smith and Charles Tapper. Smith was a stud linebacker in college. The Cowboys took him in the second round even though he was recouping from a serious need knee injury. The Cowboys didn’t expect him to play last year, but hope they’re getting a really good linebacker for the next 10 years. Charles Tapper is a legit speed rusher and can get after the quarterback. In college he played inside at defensive tackle, and on the edge at end. Tapper has the ability to be a starting defensive end but he also missed the 2016 season due to injury. If Smith and Tapper can come back this season and be the players the Cowboys expect, they could be getting a starting linebacker and a situational/starting defensive end.
To bring all this together, since 2010 the Cowboys potentially have five starting player on their defense that they drafted. The five being Sean Lee, Byron Jones, Malik Collins, Anthony Brown, and Jaylon Smith. I think Anthony Hitchens has shown the ability to be a really good linebacker so I will throw him in there as well. Hitchens would make that 6 potential starters that where drafted by the Cowboys. Also factor in that they Cowboys have solid guys like Tyrone Crawford, Kyle Wilbur, and Charles Tapper as great rotational and depth guys.
I know your saying to self what about Orlando Scandrick? I’m not sure Scandrick will be with the Cowboys this season. Scandrick is getting older and he has been battling injuries since the Cowboys decided to pay him in 2014. For now, I’m just going to stick with the guys that I feel will be here and start for the Cowboys.
To answer the initial question, the Cowboys can put together a championship defense via the draft. They are going to either have to hit on 3 players a draft for 4 years or have one of two drafts like the 2016 one where they found 4 potential starters. I’m really excited to see how the 2017 draft picks develop. Taco Charlton may come in day one and hold a starting spot. That would really help the Cowboys if he can be a 10-12 sack a season guy. Secondary is the Cowboys biggest weakness, so if Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis can come in a be contributors that would also help the Cowboys. We will just have to wait and see come week one.
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