3 defensive players the Cowboys need to improve in 2024

One season after the Dallas Cowboys parted ways with their offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, they now have a new defensive coordinator as well.

Dan Quinn boarded a plane for Washington and he won’t be back, taking over as head coach of the Commanders.

He also took Joe Whitt Jr. with him as his new defensive coordinator but was blocked from interviewing Cowboys’ Defensive Passing Game Coordinator Al Harris.

Enter Mike Zimmer, who Cowboys Nation hopes is the antidote to whatever poison ails the defense when they face a Shanahan tree offense.

Zimmer returns to Dallas, the first organization to give him the opportunity to coordinate a defense.

He was brought on by Dave Campo in 2000, the Cowboys’ new head coach after Chan Gailey was relieved of his duties at the end of the 1999 season.

Zimmer takes over a defense that led the NFL in takeaways in 2021 and 2022 and finished second in 2023.

There are many good players at Zimmer’s fingertips, but there are a few who need to show improvement in 2024.

If you read my article on the offensive players who need to step up their game in 2024, you know what to expect as you read this.

Today, I’m going to highlight three defensive players who must improve in 2024 for the Cowboys to be successful.

Donovan Wilson

Safety Donovan Wilson was awarded a second contract with the Cowboys after proving to be an outstanding 6th round selection.

Drafted out of Texas A&M University, Wilson played only 2% of the defensive snaps in his rookie season of 2019.

In 2020, then DC Mike Nolan utilized Wilson on 69% of the snaps in a breakout role, ending the season with 71 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and two interceptions.

A stellar 2022 season under Dan Quinn’s coaching where Wilson finished with a team-leading 101 tackles earned him a new contract before the 2023 season.

The 2023 season was from what we’ve seen from Wilson, but it could have been because of a calf injury suffered in training camp.

Wilson didn’t make his 2023 debut until Week 3 and was ramped up to full speed in just a couple of weeks.

Still, we didn’t see the same impact from him, as splash plays and his patented safety blitzes were few and far between.

Zimmer has experience coaching safeties who are also good at playing down near the line of scrimmage.

Hopefully, he can do the same with Wilson.

Mazi Smith

I know this seems like a Captain Obvious take, but it doesn’t make it any less of a true statement.

Mazi Smith, the Cowboys’ 1st-round pick in 2023, was lower than a footnote on the season’s page.

Smith was slow off the snap, bullied out of position, and would have played even less than the 28% defensive snaps he logged had Johnathan Hankins not gotten injured.

Another popular narrative that has been all but confirmed is the fact that he lost over 30 pounds throughout the season.

The whole purpose of drafting a 330-pound defensive tackle in the 1st round was to help clog the middle of the line in the run game.

That plan went out the window, rendering Smith incapable of contributing in a positive way.

Still, we must give Mazi the benefit of the doubt in his rookie season.

Not all 1st-rounders are superstars right off the bat, especially at the defensive tackle position.

Newly hired Defensive Line Coach Jeff Zgonina played defensive tackle in the NFL for 17 seasons and should have the ammo to improve Smith’s game.

Jayron Kearse

During a season in which the Cowboys surprisingly didn’t get consistent results from the safety room, it’s no wonder two of them make this list.

We all lauded Jayron Kearse for how well he played in 2022, but 2023 was clearly a down year.

Much like Wilson, Kearse did not flourish until he entered Dan Quinn’s three-safety scheme.

His stats for 2023 are pretty much in line with the previous two seasons, but the numbers on the common stats are misleading.

According to Pro Football Focus Premium stats, Kearse missed 12% of his tackle attempts in run support and allowed an 83% completion percentage in coverage.

His overall PFF grade of 43.1 ranked 107th out of all qualified safeties in 2023 as he showed regression in both rush and pass defense.

Kearse is headed into year nine of his career. Could he be slowing with age?

Let’s let Zimmer answer that for us in 2024.