As the Dallas Cowboys coaching staff rounds into shape, the first thing they should do is identify the biggest issues of this football team, and one major issue sticks out that they have yet to fix for the last two years.
With Brain Schottenheimer now the head coach, the rest of the guys that Mike McCarthy had in Dallas on his staff have pretty much filtered out.
With that said, Matt Eberflus is now the new defensive coordinator, the third new one in as many years.
Dan Quinn obviously left to take the Washington Commanders job. Look how that turned out. Mike Zimmer was a McCarthy hire replacing him, and now it will be the former Bears head coach calling the defense in 2025.
Still An Issue
I was doing some looking around at what this team could do in April and what the biggest needs and issues are come draft time, and one spot continued to stand out.
This defensive line is still maybe the worst in football, as a unit. We know that Micah Parsons is probably a future Hall of Famer, but my goodness.
The Cowboys’ defensive interior has been a sore spot for awhile now. Teams ran all over Dallas early in the season, and recent draft picks have busted in this spot.
Think about this for a moment, Mazi Smith is ONLY 1 of 3 defensive tackles on the roster. Yes, you read that correctly.
The other two are Denzel Daxon and Justin Rogers. Who have combined for 0 snaps in the NFL.
Do you see the issue?
2025 Magic?
Does anyone really think that the issue this team has had year after year on the defensive line will change in 2025?
For a team that has been really good at drafting players, the last few years has been awful. Everyone is still waiting for Mazi Smith to live up to his first round pick status.
The problem is Jerry Jones wants to do it his way and win with the NFL Draft, the issue is, they need to just do something in free agency one freaking time.
A guy I really like is Cincinnati Bengals free agent B.J. Hill. They have to get better on the defensive line or this team will be in the same spot as the year’s last.
DeMarcus Lawrence, Chauncey Golston and Osa Odighizuwa are all looking for new deals, and I am not sure if they are going to bring any of them back.
Osa will have a lot of money waiting for him on the free agent market.
Dallas had the fourth-worst run defense in the NFL last year, if they can maybe bring one of their own guys back and add Hill. That could help.
He’s recorded 16 sacks, 225 combined tackles and 53 QB hits in four seasons with Cincinnati.
Draft?
If they do use the NFL draft to help this problem, keep an eye on a guy like Deone Walker from Kentucky.
The 20-year old played across the line, but was mostly used as a three-technique/4i on both the left and right side. He is capable – and was asked – to play nose tackle as well. Walker had a sensational pass rushing season in 2023, recording 51 pressures and 7.5 sacks.
He had a combined 46 pressures over his freshman and junior seasons. Walker was a two-time team captain who started in 36 of 37 games for the Wildcats.
He collected First Team Freshman All-American honors and Second Team All-SEC honors in 2022, Second Team All-SEC honors again in 2023, and Second Team All-SEC once again as a junior in 2024.
He rounds out as a top-50 player, but a fringe first round pick. If he somehow slips to the second round, I would love for Dallas to take him.
Still, this team has got to get this defensive line issue figured out.