3 Dallas Cowboys whose stock is down following recent coaching hires by Brian Schottenheimer
With a new coaching staff in place for the Dallas Cowboys, there are set to be winners and losers across the roster.In a previous post, I went through those players whose stock is pointing up thanks to recent hires made by head coach Brian Schottenheimer. Now it's turn to look at those on the opposite […]
With a new coaching staff in place for the Dallas Cowboys, there are set to be winners and losers across the roster.
In a previous post, I went through those players whose stock is pointing up thanks to recent hires made by head coach Brian Schottenheimer. Now it's turn to look at those on the opposite side of things.
Interestingly enough, the winners post included mostly offensive players and this list is all about defenders.
DT Mazi Smith
Smith is already on "draft bust" watch as his first two seasons in the league have been underwhelming. However, fair is fair: Nose tackles usually take multiple years to get going at the NFL level.
That being said, going from a Mike Zimmer-led scheme to Matt Eberflus doesn't bode well for Smith. Eberflus runs a one-gap scheme, which means Smith's role as a gap-and-a-half or two-gap nose tackle might have become much less important.
One-gap defenses require players to aggressively attack their assigned gap while two-gap defenses attack players. Smith's strength and size made him an intriguing player at such a gig. His get-off speed has been a weakness and he'll need to improve in that area to work out for Eberflus' unit.
Micah Parsons
Disclaimer: I don't expect Parsons to stop being a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate nor one of the best defenders in the NFL. I believe Parsons is coaching staff-proof. He's that good.
But… Eberflus' lack of blitzing compared to Zimmer's and Quinn's does make me wonder if it will impact Parsons' production. The latter two did a great job using the blitz to generate one-on-one matchups for Parsons. I need to see that from Eberflus. Naturally, if the Cowboys rush with four at every turn, Parsons' job will be made more difficult. Specially if there's not a quality pass rushing DE on the other end of the line.
Defensive backs
Yes, I'm cheating and grouping an entire unit together. But bear with me. Andre Curtis will be the Cowboys' defensive passing game coordinator while David Overstreet takes over as secondary coach. Let me be clear: This has nothing to do with either of them.
But the Cowboys did lose one of the most respected DB coaches in the NFL when Al Harris landed in Chicago. Assistant DB coach Cristian Garcia also found a new gig by heading to Arizona. The Cowboys reportedly wish to keep both. That's got to count for something. Simply put, I'm skeptical about the DBs not skipping a beat.
