- Messages
- 909
- Reaction score
- 0
Josh Ellis
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas – Rob Ryan deploys lots of exotic formations and personnel groupings on his defensive front, but moving Igor Olshansky from first-team end on the right side to playing behind Kenyon Coleman on the left is not smoke and mirrors.
Olshansky, the 2009 free agent signing who has started for the Cowboys the last two years, has lost his first-team job.
"To me it doesn't matter who's starting and who's not starting," Olshansky said. "I'm here to help the team and become a better football player . . . In this scheme the left side basically is where they're going to run the ball primarily. It's where they're going to line up the tight end, and that's where they're going to run. So you want your really good run stopper on that left side, and you don't have to move as much on that left side.
"Kenyon does a great job, so I'm looking forward to learning a lot from him."
Since the beginning of training camp, coaches have tried Olshansky in a number of different places, including right end, where he started in the preseason opener, plus nose tackle and as an inside rusher in nickel situations. Coleman, who played for Ryan the last two years in Cleveland, had run with the backups until Monday.
Since converting to the 3-4 defense as their primary set in 2005, the Cowboys have typically kept six defensive linemen – four ends and two nose tackles. Last year they kept five ends, though.
"We need all these guys," defensive line coach Brian Baker said. "There are going to be some games, because of matchups, it could be the guys starting today and then the backups will be starting next week. The thing I want them to do is get comfortable playing with each other. That's why you're seeing so many different combinations . . . I think I've got five ends that I know we can win with."
With the shuffle, Marcus Spears has moved to first-team right end and is backed up by Jason Hatcher. Baker's fifth end, the same as in 2010, would likely be Sean Lissemore, who has flashed potential.
If the Cowboys are comfortable with Lissemore playing a larger role, Olshansky may be a luxury as a regular backup. On a team as salary cap-strapped as the Cowboys, one in need of creating financial wiggle room for next year, his $3.5 million base salary for 2011 and $4.2 million for 2012 could be viewed as expendable.
The seven-year veteran understands the business side of the NFL, and that his place may not be as secure as it has in the past.
"If it happens, it happens," Olshansky said. "I'm going to go out there and do my best. Whatever is in God's plan, then I'll just move forward and take it. It's not my decision to make. It's my job to come out here and play, and if God chooses for me to go somewhere else, then I'll go somewhere else. It won't be the first (time) or the last."
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas – Rob Ryan deploys lots of exotic formations and personnel groupings on his defensive front, but moving Igor Olshansky from first-team end on the right side to playing behind Kenyon Coleman on the left is not smoke and mirrors.
Olshansky, the 2009 free agent signing who has started for the Cowboys the last two years, has lost his first-team job.
"To me it doesn't matter who's starting and who's not starting," Olshansky said. "I'm here to help the team and become a better football player . . . In this scheme the left side basically is where they're going to run the ball primarily. It's where they're going to line up the tight end, and that's where they're going to run. So you want your really good run stopper on that left side, and you don't have to move as much on that left side.
"Kenyon does a great job, so I'm looking forward to learning a lot from him."
Since the beginning of training camp, coaches have tried Olshansky in a number of different places, including right end, where he started in the preseason opener, plus nose tackle and as an inside rusher in nickel situations. Coleman, who played for Ryan the last two years in Cleveland, had run with the backups until Monday.
Since converting to the 3-4 defense as their primary set in 2005, the Cowboys have typically kept six defensive linemen – four ends and two nose tackles. Last year they kept five ends, though.
"We need all these guys," defensive line coach Brian Baker said. "There are going to be some games, because of matchups, it could be the guys starting today and then the backups will be starting next week. The thing I want them to do is get comfortable playing with each other. That's why you're seeing so many different combinations . . . I think I've got five ends that I know we can win with."
With the shuffle, Marcus Spears has moved to first-team right end and is backed up by Jason Hatcher. Baker's fifth end, the same as in 2010, would likely be Sean Lissemore, who has flashed potential.
If the Cowboys are comfortable with Lissemore playing a larger role, Olshansky may be a luxury as a regular backup. On a team as salary cap-strapped as the Cowboys, one in need of creating financial wiggle room for next year, his $3.5 million base salary for 2011 and $4.2 million for 2012 could be viewed as expendable.
The seven-year veteran understands the business side of the NFL, and that his place may not be as secure as it has in the past.
"If it happens, it happens," Olshansky said. "I'm going to go out there and do my best. Whatever is in God's plan, then I'll just move forward and take it. It's not my decision to make. It's my job to come out here and play, and if God chooses for me to go somewhere else, then I'll go somewhere else. It won't be the first (time) or the last."
