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DCC 4Life
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- Apr 10, 2013
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By John Owning
After detailing why Jourdan Lewis will be a key reserve for the Cowboys in 2019 on Tuesday, it's George Iloka's turn today. The free-agent pickup could play a big role for the defense despite coming off the bench.
The former Bengals and Vikings safety possesses an incredibly versatile skill set, which should enable him to be the primary backup to both
the strong- and free-safety spots on the Cowboys' defense. However, his role should grow beyond that once the season starts.
Jeff Heath, the starting strong safety, is athletic, aggressive, physical and has proven to be a leader, evidenced by the fact he recorded 15 stops (when a player's tackle results in an unsuccessful play for the offense) against the run -- 11th among NFL safeties, according to Pro Football Focus. Having said that, Heath is also extremely unreliable and often a liability as he logged 13 missed tackles against the run, effectively eliminating the goodwill built up from his positive plays defending the run.
Iloka isn't as aggressive as Heath, but what he lacks in aggressiveness he makes up for in reliability. He has played 844 snaps against the run in the last three seasons and missed just 15 tackles over that span. Heath, on the other hand, played 441 snaps against the run last season and missed 13 tackles, meaning Iloka's missed tackle tally over three years and 403 more snaps is still comparable to Heath's total from last year.
Even though this paints a picture in which Iloka should start over Heath (he should), the Cowboys' coaching staff appears to be enamored with Heath, which is why he will likely retain his starting gig despite struggling mightily last season.
Nevertheless, don't be surprised if the Cowboys are quick to pull Heath off the field this season because of Iloka's reliability at the position. Moreover, they could opt to rotate Iloka and Heath at strong safety throughout games, leveraging their skill sets in specific ways given the situation.
With the talent the Cowboys have at linebacker, especially with Sean Lee potentially moving to SAM, they don't need their box safety to be hyper-aggressive, as Leighton Vander Esch, Jaylon Smith and Lee will make the vast majority of plays in the box. Instead, the Cowboys just need their box safety to be a reliable tackler who is also gap-sound. Heath's high-variance play is certainly useful, but so too is Iloka's consistency, which is why Iloka will play a key role in 2019.
After detailing why Jourdan Lewis will be a key reserve for the Cowboys in 2019 on Tuesday, it's George Iloka's turn today. The free-agent pickup could play a big role for the defense despite coming off the bench.
The former Bengals and Vikings safety possesses an incredibly versatile skill set, which should enable him to be the primary backup to both
the strong- and free-safety spots on the Cowboys' defense. However, his role should grow beyond that once the season starts.
Jeff Heath, the starting strong safety, is athletic, aggressive, physical and has proven to be a leader, evidenced by the fact he recorded 15 stops (when a player's tackle results in an unsuccessful play for the offense) against the run -- 11th among NFL safeties, according to Pro Football Focus. Having said that, Heath is also extremely unreliable and often a liability as he logged 13 missed tackles against the run, effectively eliminating the goodwill built up from his positive plays defending the run.
Iloka isn't as aggressive as Heath, but what he lacks in aggressiveness he makes up for in reliability. He has played 844 snaps against the run in the last three seasons and missed just 15 tackles over that span. Heath, on the other hand, played 441 snaps against the run last season and missed 13 tackles, meaning Iloka's missed tackle tally over three years and 403 more snaps is still comparable to Heath's total from last year.
Even though this paints a picture in which Iloka should start over Heath (he should), the Cowboys' coaching staff appears to be enamored with Heath, which is why he will likely retain his starting gig despite struggling mightily last season.
Nevertheless, don't be surprised if the Cowboys are quick to pull Heath off the field this season because of Iloka's reliability at the position. Moreover, they could opt to rotate Iloka and Heath at strong safety throughout games, leveraging their skill sets in specific ways given the situation.
With the talent the Cowboys have at linebacker, especially with Sean Lee potentially moving to SAM, they don't need their box safety to be hyper-aggressive, as Leighton Vander Esch, Jaylon Smith and Lee will make the vast majority of plays in the box. Instead, the Cowboys just need their box safety to be a reliable tackler who is also gap-sound. Heath's high-variance play is certainly useful, but so too is Iloka's consistency, which is why Iloka will play a key role in 2019.
