Gosselin: Undrafted free agent Lucas Wacha could be the Cowboys' answer to a serious weakness

boozeman

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Undrafted free agent Lucas Wacha could be the Cowboys' answer to a serious weakness


By Rick Gosselin, Special Contributor


FRISCO -- No NFL team combs the nation's undrafted players each May like the Cowboys.

Dating to the 1960s with Cornell Green and Dan Reeves, on to the 1970s with Cliff Harris and Drew Pearson, the 1980s with Everson Walls and more recently with Tony Romo, Miles Austin, Barry Church and Cole Beasley, the Cowboys have a knack for finding the traits in overlooked college players that give them the best chance to be successful in the NFL.

So I take the list of undrafted college players signed by the Cowboys each offseason quite seriously because there's a good chance one, two or even three -- as was the case in 2012 with Beasley, Lance Dunbar and Ronald Leary -- will wind up on the opening-day roster.

That said, this will be a difficult roster for any rookie free-agent to crack. The Cowboys are the defending NFC East champion and finished with the best record in the NFC last season at 13-3. But I do see one rookie free agent who could have a clear path to the field -- linebacker Lucas Wacha.

But not necessarily as a linebacker.

The Cowboys already have one of the NFL's most explosives offenses and they drafted to patch holes on the defense. Rookies Chidobe Awuzie, Jourdan Lewis, Xavier Woods and Marquez White will hog that defensive spotlight this summer. But special teams remain an area of concern that screams to be addressed. In particular, the coverage units.

The Cowboys finished 21st in the NFL in kickoff coverage and 18th in punt coverage, allowing an average of 22.6 yards on kickoffs and 8.7 yards on punts. Now compare that to the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, who finished third in the NFL in kickoff coverage (19.3 yards) and second in punt coverage (5.0 yards).

The Cowboys are giving up way too many free yards in the kicking game. The coverage units need to be upgraded.

The Cowboys have a history of plucking special-teams aces from the nation's undrafted. Bill Bates was one of the NFL's first special-teams aces. In fact, in 1984 the NFL created a spot for those aces on the Pro Bowl roster and Bates was the first player so honored. More recently, Danny McCray in 2010 and Jeff Heath in 2013 made their names in Dallas with their ability to tackle returnmen.

And that's why I like Wacha's chances this summer. He can run and he can tackle.
 

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