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Never thought I'd say this -- much less think it -- but it's time to bring Barry Switzer back off the couch.
The Cowboys are building a roster that could win Switzer another national championship. Heck, why not another Super Bowl? He was the coach the last time they hoisted the Lombardi Trophy around here.
The Cowboys used the fourth overall pick of the 2016 NFL draft Thursday night on Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott, the Big Ten MVP on the strength of his 1,821-yard, 23-touchdown season. His arrival makes one of the NFL's best rushing attacks that much better.
Now Jerry Jones needs to bring back his old friend Switzer to install the Wishbone. No one knows the ground game better than Switzer, and the Cowboys are becoming a team built to run the football.
Darren McFadden finished fourth in the NFL in rushing last season and the Cowboys as a team finished in the top 10. McFadden was one of only seven 1,000-yard rushers last season, and his legs helped the Cowboys control the ball for almost 31 minutes.
The Cowboys also signed Alfred Morris away from the Washington Redskins in free agency this offseason. In 2012, Morris finished as runner-up for an NFL rushing title with 1,613 yards. He hit 1,000 yards in three of his four seasons before bolting the Redskins.
Now inject Elliott into that mix. He's a three-down back who thrives on the workload. He averaged 22 carries per game in his final season at Ohio State. Morris also has been a workhorse. He's been a 20-carry back in the NFL. And McFadden averaged 17 carries in the 10 games he started for the Cowboys last season.
There aren't enough handoffs to go around in this offense unless there's a Wishbone in place that can feed three backs 50 touches in one afternoon. But the Cowboys aren't paying Tony Romo $100 million to hand the ball off. Maybe Switzer could convert Lance Dunbar to quarterback and turn him into the NFL version of Danny Bradley or Jamelle Holieway.
I like the player the Cowboys drafted in Elliott. He's a complete back. He can catch as well as run and can absolutely bury a blitzer in pass protection. He's a player who could one day join Emmitt Smith and DeMarco Murray as an NFL rushing champion. With an offensive line that features three Pro Bowlers, that could be one day very soon.
But I just didn't like the fit.
Offense isn't the problem on this team -- not with Romo, Dez Bryant and Dunbar returning to health this fall. Defense is. The Cowboys lack pass rushers and ballhawks. They finished 25th in the NFL in sacks last season and dead last in takeaways with 11. Those lack of plays prevented this defense from getting off the field.
By the end of the first round Thursday night, the nine best pass rushers, five best cornerbacks and two best safeties had all been drafted. Any of those players would have addressed an area of dire need on the Dallas defense. That's 16 chances to get better that passed the Cowboys by in the first round.
But in selecting Elliott, there's a reverse logic in place. If your defense can't get off the field, then don't let them on the field.
That's how the Cowboys built an NFC East championship team in 2014 with Murray. He carried the ball a franchise-record 392 times for a franchise-record 1,845 yards, and the Cowboys held onto the football almost 33 minutes per game. That allowed the Cowboys to be average on defense -- finishing 19th in the NFL -- but average was good enough to help win 12 games.
Maybe the Cowboys would have been better in the secondary with Jalen Ramsey at cornerback. The Florida State All-America went fifth overall to Jacksonville. Maybe the pass rush would have improved with DeForest Buckner up front. He led the Pac-12 in sacks at Oregon last season. He went on the seventh overall pick to San Francisco.
But the Cowboys said they wouldn't be driven by need in this draft. Elliott obviously was the highest-rated player on their board. But the Cowboys' brain trust better sleep on it and start drafting for need in Day 2 of the draft. This defense ends help. Or else bring back Switzer.
