Archer - Cowboys position breakdown: Safeties

boozeman

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Cowboys position breakdown: Safeties

January, 27, 2015



By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com

Dallas Cowboys reporter Todd Archer breaks down the team, position by position, analyzing what the players did in 2014, what they can do in the future, and what the team can do to improve the position in 2015.

Under contract: Barry Church, J.J. Wilcox, Jeff Heath, Jakar Hamilton, Keelan Johnson
Free agents: C.J. Spillman

A look back: Church and Wilcox started every game at safety, which is the first time the Cowboys have had the same pairing for a full season since 2011 when they had Abe Elam and Gerald Sensabaugh.

Church led the Cowboys with 110 tackles, according to the coaches' breakdown. He had two tackles for loss, a quarterback pressure, two interceptions, six pass breakups, a forced a fumble, and a recovered fumble. Wilcox finished fourth in tackles, according to the coaches’ breakdown, with 89. He had three interceptions and eight pass breakups.

Like the defense as a whole, their play was solid at times and lacking at others. Wilcox has been a safety for just three seasons -- two at the NFL level. He is still learning the position and angles. Church is a decent open-field tackler, and knows how to keep himself in good spots on the field.

Heath played a backup role for most of the season, but missed two games with a broken thumb. He saw some time when the Cowboys went to a dime defense, and he covered tight ends. He is also a top special teams performer.

Spillman was picked up before the season started, mostly for his special teams’ skills. Hamilton was suspended the first four games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy and was active for just two games.

A look ahead: Church and Wilcox will return in 2015, and the Cowboys have not had the same pairing start the majority of games in back to back seasons since Roy Williams and Darren Woodson (2002-03). That should be a benefit for them and the defense.

But there remains room to grow for both. Wilcox has some playmaking skills, but he needs to see the field better. Church is solid, but there are times you want more. He is good enough to win with.

Heath takes grief for a lot of things unnecessarily. He was forced to play more as an undrafted rookie in 2013 and was exposed. He is a backup safety who can be a stop-gap performer while also playing a key role on special teams.

Spillman’s ability on special teams brings value, but he will only be back on a short-term deal, probably at the veteran minimum. Hamilton was having a decent training camp before a concussion and hamstring injuries kept him off the field. Then he was suspended. He has to show the coaches he can be trusted before they give him a role on defense. The Cowboys signed Johnson to a futures contract with the hope he could develop.

A look out: Whenever people talk about upgrading the safety position, they always mention how the Cowboys need a Troy Polamalu or Ed Reed in their prime. Now it’s an Earl Thomas or Kam Chancellor.

It sounds great, but there aren’t too many of those available on the planet. (And this might be a bad time to remind folks the Cowboys took Akwasi Owusu-Ansah in the fourth round before Chancellor was picked in 2010). The Cowboys were highly interested in Kenny Vaccaro in 2013, but the New Orleans Saints took him with the 15th overall pick. He was a disappointment in 2014.

Sometimes solid is good enough. The Cowboys could look to the draft for upgrades, but the more pressing need defensively is finding pass-rushers. If they can find more players to affect the quarterback, it would make their safety play better.
 

22cowboysfan22

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Heath takes grief for a lot of things unnecessarily. He was forced to play more as an undrafted rookie in 2013 and was exposed. He is a backup safety who can be a stop-gap performer while also playing a key role on special teams.
No. Just no. Heath is not an NFL player, period. He's the type of guy who's a 4th stringer on most top tier college programs. He has no business being on an NFL field.
 

Carp

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We have 2 strong safeties, that is the biggest issue. I liked the progression of Wilcox, but he got worse as the season went on. He took poor angles and gave up some big plays. I point to the DL quite a bit, but a legit FS is right there in terms of need.
 

Newt

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We have 2 strong safeties, that is the biggest issue. I liked the progression of Wilcox, but he got worse as the season went on. He took poor angles and gave up some big plays. I point to the DL quite a bit, but a legit FS is right there in terms of need.
If we had a legit free safety and Church with Wilcox as our backup we would be set up nicely.
 

Simpleton

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I'm really curious to know how much the staff thinks Wilcox can improve because his physical tools are obviously superior to Church but he really does blow alot of tackles by taking poor angles, which happened in both playoff games if I'm not mistaken. The problem is that the safety class looks pretty weak this year so I don't want to force a pick just because, I do like the Prewitt kid from Mississippi in maybe the 2nd or 3rd.
 

Carp

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I'm really curious to know how much the staff thinks Wilcox can improve because his physical tools are obviously superior to Church but he really does blow alot of tackles by taking poor angles, which happened in both playoff games if I'm not mistaken. The problem is that the safety class looks pretty weak this year so I don't want to force a pick just because, I do like the Prewitt kid from Mississippi in maybe the 2nd or 3rd.
I like Prewitt too, Drummond as well...but overall this is a weak S class.
 

Cowboysrock55

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I'm really curious to know how much the staff thinks Wilcox can improve because his physical tools are obviously superior to Church but he really does blow alot of tackles by taking poor angles, which happened in both playoff games if I'm not mistaken. The problem is that the safety class looks pretty weak this year so I don't want to force a pick just because, I do like the Prewitt kid from Mississippi in maybe the 2nd or 3rd.
The problem is Church looked like shit a lot this year. Missed a ton of tackles and was bad in coverage. I'd actually be curious to find out which one actually graded out higher according to our coaches.
 

ravidubey

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It's inevitable a guy like Wilcox makes mistakes in this defense.

By the time he faced the Packers on their muddy field, the Cowboys were playing without Henry Melton, Terrell McClain, and Renaldo McClain with Anthony Hitchens seriously banged up-- not to mention Sean Lee and Justin Durant were already out for the year. He was relying on Jeremy Mincey and DeMarcus Lawrence to generate a pass rush.

So if Wilcox takes a bad angle, which safeties are like to do when they feel they have to do too much to compensate for others, it's hard to recover on a muddy field against a perfectly placed pass to a good WR.

I expect Wilcox to improve by leaps and bounds the moment Dallas upgrades its DT's and pass rush for good. Problem is, he might be gone by then.
 

dallen

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It's inevitable a guy like Wilcox makes mistakes in this defense.

By the time he faced the Packers on their muddy field, the Cowboys were playing without Henry Melton, Terrell McClain, and Renaldo McClain with Anthony Hitchens seriously banged up-- not to mention Sean Lee and Justin Durant were already out for the year. He was relying on Jeremy Mincey and DeMarcus Lawrence to generate a pass rush.

So if Wilcox takes a bad angle, which safeties are like to do when they feel they have to do too much to compensate for others, it's hard to recover on a muddy field against a perfectly placed pass to a good WR.

I expect Wilcox to improve by leaps and bounds the moment Dallas upgrades its DT's and pass rush for good. Problem is, he might be gone by then.
I think people forget he only played one year of safety in college. He is still learning the position. That's not an excuse for past poor play, but he definitely has the physical tools. He should continue to get better
 

Jiggyfly

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It's inevitable a guy like Wilcox makes mistakes in this defense.

By the time he faced the Packers on their muddy field, the Cowboys were playing without Henry Melton, Terrell McClain, and Renaldo McClain with Anthony Hitchens seriously banged up-- not to mention Sean Lee and Justin Durant were already out for the year. He was relying on Jeremy Mincey and DeMarcus Lawrence to generate a pass rush.

So if Wilcox takes a bad angle, which safeties are like to do when they feel they have to do too much to compensate for others, it's hard to recover on a muddy field against a perfectly placed pass to a good WR.

I expect Wilcox to improve by leaps and bounds the moment Dallas upgrades its DT's and pass rush for good. Problem is, he might be gone by then.
In retrospect its pretty amazing we only gave up 26 points to Green Bay after losing that many guys.
 

ravidubey

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That just boggles the mind.
I believe they thought he could be a CB. What a colossal F up in hindsight, though every team passed on Chancellor for 4 full rounds.

What's impressive is Seattle kept drafting to their blueprint despite having already drafted Earl Thomas in the 1st. Now it's one of the most dominant safety tandems of all time and a huge reason why they are going to back-to-back Superbowls.
 
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