The Cowboys secondary will look drastically different this year and that is not a good thing. This offseason the Cowboys sustained heavy losses at that position. Brandon Carr in particular will be missed. He was remarkably consistent during his time with the Cowboys, despite experiencing a defensive scheme change shortly after he arrived in Dallas, and being unfairly criticized for his contract. Morris Claiborne finally came into his own last season after being labelled a bust, unfortunately he could not stay healthy. Barry Church was one of the leaders on that defense and was a tackling machine. Finally J.J Wilcox as a rotational piece was one of the hardest open field hitters on the team. These were all necessary salary cap moves but will hurt the team never the less.
The Cowboys did bolster the positon this offseason. They signed Nolan Carroll from the Eagles but he is new to this team and if you recall he did not look very impressive playing against Dez Bryant last year. They also drafted a promising bunch of young DB’s to address those losses. The future looks bright with young talent such as Chidobe Awuzie, Jourdan Lewis, Marquez White and Xavier Woods but for this season it is going to be a major downgrade.Mostly the Cowboys are depending on current players on the roster such as Byron Jones, Jeff Heath, Anthony Brown and Kavon Frazier to step up. Jeff Heath has flashed potential but is unproven as a starter. Bryon Jones has a lot of ability and the hope is that he has a break out year. Everyone was impressed with Anthony Brown last year and hopefully he can duplicate and build on his success as a rookie. As for the rookies, there will likely be a learning curve and they will be tested by offensive co-ordinators. The rookie corners did have strong showings early in camp but have now all missed time with injuries. This is a concern for their development. On a positive note, Orlando Scandrick seems to have found his 2014 form.
Last season the Cowboys secondary had an outstanding year. This was not reflected in pro-bowl appearances or turnovers but I would argue that this secondary was by far the best defensive unit the Cowboys had last season. The job of defensive backs is made much more difficult or much easier in direct relation to how well the front 7 performs. In the case of the Dallas Cowboys, this team has been notoriously deficient in generating pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Last season the Cowboys did improve their sack total but failed to get consistent pressure. Too often the Cowboys secondary were asked to cover for far too long and yet they performed admirably.
This year it is difficult to imagine a vast improvement in the pass rush. Maliek Collins is a star in the making. The Cowboys did draft Taco Charlton, signed Damontre Moore and Stephen Paea, and they have a healthy Demarcus Lawrence. Unfortunately they have to deal with multiple suspensions and a recent injury to Tyrone Crawford, so it is unlikely that this unit is much better than last year.
My expectation is that this season the Cowboys largely inexperienced secondary will be exposed thanks to the lack of an effective pass rush. Confidence is huge for DB’s and I foresee that this will be a difficult year for them. My hope is that this defensive line takes a major step forward this year and that the young talent at the back end succeeds at the one thing their predecessors have failed at: Creating turnovers.