The more you look at the Dallas Cowboys depth chart the more concerning the defensive tackles become. Osa Odighizuwa is the only name that can be trusted right now, and if they don’t figure it out quickly enough, this could be a factor that works against them for the entire 2024 season.
Mazi Smith is heading into his second year and will need to prove to everyone that this team did not draft a bust.
Behind him is a veteran who has hardly seen the field in Carl Davis, an undrafted free agent in Denzel Daxon, and one more player that the Cowboys drafted in the 7th round in this year’s draft, who could see time.
Dallas decided to go heavy on drafting offensive linemen early rather than bolstering the other side of the ball at defensive tackle. That is fine.
We have to see if Smith can prove himself this year, and honestly, the player below will not be needed to record 10 sacks, but please, just help stop the guy.
Keep An Eye On This Guy
Seventh-round pick Justin Rogers began his collegiate career at Kentucky. He stayed for three seasons before he transferred to Auburn in January 2023.
A highly-touted recruit out of Oak Park High School in Detroit, Michigan, Rogers was rated by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 52 overall player in the Class of 2020.
Justin Rogers appeared in 13 games at Auburn, totaling 17 tackles (nine solo), two tackles for loss and a sack. At Kentucky, Rogers tallied 61 total tackles (19 solo), five tackles for loss, and three sacks in 33 games.
He doesn’t jump off the screen, but he is good at what he does.
What Justin Rogers Brings to the Cowboys
Normally, a 7th-round pick would not have such a good chance to make early noise in the NFL, but in this case, he does. The Cowboys are so thin at defensive tackle that anybody, at this point, would help them.
He is only 6-foot-2 and 330 pounds, but one thing he did do well was set the gap in the run defense everywhere he played.
He only had one sack, so he isn’t going to be stacking numbers up if he sees the field.
As long as he can give them depth and not be a liability when he steps on the field, so be it.
Rogers Fits Mike Zimmer’s Defense
With Mike Zimmer’s defense, he has played more of a physical scheme that puts a stronger emphasis on stopping the run.
To do that, you usually have bigger linebackers and different alignments up front to neutralize the running game.
Rogers is a prototypical nose tackle, and with Mike Zimmer now calling the plays he should fit the system.
Zimmer likes his players to be big and physical up front.
We have about two more weeks until the Cowboys 2024 training camp starts, and that is when we will get to see if someone like Justin Rogers will even make the roster.
Normally, they get a pass on the first year and then a decision is made on them.
With how thin this defensive tackle room is for this year’s Dallas Cowboys, Rogers should have as good of a chance as any 7th-round pick in football to earn snaps right away.
This team needs a nose tackle, and it would not surprise me one bit if when September rolls around, he is the starter.
It feels like he is just a player who wants to be coached and do whatever he needs to to have his time to shine.
He will have a chance to either sink or swim, so let’s hope he can help one of the weakest positions on this football team.