With all the stuff going on with the Dallas Cowboys, some news you might have missed over the weekend was a player they added who, as a rookie, showed some promise on the defensive line.
The Cowboys signed former Detroit Lion James Houston.
Houston endured some back luck during his tenure in Detroit, suffering a season-ending broken ankle in Week 2 of the 2023 season. He returned to the field in 2024 but recorded just one sack, struggling to stay on the field outside passing downs.
Over The Years
He entered the NFL as a sixth-round pick of the Lions in 2022. He had eight sacks in seven games as a rookie but has had only one sack in 13 games since.
That is the issue, but check out the video below. He had a double-digit pass-rush win rate each season he’s been in the NFL.
Last year, Micah Parsons and Osa Odighizuwa were the only defenders with at least 75 pass-rush snaps and a 10%+ win rate.
As my title says, I think it is a long shot that this guy makes the final roster, but those eight sacks in his rookie year were a promising thing.
Being a healthy scratch in three games last season is a reason to worry.
Still, when you look at the Cowboys defensive line as a unit, we all know it is Micah Parsons and Osa Odighizuwa, followed by Dante Folwer, who will probably be second in sacks behind Parsons.
We just don’t know what we are going to get from rookie Donovan Ezeiruaku and second-year guy Marshawn Kneeland just yet.
Training camp just started this week, so maybe we will see him be a surprise and make the front office think about him being more than just a camp body.
He did have eight sacks in a season. You have to be able to play at least a little bit if you do that, but when you break a bone, that can make things harder to get back to that level.
This is just one of a handful of players I will be keeping an eye on over the next few weeks. I am more concerned about that side of the football than I am about the offensive side, regardless of how bad the running back position is.
If I had to compare him to a player on the roster right now it would be probably Tyrus Wheat, his eight sacks his rookie year make him an interesting player, but he is a long shot to make the final 53-man roster.
