The forgotten man... Charles Tapper

Was misused in college, and the coaches feel he has the size, length and speed to be a talented pass rusher.

Missed last year with a back injury. Debuted against Arizona, and came out of practice yesterday with "tightness in his hips and legs." No idea if that is in any way related to his back or not.

Question: Are any of you guys counting on him to do anything this year? He's kind of a forgotten man to me. When I think of our defensive ends, he doesn't come to mind at all. When I read his name in an article, I always think "oh yeah, he's here too."

Second question....last year we ended up with 36 sacks. While we've upgraded the DE position (on paper anyways), I also think we face better QB's this year. How many sacks do you think we end up with and what are the totals the top three pass rushers end up with?

Thanks. I'll hang up and listen.

Assuming health I think the rotation is mainly going to be Paea/Collins/Thornton at DT with Lawrence/Mayowa/Charlton at DE and Crawford/Irving mixing and matching outside and inside.

That's 8 guys, and that's not even including Moore who is probably ahead of Tapper as far as situational edge rushers go. Not much room for anything more than that so I doubt we see much out of Tapper unless there are injuries, perhaps he'll get 10 or so snaps a game while Irving/Moore are suspended.

As far as sacks on the year, if the offense is more or less as effective as they were last year I think we'll again be in that 35-40 range.

Good topic, need more stuff like this. My thoughts:

He's kinda found money, BUT.... I don't want to just write him off. The problem is we have a lot of guys who are like that, but no sure things. Tapper fits into that category. He's got "traits" as the front office likes to say. Its possible he puts together those traits and turns into a productive player. He's definitely going to make the team. I'm guessing the DL will be:

DE
Taco
Lawrence
Moore
Mayowa
Tapper

DT
Collins
Irving
Paea
Crawford
Thornton

We'll go heavy there. If we have to go with only 9, it will be either Moore, Mayowa, or Thornton released. There is obviously room for someone like Ivie or Carroll probably, while Irving and Moore are suspended the first 2-4 games.

Position analysis: We don't have a war daddy but we've got a lot of competent starter types if things break right. Taco, Lawrence, Irving, Collins, and Crawford all seem like they are capable of being plus starters as long as you have a player or two better than them on the DL (which we obviously don't). Thornton seemed like he was that kind of player as well in Philly; need to see if he can join that group or if he remains just a solid backup. Mayowa and Paea seem like competent backups, and Tapper and Moore seem like they have potential to be either low end starters or solid backups depending on how they play out.

My best guess for Tapper this season is that he is a rotational guy who gets some pressure, in what is essentially his rookie year. Would be nice if he puts up like 3-4 sacks in a rotational role. It would show progress that he may be able to eventually be a starting caliber player (though again... if your starters are Taco and Tapper you probably are leaving a little to be desired).

My best guess for Tapper's Dallas career is that he's a Jimmy Jones like utility DL, 4-6 sack guy, who probably commands a contract with another team after his rookie deal is up, or after a short Dallas extension. Potential is there to break up or down in numbers to be either a 2-3 sack career backup/third stringer type, or a guy who puts up a couple 6-8 sack seasons at some point and commands a nice contract.

Dallas prognostication for this year... I'll go optimistic and say even though we don't have the true DL superstar or two that we need to be a championship defense, we get solid contributions from all the wave players we have and end up with a slight uptick in pressure and sack production. Say 42 sacks and a borderline top 12, top 12, top 14 defense, somewhere in there.

Guy is constantly dinged up. How the hell is that found money? More like you are hungry and try to convince yourself that the mummified french fry from behind your seat cushion might be tasty.

Mayowa led the team in sacks last year and had like 4 in the last month of the season there is about as much chance of him being cut as there is that Tyron Smith gets cut.

Simpleton said:

Mayowa led the team in sacks last year and had like 4 in the last month of the season there is about as much chance of him being cut as there is that Tyron Smith gets cut.

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Uh, a little exaggeration on your part. Mayowa has almost no chance of starting by the end of the season; probably very little at the start of the season too. He's not cheap, and he doesn't have much upside. Tapper will stay over him for sure. I am not predicting he gets cut but he's certainly one of the top 3 options to get cut from the 9-10 that will be on the roster when Irving returns.

How can you say Tapper will stay over him for sure when Tapper can't even get on the field?

Chocolate Lab said:

How can you say Tapper will stay over him for sure when Tapper can't even get on the field?

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Cause he's a fourth round pick that the coaching staff sees promise in.

He's going nowhere. Deserved or not.

Also... he has been on the field. Put away the tissues.... enough melodrama about his injuries. He will play this year.

mschmidt64 said:

Uh, a little exaggeration on your part. Mayowa has almost no chance of starting by the end of the season; probably very little at the start of the season too. He's not cheap, and he doesn't have much upside. Tapper will stay over him for sure. I am not predicting he gets cut but he's certainly one of the top 3 options to get cut from the 9-10 that will be on the roster when Irving returns.

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Just because you perceive Tapper as being higher upside doesn't mean he'd "for sure" stay over Mayowa when Tapper has proven literally nothing and when Mayowa is basically already what you've projected Tapper to become, a utility 4-6 sack guy. Tapper has no chance of starting by the end of the season either unless he magically turns into a double digit sack edge rusher in the next 2 months.

The fact of the matter is that Mayowa is an established rotational piece (with a less than $3 million cap hit so he's plenty cheap) while Tapper hasn't even proven that he should be active on game day.

I also find it amusing that you think Thornton, a guy who is seemingly entrenched as a starter at the 1-T, would be on the chopping block as well. I'm guessing we keep 10 so it won't matter either way but unless Mayowa/Thornton fall off a cliff over the next 3 weeks they won't be anywhere close to the roster bubble.

There's a reason guys like those two didn't play in the HOF game, it's because they're already established as part of the rotation.

It's not what I perceive, it's what the coaching staff perceives. They benched Mayowa last year due to dissatisfaction with him.

If we keep 10 once Moore and Irving have returned after week 4, the 10 are obviously:

Taco
Lawrence
Moore
Mayowa
Tapper
Collins
Irving
Paea
Crawford
Thornton

Who do you think the top 3 options to be cut are, if we go down to 9?

You actually think they'll cut Tapper, a fourth round pick? You think they'll cut Paea, a Marinelli favorite?

I think they'll go after the underachieving money in Thornton or Mayowa, or the street free agent in Moore.

Not saying Mayowa is "expensive" but he's definitely more expensive than Tapper and with less upside. Also, Mayowa isn't "already" what I said Tapper could become. Tapper may become a Mayowa... or he could be better.

mschmidt64 said:

It's not what I perceive, it's what the coaching staff perceives. They benched Mayowa last year due to dissatisfaction with him.

If we keep 10 once Moore and Irving have returned after week 4, the 10 are obviously:

Taco
Lawrence
Moore
Mayowa
Tapper
Collins
Irving
Paea
Crawford
Thornton

Who do you think the top 3 options to be cut are, if we go down to 9?

You actually think they'll cut Tapper, a fourth round pick? You think they'll cut Paea, a Marinelli favorite?

I think they'll go after the underachieving money in Thornton or Mayowa, or the street free agent in Moore.

Not saying Mayowa is "expensive" but he's definitely more expensive than Tapper and with less upside. Also, Mayowa isn't "already" what I said Tapper could become. Tapper may become a Mayowa... or he could be better.

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They benched him in the early to middle of the season then played him quite a bit in December once he worked his way back into the rotation. If they wanted to go down to 9 it'd be Moore or they'd look at a fringe guy at a different position like a Nzeocha, Robert Blanton, Byron Bell, etc.

I can guarantee you it won't be the guy who put up 6 sacks making $2.5 million last year who you somehow characterize as underachieving or the guy who's been running as the first-team 1-T all offseason.

Simpleton said:

They benched him in the early to middle of the season then played him quite a bit in December once he worked his way back into the rotation. If they wanted to go down to 9 it'd be Moore or they'd look at a fringe guy at a different position like a Nzeocha, Robert Blanton, Byron Bell, etc.

I can guarantee you it won't be the guy who put up 6 sacks making $2.5 million last year who you somehow characterize as underachieving or the guy who's been running as the first-team 1-T all offseason.

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I think Blanton and Bell are probably off the team even if we keep 9 DLs.

So again, who are the top 3 if we have to get down to 9 DLs?

Moore is your iron clad lock?

I dunno. He seems like he's playing better than Mayowa right now according to all reports.

mschmidt64 said:

I think Blanton and Bell are probably off the team even if we keep 9 DLs.

So again, who are the top 3 if we have to get down to 9 DLs?

Moore is your iron clad lock?

I dunno. He seems like he's playing better than Mayowa right now according to all reports.

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Sure, "according to reports". I assume by that you mean the very in-depth analysis that comes in 150 word snippets from Eatman or whoever based on their untrained view of a handful of practices.

Outside of the secondary no front line veterans played in the HOF game, it was only young guys who need reps (Collins/Cooper), rookies, and fringe roster types. The fact that Moore was out there but Mayowa/Thornton were not is telling, and it's backed up by the depth chart where Mayowa is the backup at RDE to Lawrence and Thornton is the starter at 1-T.

Honestly though I don't see any scenario where this team keeps less than 9 DL unless they decide to go with 8 while Irving/Moore are suspended.

3 QB
4 RB/FB
5 WR
9 OL
4 TE

9 DL
6 LB
10 DB

3 specialists

That's 53 and it's pretty easy to get to, especially since we could easily end up keeping 2 QB's, 5 LB's, 9 DB's or 8 OL.

mschmidt64 said:

I think Blanton and Bell are probably off the team even if we keep 9 DLs.

So again, who are the top 3 if we have to get down to 9 DLs?

Moore is your iron clad lock?

I dunno. He seems like he's playing better than Mayowa right now according to all reports.

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Moore is the odd guy out in my opinion. Not sure why you are so against Mayowa. Although I agree with you that I think it sort of comes down to those two. Moore has more of a checkered past with attitude issues and he hasn't really done shit in the NFL since 2014.

A little off topic but if you ask me who I think will lead our team in sacks this year I actually think it could be Lawrence. I was reading about him beating Tyron Smith the other day multiple times. Plus he is in a contract year. He just seems like the exact type of player who has a big season for a career year and then we are forced to try and make a decision on resigning him and risking him plummeting to the ground or letting go of the best pass rusher on the team. We know he has the potential to get to the 8-10 sack range this year. But not necessarily the faith that he will do it with any consistency from year to year.

Simpleton said:

Sure, "according to reports". I assume by that you mean the very in-depth analysis that comes in 150 word snippets from Eatman or whoever based on their untrained view of a handful of practices.

Outside of the secondary no front line veterans played in the HOF game, it was only young guys who need reps (Collins/Cooper), rookies, and fringe roster types. The fact that Moore was out there but Mayowa/Thornton were not is telling, and it's backed up by the depth chart where Mayowa is the backup at RDE to Lawrence and Thornton is the starter at 1-T.

Honestly though I don't see any scenario where this team keeps less than 9 DL unless they decide to go with 8 while Irving/Moore are suspended.

3 QB
4 RB/FB
5 WR
9 OL
4 TE

9 DL
6 LB
10 DB

3 specialists

That's 53 and it's pretty easy to get to, especially since we could easily end up keeping 2 QB's, 5 LB's, 9 DB's or 8 OL.

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I don't see us keeping 3 QBs or 10 DBs. Although 10 DBs are always possible because we use them so heavily on special teams. Especially someone like Robert Blanton for example who could force 5 safeties. And obviously we could then go with 5 corners (Scandrick, Brown, Carrol, Awuzie and Lewis).

Cowboysrock55 said:

I don't see us keeping 3 QBs or 10 DBs. Although 10 DBs are always possible because we use them so heavily on special teams. Especially someone like Robert Blanton for example who could force 5 safeties. And obviously we could then go with 5 corners (Scandrick, Brown, Carrol, Awuzie and Lewis).

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Yea I mean I overestimated a bit at some positions to show how easily we can keep 9.

Simpleton said:

Yea I mean I overestimated a bit at some positions to show how easily we can keep 9.

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Yep and to start the season we will obviously keep at least 10 because 2 of those guys will be suspended and not count against the roster numbers.