Look for Gerald McCoy’s replacement on the Cowboys roster, in free agency and the trademark

The Dallas Cowboys absorbed their first gut punch of the 2020 season Monday, when defensive tackle Gerald McCoy was lost for the season due to a broken right quad in practice.

Losing McCoy is an enormous blow to a Cowboys defense that was expected to get better after suspending the defensive tackle position through free agency and the draft. McCoy’s ability to be as effective as the passer running and defending the run will be sorely missed, but injuries occur in the NFL, and the best teams are able to endure and adapt when key contributors are lost. to go.

Whether it’s on the current roster, in free agency or on the trade, the Cowboys have some options to replace the 32-year-old defense package for three techniques. They are by no means perfect options, but at least the Cowboys do not have to panic because of a lack of options.

What are those options? I’m glad you asked.

On the current roster

The most likely scenario is that the Cowboys replace McCoy with players already on the roster. Even before McCoy’s injury, Tyrone Crawford was already in line with the defense’s first team defense with three techniques due to Dontari Poe’s injury (McCoy slipped over to nose tackle), making it easy to keep Crawford out there with McCoy.

As healthy, Crawford is a skilled, albeit understated, three-technique that does not flash a lot, but plays with a lot of substance. Crawford, who has jumped his entire career between defensive end and approach, is much more effective and runs the passer from the inside out, where his speed translates better against the slower pedestrians.

In addition, Crawford is extremely effective on stunts when tuned to defensive tackle. Crawford has developed particularly excellent chemistry with DeMarcus Lawrence on stunts, which the Cowboys can use to test the teamwork of opposing pass protection.

The problem for Crawford at three-technique is that he misses the heft (6-4, 290 pounds) to be an all-down contestant. At that weight, Crawford lacks the necessary size and power to consistently anchor against double teams, which can cause him to get lost on occasion. Moreover, in the past, Crawford’s body has had a tendency to break down when playing inside primarily due to the increased size of linemen and frequency of double teams between the B-holes.

Neville Gallimore and Trysten Hill will have to play important parts in the Dallas defensive line to keep Crawford fresh and healthy.

Gallimore (6-2, 302 lbs) is a third-round rookie who has special linear speed and explosiveness. He projects to be a flash player early in his career, as his explosive first step certainly will cause some problems, while his problems with hiring double teams and changing direction will also lead to some warts as well. As a rookie, Gallimore would be better used in pass-rush situations rather than in running situations where opposing crimes could target him with double teams.

Hill (6-3, 308 pounds) struggled mightily as a rookie because he was just too raw technically to take advantage of his intriguing physical traits, although he did show some technical improvements as the season wore on. Due to the early parts of the camp, there are some positive signs that Hill is building on the improvements he showed at the end of the season, which seems to be due to Hill being ripe this offseason. When asked about Hill, Crawford said:

‘That man is an animal. Many last year he just grew into a pro. Now, with this offseason work and his thoughts and mentality entering this thing, I have become a pro in front of my eyes. ‘

If Hill can take a step forward and play like the second-rounders the Cowboys thought they were drafting last year, it reduces a lot of worries that the team may have from McCoy’s injury because he can give Crawford the necessary breather. deliver on base downs (first and second).

Although neither Crawford, Gallimore nor Hill could adequately replace McCoy by themselves, the chances are that they were able to do an effective enough task to replace McCoy in the aggregate. Using three players to replace one is never ideal, but it’s better than having none.

It also helps that Lawrence, Everson Griffen and Aldon Smith (in theory) can reduce and escape defensive approaches to adjustments on obvious pass downs.

Free agency

Unfortunately, the free agency is a barren desert when it comes to talent with three techniques. There’s no one who would even present a big enough upgrade over Hill of Gallimore, let alone McCoy.

Currently, the best available defensive tackles, such as Damon “Snacks” Harrison and Marcell Dareus, are nose tackles. Despite falling under the umbrella of defensive approach, noses are clearly different players than approaches with three techniques. Typically, nose tackles are primarily larger and stronger running defenders whose job is to occupy food blocks and space, while three-techniques need to be faster, slimmer and deliver more pass-rush ability.

Some have hypothesized that the Cowboys should draw one like Harrison and use two types of nose tackles inside on first and second downs. The idea was that with two 330-plus-pounders (Harrison and Poe), criminals would have a very hard time running through the B-holes. This is similar to what the Detroit Lions did last year with Harrison and A’Shawn Robinson.

The problem is that while it is an effective way to neutralize an opponent’s interior run game, it basically eliminates any ability to generate interior pressure in those situations. In today’s NFL, where most teams pass the ball 60% of the time, sacrificing pasrush for run defense may not be the smartest thing to do. Don’t get me wrong, it’s important to have defensive approaches that can stop the onslaught, but any pass-rush ability to do this is not wise.

If the Cowboys really want to add another three-technique type in free agency, then it would be wise to wait to cut the waiver wire after final cuts have been made, as they did with defensive tackle Brian Price, who it was abolished by the Green Bay Packers during cuts to 53 men in 2017.

Trademark

If the Cowboys immediately want to add another defensive tackle of three techniques, the trademark will likely bear more fruit than free agency.

Especially a player like the Maurice Hurst of Las Vegas Raiders would be an ideal target. Hurst was projected as a starting defensive tackle before Rod Marinelli arrived and had Maliek Collins with him so Hurst could potentially be available in the trade.

Hurst’s fifth-round pedigree for fifth-round is a bit of a misconception – he was a near-consensus top-two talent at defensive tackle (the other is Vita Vea) before his stock market tumbled after he was diagnosed with a heart condition on the 2018 scouting combine.

At 6-2, 291 pounds, Hurst is a bit undersized, but he makes up for it with fast and effective hand technique. Hurst runs at best the passer, where his speed and refined hand technique really stand out. In the second half of the 2019 season, Hurst was one of the NFL’s most effective interior pass rushers, finishing 12th in total pressure (26) among interior defenders from Weeks 9-17.

Due to his lack of size and length, Hurst will always struggle a bit against double teams, but his ability to hit single blocks and cuts in the backfield makes up for what he lacks when hiring double teams.

If the Cowboys traded for Hurst, he would give them a young, hungry and improving defensive tackle that would stimulate position rotation for years. His presence would also enable Dallas to limit Crawford’s exposure to defensive approaches, which – in theory – would keep him healthier all season.

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