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A pair of offensive line moves and a possible pass-rush boost to the defensive end rotation.
By John Owning
9:00 AM on Oct 7, 2020
After coming into the season viewed as potential Super Bowl contenders, the Cowboys (1-3) have played like pretenders and are an onside kick recovery away from being winless after four weeks.
It’s not time to panic, as Dallas is just a half-game behind the Eagles (1-2-1) for first place in the NFC East, but it’s also not time for the Cowboys to keep things the same in hopes they will magically improve on their own.
Changes need to be made to try to get the Cowboys on track. Most of that talk so far has surrounded scheme changes -- especially on defense -- but personnel changes may be an even better route to take.
Let’s dive into a few personnel changes the Cowboys need to make to turn their season around.
Knight replaces Steele as full-time starter at RT
The biggest mistakes the Cowboys made entering Week 4 were starting Joe Looney at center and Terence Steele at right tackle despite the fact their potential replacements -- Tyler Biadasz and Brandon Knight -- outplayed them the previous week.
Knight played at left tackle for an injured Tyron Smith against the Seahawks in Week 3, performing very well in allowing just one pressure on 64 pass-blocking snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. All of Knight’s previous NFL game experience, however, came at right tackle -- filling in for La’el Collins in Weeks 5 and 6 last season (109 total snaps) -- and should have given the coaching staff the confidence to start him on the right side against Cleveland.
Steele has struggled mightily this season, giving up at least three pressures in each game (13 total including Week 4) and ranking 70th (out of 74 players) in pass-blocking efficiency, which measures pressure allowed on a per-snap basis with weighting toward sacks allowed.
The Cowboys, for some reason, thought it was a good idea to start Steele, not Knight, against Myles Garrett and the Browns.
And, predictably, it went poorly for the undrafted rookie out of Texas Tech. Steele gave up three total pressures, including two sacks, in addition to a few missed blocks in the run game (above clip) in just 21 snaps. Not only did Steele have no shot at blocking Garrett one-on-one in pass protection, but he also struggled immensely with combination blocks with Zack Martin, failing to overtake the defensive tackle on multiple scoop blocks that directly resulted in failed runs for the Cowboys.
It’s not a coincidence Dallas' pass protection stabilized once Knight replaced Steele at right tackle. Steele allowed three pressures (two sacks) in just 13 pass-blocking snaps, while Knight allowed four pressures (no sacks) in 50 such snaps.
Knight does an excellent job of exploding out of his stance to beat the pass rusher to the intersection point, which allows him to remain balanced and under control as he uncorks his strikes to stymie his opponent. Knight’s anchor is merely average, but his ability to beat pass rushers to the intersection point eliminates most of their quick wins. So, even when Knight’s beaten, Dak Prescott at least has some time to escape the pocket or elude the rusher.
After Knight’s performance against Cleveland, there’s no way the Cowboys can justify starting Steele at right tackle moving forward -- Knight clearly is a better player then Steele at this point in their careers.
Biadasz replaces Looney as full-time starter at C
In the same vein as Knight-Steele, rookie Tyler Biadasz should replace Joe Looney as the starting center.
In a typical year, there’s a real chance Biadasz would have won the starting job during training camp. But in a pandemic-shortened offseason that significantly limited practice time, Biadasz simply didn’t have enough time to adjust to the speed of the NFL and learn the playbook in order to compete for a starting gig. It was much easier for the Cowboys to just insert the experienced Looney at center and move on.
Once the Cowboys were forced to insert Biadasz into the lineup against Seattle, it quickly became evident that he’s already an upgrade over Looney at center.
Looney has struggled to work in concert with the guards (especially Connor Williams) on combination blocks and in pass protection, whereas Biadasz has been much more consistent in that regard, a surprise given his lack of playing and practice time with the first-team offensive line.
The Cowboys' offensive line just seems to operate better as a unit with Biadasz at center, where he provides better help and is more aware in pass protection while being generally more effective on combination blocks in the run game.
This is evidenced by the fact that in Weeks 1 and 2, when Looney played every snap at center, Prescott was pressured on 33% of his dropbacks. In Weeks 3 and 4, when Biadasz played the majority of snaps at center, Prescott was pressured on just 23.4% of his dropbacks.
Coincidence? I think not.
If the Cowboys relied solely on the center to make all of the line and protection calls, then it’d make some sense to continue starting Looney. But since Prescott has developed into one of the league’s best quarterbacks at making those calls, the Cowboys can get away with an inexperienced starting center in Biadasz. That said, Biadasz made all of the line and protection calls in college, so his learning curve isn’t as steep as the typical rookie center’s is.
With Looney expected to miss a couple of weeks with a right knee sprain, Biadasz will get a few more opportunities to show his skills in meaningful game action. Even when Looney returns from injury, the Cowboys would be wise to keep Biadasz as the starting center.
Replace Armstrong with Anae in the DE rotation
The Cowboys' defense has had many problems so far, with one of the biggest being their inability to consistently pressure opposing quarterbacks. Entering the season, the pass rush was viewed as one of the team’s strengths -- after one month, only Aldon Smith has met or exceeded expectations.
While it’s unlikely the Cowboys make any changes to their starters, they would be wise to alter their rotation by inserting rookie Bradlee Anae in place of Dorance Armstrong.
Armstrong has only one pressure in 37 pass-rush snaps, which doesn’t even cut it for a player coming off the bench. It’s not like he’s lighting the world on fire against the run, either.
Although Anae is just a rookie, he was one of college football’s best pass rushers in recent years, totaling 20.5 sacks and 28 tackles for loss over his last two seasons at Utah. And while I wasn’t able to attend Cowboys training camp because of the COVID-19 pandemic, all reports seemed to indicate that his pass-rush ability translated well as he secured a sack or two in many practices.
Anae’s skills as a pass rusher are well beyond his years, but a lack of length (32 1/8-inch arms) and a poor showing at the NFL scouting combine caused his draft stock to tumble, which is why he fell to the fifth round.
It would be good for the Cowboys to try to inject some more pass-rush prowess into the rotation by giving Anae more than the five defensive snaps he’s played so far, and the easiest way to do so would be by giving him Armstrong’s 15-20 snaps per game. The risk is low because it’s not like Armstrong has played well this season, and the reward could potentially be high if Anae makes some kind of impact.
It’s not like Anae is going to come in and contribute 6-8 sacks in a rotational role as a rookie, but he can certainly produce more than Armstrong has to this point.
By John Owning
9:00 AM on Oct 7, 2020
After coming into the season viewed as potential Super Bowl contenders, the Cowboys (1-3) have played like pretenders and are an onside kick recovery away from being winless after four weeks.
It’s not time to panic, as Dallas is just a half-game behind the Eagles (1-2-1) for first place in the NFC East, but it’s also not time for the Cowboys to keep things the same in hopes they will magically improve on their own.
Changes need to be made to try to get the Cowboys on track. Most of that talk so far has surrounded scheme changes -- especially on defense -- but personnel changes may be an even better route to take.
Let’s dive into a few personnel changes the Cowboys need to make to turn their season around.
Knight replaces Steele as full-time starter at RT
The biggest mistakes the Cowboys made entering Week 4 were starting Joe Looney at center and Terence Steele at right tackle despite the fact their potential replacements -- Tyler Biadasz and Brandon Knight -- outplayed them the previous week.
Knight played at left tackle for an injured Tyron Smith against the Seahawks in Week 3, performing very well in allowing just one pressure on 64 pass-blocking snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. All of Knight’s previous NFL game experience, however, came at right tackle -- filling in for La’el Collins in Weeks 5 and 6 last season (109 total snaps) -- and should have given the coaching staff the confidence to start him on the right side against Cleveland.
Steele has struggled mightily this season, giving up at least three pressures in each game (13 total including Week 4) and ranking 70th (out of 74 players) in pass-blocking efficiency, which measures pressure allowed on a per-snap basis with weighting toward sacks allowed.
The Cowboys, for some reason, thought it was a good idea to start Steele, not Knight, against Myles Garrett and the Browns.
And, predictably, it went poorly for the undrafted rookie out of Texas Tech. Steele gave up three total pressures, including two sacks, in addition to a few missed blocks in the run game (above clip) in just 21 snaps. Not only did Steele have no shot at blocking Garrett one-on-one in pass protection, but he also struggled immensely with combination blocks with Zack Martin, failing to overtake the defensive tackle on multiple scoop blocks that directly resulted in failed runs for the Cowboys.
It’s not a coincidence Dallas' pass protection stabilized once Knight replaced Steele at right tackle. Steele allowed three pressures (two sacks) in just 13 pass-blocking snaps, while Knight allowed four pressures (no sacks) in 50 such snaps.
Knight does an excellent job of exploding out of his stance to beat the pass rusher to the intersection point, which allows him to remain balanced and under control as he uncorks his strikes to stymie his opponent. Knight’s anchor is merely average, but his ability to beat pass rushers to the intersection point eliminates most of their quick wins. So, even when Knight’s beaten, Dak Prescott at least has some time to escape the pocket or elude the rusher.
After Knight’s performance against Cleveland, there’s no way the Cowboys can justify starting Steele at right tackle moving forward -- Knight clearly is a better player then Steele at this point in their careers.
Biadasz replaces Looney as full-time starter at C
In the same vein as Knight-Steele, rookie Tyler Biadasz should replace Joe Looney as the starting center.
In a typical year, there’s a real chance Biadasz would have won the starting job during training camp. But in a pandemic-shortened offseason that significantly limited practice time, Biadasz simply didn’t have enough time to adjust to the speed of the NFL and learn the playbook in order to compete for a starting gig. It was much easier for the Cowboys to just insert the experienced Looney at center and move on.
Once the Cowboys were forced to insert Biadasz into the lineup against Seattle, it quickly became evident that he’s already an upgrade over Looney at center.
Looney has struggled to work in concert with the guards (especially Connor Williams) on combination blocks and in pass protection, whereas Biadasz has been much more consistent in that regard, a surprise given his lack of playing and practice time with the first-team offensive line.
The Cowboys' offensive line just seems to operate better as a unit with Biadasz at center, where he provides better help and is more aware in pass protection while being generally more effective on combination blocks in the run game.
This is evidenced by the fact that in Weeks 1 and 2, when Looney played every snap at center, Prescott was pressured on 33% of his dropbacks. In Weeks 3 and 4, when Biadasz played the majority of snaps at center, Prescott was pressured on just 23.4% of his dropbacks.
Coincidence? I think not.
If the Cowboys relied solely on the center to make all of the line and protection calls, then it’d make some sense to continue starting Looney. But since Prescott has developed into one of the league’s best quarterbacks at making those calls, the Cowboys can get away with an inexperienced starting center in Biadasz. That said, Biadasz made all of the line and protection calls in college, so his learning curve isn’t as steep as the typical rookie center’s is.
With Looney expected to miss a couple of weeks with a right knee sprain, Biadasz will get a few more opportunities to show his skills in meaningful game action. Even when Looney returns from injury, the Cowboys would be wise to keep Biadasz as the starting center.
Replace Armstrong with Anae in the DE rotation
The Cowboys' defense has had many problems so far, with one of the biggest being their inability to consistently pressure opposing quarterbacks. Entering the season, the pass rush was viewed as one of the team’s strengths -- after one month, only Aldon Smith has met or exceeded expectations.
While it’s unlikely the Cowboys make any changes to their starters, they would be wise to alter their rotation by inserting rookie Bradlee Anae in place of Dorance Armstrong.
Armstrong has only one pressure in 37 pass-rush snaps, which doesn’t even cut it for a player coming off the bench. It’s not like he’s lighting the world on fire against the run, either.
Although Anae is just a rookie, he was one of college football’s best pass rushers in recent years, totaling 20.5 sacks and 28 tackles for loss over his last two seasons at Utah. And while I wasn’t able to attend Cowboys training camp because of the COVID-19 pandemic, all reports seemed to indicate that his pass-rush ability translated well as he secured a sack or two in many practices.
Anae’s skills as a pass rusher are well beyond his years, but a lack of length (32 1/8-inch arms) and a poor showing at the NFL scouting combine caused his draft stock to tumble, which is why he fell to the fifth round.
It would be good for the Cowboys to try to inject some more pass-rush prowess into the rotation by giving Anae more than the five defensive snaps he’s played so far, and the easiest way to do so would be by giving him Armstrong’s 15-20 snaps per game. The risk is low because it’s not like Armstrong has played well this season, and the reward could potentially be high if Anae makes some kind of impact.
It’s not like Anae is going to come in and contribute 6-8 sacks in a rotational role as a rookie, but he can certainly produce more than Armstrong has to this point.
