See now:
Breaking News: Gerald McCoy will miss the 2020 season with ruptured quad-tendon
(6:09)
There’s no way around it – the Dallas Cowboys just suffered a massive blow due to the injury to Gerald McCoy. The three-time All-Pro defensive line gets no chance to play a single snap for the club in his first year after leaving the first padded practice half of it was determined as a rupture oriented quadriceps tendon. The injury will require surgery at the end of the season and as McCoy reads to move on to injured reserve, the Cowboys will begin trying to figure out how to replace what his big snap count and potential production would have been, but there is a silver lining to this very dark cumulus cow.
It’s the fact that, although Mike McCarthy did not plan for this specific injury, he did have the caution to plan it in general – by convincing the Cowboys to orchestrate one of their best free agency and NFL in recent memory.
These offseasons not only signed McCoy to a three-year deal, but they were also able to follow Dontari Poe, a now re-appointed Aldon Smith to the NFL Draft in 2020, following these setbacks with Neville’s selection of third-round Gallimore and fifth-round pick Bradlee Anae. They were not done there, however, and went on to sign Everson Griffen just before the first refurbished practice, and there is still a lot of hope that the league will re-establish Randy Gregory soon, the latter having seen his request for refurbishment stopped by dubious bureaucratic problems which are thought to be rooted in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. But that’s not all, because this only reimburses the new additions and / or talent of suspension.
There’s also the case of Tyrone Crawford, now fully recovered from hip surgery, and a player that the Cowboys already had big plans for by 2020. While the initial plan was to work Crawford more on the right side against DeMarcus Lawrence – still an All-Pro on the Cowboys’ defensive line – he also spent more than his fair share of time on 3-tech, and will now be the next starter until further notice. And with McCoy sidelined, former second-round pick Trysten Hill will get a lot of playing time ahead as he tries to kick back from a disappointing rookie season of 2019 and make a name for himself under a much less forgiving regime of McCarthy, defensive line coach Jim Tomsula and defensive coordinator Mike Nolan.
If ever there was a time for Hill to perform, it’s right now.
For those wondering if the team will suddenly turn around and catch Damon “Snacks” Harrison, a source tells CBS Sports if they were to do that conversation, it would not be because they lost McCoy. But why? Well, just put, a 1-tech is not a 3-tech. And, for that purpose, the Cowboys love what they have on their noses. In addition, the team is still has no interest in Jadeveon Clowney at all near its current asking price confirm separate sources – and that is instead Griffen signed.
Now where was I?
Oh yeah, the Cowboys are enjoying a reduced amount of depth in their entire defensive front, in a year that looks different than the ones driven by Jason Garrett. The team has already admitted that players like Poe and McCoy probably would not be on the team if Garrett and former defense coordinator Rod Marinelli were still running because it was “not what they ordered” in the past several seasons. And because of the new acquisitions, those that were usually startups are now backups – e.g. Antwaun Woods, who finally signed up for his exclusive free agent just before camp. Truth is told, the Cowboys [still] have such a logjam of talent on the defensive line that Woods has to fight with Gallimore for the right to make Poe, just like Dorance Armstrong Anae and talented Joe Jackson in the second year have to surrender for the right to do the same behind Lawrence.
Gallimore can also flex from 1-tech to 3-tech, and introduced undrafted rookie Ron’Dell Carter has also proven he can bully quarterbacks from that role. Carter received calls from 25 NFL teams immediately after the draft before choosing the Cowboys, and the former JMU star passes rusher joins the team with 12 sacks delivered in 2019, along with 27 tackles for loss. The 6-foot-3, 265-pound rookie will also come in handy as the Cowboys change from a 4-3 to a 3-4 in-game scheme, in a hybrid system promised and currently being built by Nolan .
And it’s that very hybrid system that also reduces the impact of losing McCoy, because it takes a body from the defensive line, and it adds to the linebacker as a secondary unit. And speaking of linebackers, the movement to change the roles of Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith – who put the latter at WILL (weakside) – will now look like a masterpiece of clairvoyance by the coaching staff, as Smith will be much more than ever tasked with using his speed and explosiveness to help the pass rush as needed. Oh, and Sean Lee is coming off one of his best seasons ever as a pro, and certainly one of his most enduring.
Literally, all of this speaks volumes for the Cowboys in how they will progress without McCoy.
From the list of acquisitions of big names to talent returning for them in 2020 to linebacker role changes to the hybrid scheme that everyone will now serve, there is nothing to indicate that McCoy’s loss is up in the air in any way will fall in Dallas. In years to come, yes, but her roster vest is much quiver dense by 2020, thanks for the prospect of a Super Bowl-winning head coach and its staff.
They’ll feel the stench, sure, but there’s no need to call 911.
