http://www.cowboysnation.com/2013/02/the-cowboys-4-3-part-3-dallas-should-be.html
Posted by Rafael at Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Another spring, another search for a safety.
This has become the Cowboys latest and longest-running search for an impact player. Recall that the team's pass rush suffered in the decade between Charles Haley's decline around '94 and '95 and DeMarcus Ware's drafting in '05. Recall the wasteful trades the team made in its attempt to replace Michael Irvin, after his '99 neck injury. Ponder, if you're still not nauseated, the many bad contracts the team has given and bad picks the team has made on the offensive line since that sterling unit aged and crumbled in the Chan Gailey, Dave Campo eras.
Surprisingly, the Cowboys have not made a concerted attempt to find Darren Woodon's heir, even though the team knows his value. Look at the rise and decline of Mike Zimmer's two Tampa-2 teams and the cause of decay can be attributed primarily to Woodson's back injury, which ended his career in the summer of '04
'03 defense -- 2nd in scoring defense, 1st in yards allowed, 1st vs. pass, 4th vs. run;
'04 defense -- 27th in scoring defense, 16th in yards, 21st vs. pass, 10th vs. run.
What changed from one year to the next? The Cowboys made four personnel changes on defense from the first year to the next. Right end Ebenezer Ekuban left for Cleveland and was replaced by Marcellus Wiley. Wiley was considered a bust, but Ekuban was hardly Pro Bowl material. Inside, nose tackle Willie Blade was replaced by Leonardo Carson. Again, neither was a blue chipper.
The biggest changes came in the secondary, where Lance Frazier replaced right corner Mario Edwards and at strong safety, where Tony Dixon flailed in his attempt to fill Woodon's shoes. A secondary which had allowed only 9 touchdown passes in its '03 playoff campaign hemhorrhaged 29 the year Woody left. It's been a problem every since, and yet the Cowboys continue to neglect the position.
Dallas did sign Ken Hamling to a decent-sized free agent deal in '07 and got two quality years from him in '07 and '09. It did give a modest deal to the modestly talented Gerald Sensabaugh in '10. Aside from that... nothing. Here's the list of safeties the Cowboys have drafted in the first three rounds since Woodson retired in '04:
1.
2.
3.
Here's the list of safeties the Cowboys have drafted in the top four rounds in that span:
1. Akwasi Owusu-Ansah, 4th, 2010
2. Matt Johnson, 4th, 2012
When you invest next to nothing, can we be surprised that the team has realized next to nothing in return at safety?
Yet, safety matters to the the Tampa-2 scheme, as Mike Zimmer found out in 2004. It's a bit of a misnomer, but the team needs to find a playmaking strong safety. Not the in-the-box thumper of old, but a Woodson type, who can run the alley on perimeter running plays and patrol the deep middle.
The Tampa-2 asks its safeties to play deep halves of the field in the standard cover-2 schemes, with each safety taking an area two yards inside each hash mark and working to the sidelines, from a depth of 10-12 yards to the end zone, the shaded areas in this diagram:
Playing at such a depth, the safeties are secondary run defenders. Those primary roles go the corners, who have edge force on anything which comes at them.
Starting Secondary
Position '03 '13
LCB Terence Newman, Brandon Carr
SS Darren Woodson Barry Church?
FS Roy Williams Gerald Sensabaugh
RCB Mario Edwards Morris Claiborne
Dallas should have the talent it needs on the edges. Carr is a big, physical corner who can drive the perimeter. Claiborne's rookie game lacked strength but he missed his off-season program after having wrist surgery around the Combine.
The questions, as usual, come inside. Barry Church looked promising early in 2012, but only played three games before and Achilles tendon injury shut him down. Sensabaugh is what he is, decent but not special.
The team could use a ball-hawking strong safety. That seems a bit counter intuitive, but in the Tampa-2, the strong safety has the deep half on the tight end's side in cover 2. When the call is cover-3, the strong safety takes the deep middle, while the free safety drives into the short zones. The better space player, and the better ball hawk, plays at the strong. Anybody who watched Woodson and Roy Williams knows which one had better pass skills, and played SS.
Let's take another look at Lovie Smith's Chicago Bears, for more evidence of how quality safety play can impact performance. Smith's defenses yo-yoed between the top-5 and top 16 in his last years as the Bears honcho. When Smith had rushers and quality safeties, as he did in '05 and '06 with Tommy Harris and Mike Brown, and as he did the last three years with Julius Peppers, Major Wright and Chris Conte, the defense played well. Smith's defense was 4th in scoring in 2010 and 3rd last year. It nabbed 24 interceptions in 2012. Compare that to the 2012 Cowboys, who could only steal seven.
Dallas has age on its defensive line, but it also has talent, especially if it can keep Anthony Spencer. The team has talent at the two key linebacker spots and at cornerback. It looks threadbare at safety -- again.
Unless Matt Johnson has the mother of second-year breakouts in him, the Cowboys should be looking for a good safety in the early rounds. In Monte Kiffin's scheme, one could make as much of an impact as a blue-chip lineman.
Posted by Rafael at Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Another spring, another search for a safety.
This has become the Cowboys latest and longest-running search for an impact player. Recall that the team's pass rush suffered in the decade between Charles Haley's decline around '94 and '95 and DeMarcus Ware's drafting in '05. Recall the wasteful trades the team made in its attempt to replace Michael Irvin, after his '99 neck injury. Ponder, if you're still not nauseated, the many bad contracts the team has given and bad picks the team has made on the offensive line since that sterling unit aged and crumbled in the Chan Gailey, Dave Campo eras.
Surprisingly, the Cowboys have not made a concerted attempt to find Darren Woodon's heir, even though the team knows his value. Look at the rise and decline of Mike Zimmer's two Tampa-2 teams and the cause of decay can be attributed primarily to Woodson's back injury, which ended his career in the summer of '04
'03 defense -- 2nd in scoring defense, 1st in yards allowed, 1st vs. pass, 4th vs. run;
'04 defense -- 27th in scoring defense, 16th in yards, 21st vs. pass, 10th vs. run.
What changed from one year to the next? The Cowboys made four personnel changes on defense from the first year to the next. Right end Ebenezer Ekuban left for Cleveland and was replaced by Marcellus Wiley. Wiley was considered a bust, but Ekuban was hardly Pro Bowl material. Inside, nose tackle Willie Blade was replaced by Leonardo Carson. Again, neither was a blue chipper.
The biggest changes came in the secondary, where Lance Frazier replaced right corner Mario Edwards and at strong safety, where Tony Dixon flailed in his attempt to fill Woodon's shoes. A secondary which had allowed only 9 touchdown passes in its '03 playoff campaign hemhorrhaged 29 the year Woody left. It's been a problem every since, and yet the Cowboys continue to neglect the position.
Dallas did sign Ken Hamling to a decent-sized free agent deal in '07 and got two quality years from him in '07 and '09. It did give a modest deal to the modestly talented Gerald Sensabaugh in '10. Aside from that... nothing. Here's the list of safeties the Cowboys have drafted in the first three rounds since Woodson retired in '04:
1.
2.
3.
Here's the list of safeties the Cowboys have drafted in the top four rounds in that span:
1. Akwasi Owusu-Ansah, 4th, 2010
2. Matt Johnson, 4th, 2012
When you invest next to nothing, can we be surprised that the team has realized next to nothing in return at safety?
Yet, safety matters to the the Tampa-2 scheme, as Mike Zimmer found out in 2004. It's a bit of a misnomer, but the team needs to find a playmaking strong safety. Not the in-the-box thumper of old, but a Woodson type, who can run the alley on perimeter running plays and patrol the deep middle.
The Tampa-2 asks its safeties to play deep halves of the field in the standard cover-2 schemes, with each safety taking an area two yards inside each hash mark and working to the sidelines, from a depth of 10-12 yards to the end zone, the shaded areas in this diagram:
Playing at such a depth, the safeties are secondary run defenders. Those primary roles go the corners, who have edge force on anything which comes at them.
Starting Secondary
Position '03 '13
LCB Terence Newman, Brandon Carr
SS Darren Woodson Barry Church?
FS Roy Williams Gerald Sensabaugh
RCB Mario Edwards Morris Claiborne
Dallas should have the talent it needs on the edges. Carr is a big, physical corner who can drive the perimeter. Claiborne's rookie game lacked strength but he missed his off-season program after having wrist surgery around the Combine.
The questions, as usual, come inside. Barry Church looked promising early in 2012, but only played three games before and Achilles tendon injury shut him down. Sensabaugh is what he is, decent but not special.
The team could use a ball-hawking strong safety. That seems a bit counter intuitive, but in the Tampa-2, the strong safety has the deep half on the tight end's side in cover 2. When the call is cover-3, the strong safety takes the deep middle, while the free safety drives into the short zones. The better space player, and the better ball hawk, plays at the strong. Anybody who watched Woodson and Roy Williams knows which one had better pass skills, and played SS.
Let's take another look at Lovie Smith's Chicago Bears, for more evidence of how quality safety play can impact performance. Smith's defenses yo-yoed between the top-5 and top 16 in his last years as the Bears honcho. When Smith had rushers and quality safeties, as he did in '05 and '06 with Tommy Harris and Mike Brown, and as he did the last three years with Julius Peppers, Major Wright and Chris Conte, the defense played well. Smith's defense was 4th in scoring in 2010 and 3rd last year. It nabbed 24 interceptions in 2012. Compare that to the 2012 Cowboys, who could only steal seven.
Dallas has age on its defensive line, but it also has talent, especially if it can keep Anthony Spencer. The team has talent at the two key linebacker spots and at cornerback. It looks threadbare at safety -- again.
Unless Matt Johnson has the mother of second-year breakouts in him, the Cowboys should be looking for a good safety in the early rounds. In Monte Kiffin's scheme, one could make as much of an impact as a blue-chip lineman.
