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Sabin: Why Cowboys fans should take heart in the tough cuts club must make along defensive line
By RAINER SABIN Follow @RainerSabinDMN rsabin@dallasnews.com
Staff Writer
Published: 04 September 2015 07:32 PM
Updated: 04 September 2015 10:08 PM
ARLINGTON – Ben Gardner walked out of the Cowboys’ locker room Thursday at AT&T Stadium uncertain if he would ever return. By 3 p.m. Saturday, the second-year defensive end knew Dallas’ roster would be pared to 53 players. Whether he’d be one of them was still unclear in the aftermath of the Cowboys’ final preseason game against Houston.
“I think I have proven to myself that I belong in this league,” he said. “But we will see where the cards fall.”
Less than 24 hours after he made that comment, his fate had been sealed. A source said Gardner was informed he’d been cut, becoming a victim of circumstance in the cruel world of the NFL. His release wasn’t an indictment on his ability to play football at the highest level. Rather, it signals the Cowboys have a surplus of talent on their defensive line – a unit that has been augmented in the two years since coordinator Rod Marinelli joined the organization.
“I kind of like the competition we have within that group right now,” Marinelli said. “Some guys kind of stepped up a little bit and that was really good to see.”
The Cowboys are now stocked with rangy edge rushers and stout tackles who can plug the interior and penetrate the offensive backfield. Including Gardner, there were 14 defensive linemen on the roster after it was reduced to 75 players last week. All of them merited consideration for continued employment. But Marinelli prefers to use an eight-man rotation, and the team has to allocate resources to other positions.
“There are a lot of talented guys,” rookie defensive end Ryan Russell observed.
Russell has been fighting for his future with the Cowboys since the beginning of training camp. The coaching staff grew enamored with the fifth-round pick’s physical traits – particularly his 6-5, 275-pound body and the athleticism housed within it.
During practices, Marinelli yelled at Russell repeatedly because he saw enough in the young defender to invest time in his development. He even chatted with Russell in the locker room after he forced a fumble on a sack in the preseason victory over the Texans. But as late as Thursday, Russell still wasn’t sure if he had kept his job with the Cowboys.
“I am not too nervous,” he said. “I’ve gotten better every day. I literally gave everything I had out there on the field and hopefully that’s enough. If not, I know God has a plan for me somewhere else playing football. I am not going to worry too much. I’m just going to wait for my time and see where I end up.”
In 2013, Marinelli’s first with the Cowboys, Russell would have felt more secure. Back then, the Cowboys were scouring the NFL’s junk bins for reinforcements. Dallas used 20 defensive linemen that season, as injuries ravaged Marinelli’s bunch.
Among the no-names populating the group were Jason Vega, Jarius Wynn, Drake Nevis, Frank Kearse and Corey Irvin. A look at ProFootballFocus.com’s summary page for that year reveals just how poor the personnel collection was. After all, only DeMarcus Ware and Jason Hatcher received positive grades in the 2013 campaign.
Two years later, the defensive line has undergone a complete makeover.
“It’s amazing,” said Davon Coleman, a tackle who joined Dallas as an undrafted free agent in 2014. “I think we have the deepest d-line in the league.”
Gone are the dregs of the NFL. They’ve been replaced by better models. Jeremy Mincey, DeMarcus Lawrence, Tyrone Crawford, Randy Gregory and Greg Hardy all have the potential to be disruptive forces for a team aiming to increase its sack total, which was the fifth-lowest in the league last season. In Marinelli’s system, they will each have the opportunity to make an impact because the 66-year-old coordinator wants to attack in waves with sets of players organized like hockey lines. Since Marinelli has been in Dallas, the goal was to reduce the talent gap between the first man and the last. It appears that mission has been accomplished as the Cowboys trim their roster.
“You find through playing in these games and practicing on a great team like this that you belong here in this league, whether that’s here or whether that’s somewhere else,” Gardner said Thursday. “These are tough decisions. We’re not paid to make those decisions. We’re paid to go out and play. All you can do as a player is make it tough on those guys to cut you.”
Gardner did. But in the end he was the loser in a numbers game played by a team that suddenly has more quality defensive linemen that it can keep.
Transformers
A look at how the Cowboys defensive line has transformed from Week 1 of the 2013 season until now -- the day the 2015 roster is cut to 53 men:
2013 Week 1 Defensive Line
DE, George Selvie
DE, DeMarcus Ware
DE, Kyle Wilber
DE, Edgar Jones
DE, Anthony Spencer
DE, Caesar Rayford
DT, Jerome Long
DT, Landon Cohen
DT, Nick Hayden
DT, Jason Hatcher
2014 Week 1 Defensive Line
DE, Tyrone Crawford
DE, Jeremy Mincey
DE, Lavar Edwards
DE, George Selvie
DE, Jack Crawford
DE Anthony Spencer
DT, Nick Hayden
DT, Davon Coleman
NT, Ken Bishop
DT, Henry Melton
DT, Terrell McClain
2015 Defensive Line before Cuts
DE, Jack Crawford
DE, Lavar Edwards
DE, Randy Gregory
DE, Greg Hardy
DE, DeMarcus Lawrence
DE, Jeremy Mincey
DE, Efe Obada
DE, Ryan Russell
DT, Davon Coleman
DT, Tyrone Crawford
DT, Nick Hayden
DT, Terrell McClain
NT, Ken Bishop
By RAINER SABIN Follow @RainerSabinDMN rsabin@dallasnews.com
Staff Writer
Published: 04 September 2015 07:32 PM
Updated: 04 September 2015 10:08 PM
ARLINGTON – Ben Gardner walked out of the Cowboys’ locker room Thursday at AT&T Stadium uncertain if he would ever return. By 3 p.m. Saturday, the second-year defensive end knew Dallas’ roster would be pared to 53 players. Whether he’d be one of them was still unclear in the aftermath of the Cowboys’ final preseason game against Houston.
“I think I have proven to myself that I belong in this league,” he said. “But we will see where the cards fall.”
Less than 24 hours after he made that comment, his fate had been sealed. A source said Gardner was informed he’d been cut, becoming a victim of circumstance in the cruel world of the NFL. His release wasn’t an indictment on his ability to play football at the highest level. Rather, it signals the Cowboys have a surplus of talent on their defensive line – a unit that has been augmented in the two years since coordinator Rod Marinelli joined the organization.
“I kind of like the competition we have within that group right now,” Marinelli said. “Some guys kind of stepped up a little bit and that was really good to see.”
The Cowboys are now stocked with rangy edge rushers and stout tackles who can plug the interior and penetrate the offensive backfield. Including Gardner, there were 14 defensive linemen on the roster after it was reduced to 75 players last week. All of them merited consideration for continued employment. But Marinelli prefers to use an eight-man rotation, and the team has to allocate resources to other positions.
“There are a lot of talented guys,” rookie defensive end Ryan Russell observed.
Russell has been fighting for his future with the Cowboys since the beginning of training camp. The coaching staff grew enamored with the fifth-round pick’s physical traits – particularly his 6-5, 275-pound body and the athleticism housed within it.
During practices, Marinelli yelled at Russell repeatedly because he saw enough in the young defender to invest time in his development. He even chatted with Russell in the locker room after he forced a fumble on a sack in the preseason victory over the Texans. But as late as Thursday, Russell still wasn’t sure if he had kept his job with the Cowboys.
“I am not too nervous,” he said. “I’ve gotten better every day. I literally gave everything I had out there on the field and hopefully that’s enough. If not, I know God has a plan for me somewhere else playing football. I am not going to worry too much. I’m just going to wait for my time and see where I end up.”
In 2013, Marinelli’s first with the Cowboys, Russell would have felt more secure. Back then, the Cowboys were scouring the NFL’s junk bins for reinforcements. Dallas used 20 defensive linemen that season, as injuries ravaged Marinelli’s bunch.
Among the no-names populating the group were Jason Vega, Jarius Wynn, Drake Nevis, Frank Kearse and Corey Irvin. A look at ProFootballFocus.com’s summary page for that year reveals just how poor the personnel collection was. After all, only DeMarcus Ware and Jason Hatcher received positive grades in the 2013 campaign.
Two years later, the defensive line has undergone a complete makeover.
“It’s amazing,” said Davon Coleman, a tackle who joined Dallas as an undrafted free agent in 2014. “I think we have the deepest d-line in the league.”
Gone are the dregs of the NFL. They’ve been replaced by better models. Jeremy Mincey, DeMarcus Lawrence, Tyrone Crawford, Randy Gregory and Greg Hardy all have the potential to be disruptive forces for a team aiming to increase its sack total, which was the fifth-lowest in the league last season. In Marinelli’s system, they will each have the opportunity to make an impact because the 66-year-old coordinator wants to attack in waves with sets of players organized like hockey lines. Since Marinelli has been in Dallas, the goal was to reduce the talent gap between the first man and the last. It appears that mission has been accomplished as the Cowboys trim their roster.
“You find through playing in these games and practicing on a great team like this that you belong here in this league, whether that’s here or whether that’s somewhere else,” Gardner said Thursday. “These are tough decisions. We’re not paid to make those decisions. We’re paid to go out and play. All you can do as a player is make it tough on those guys to cut you.”
Gardner did. But in the end he was the loser in a numbers game played by a team that suddenly has more quality defensive linemen that it can keep.
Transformers
A look at how the Cowboys defensive line has transformed from Week 1 of the 2013 season until now -- the day the 2015 roster is cut to 53 men:
2013 Week 1 Defensive Line
DE, George Selvie
DE, DeMarcus Ware
DE, Kyle Wilber
DE, Edgar Jones
DE, Anthony Spencer
DE, Caesar Rayford
DT, Jerome Long
DT, Landon Cohen
DT, Nick Hayden
DT, Jason Hatcher
2014 Week 1 Defensive Line
DE, Tyrone Crawford
DE, Jeremy Mincey
DE, Lavar Edwards
DE, George Selvie
DE, Jack Crawford
DE Anthony Spencer
DT, Nick Hayden
DT, Davon Coleman
NT, Ken Bishop
DT, Henry Melton
DT, Terrell McClain
2015 Defensive Line before Cuts
DE, Jack Crawford
DE, Lavar Edwards
DE, Randy Gregory
DE, Greg Hardy
DE, DeMarcus Lawrence
DE, Jeremy Mincey
DE, Efe Obada
DE, Ryan Russell
DT, Davon Coleman
DT, Tyrone Crawford
DT, Nick Hayden
DT, Terrell McClain
NT, Ken Bishop