Cowboys: Noah Spence Can Improve Pass Rush

The Dallas Cowboys face their second-straight offseason of trying to determine how to improve their tepid pass rush, but this time there’s Nooah Spence.

Ever since the Dallas Cowboys lost to the Green Bay Packers in the 2014 postseason, the focus has been on a lackluster pass rush that allowed America’s Team to be eliminated from contention by a quarterback who was playing with basically one leg.

Remember how the Cowboys couldn’t get anywhere near Aaron Rodgers just a week before the eventual NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks played a horrible game at CenturyLink Field before backing into Super Bowl XLIX? Remember how Dallas had beaten the ‘Hawks earlier in ’14 in the same stadium?

Yes, a lack of a pass rush cost Dallas dearly in ’14 and it wasn’t much better in 2015, although there were obviously greater problems than just a lackluster pass rush.

Nonetheless, the Cowboys are still looking to improve a defensive front four that just isn’t too special. Offseason additions of defensive ends Greg Hardy in free agency and Randy Gregory via the ’15 NFL Draft did little to fix an issue that continues to linger heading into 2016.

Hardy isn’t likely to be back for a second controversial appearance in Big D.

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Gregory will now be suspended for the first four games next season because of the NFL’s draconian policy against cannabis.

So, in terms of a 16-game schedule, the Cowboys know that they’ll have the services of third-year defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence and fifth-year defensive tackle Tyrone Crawford. In six combined seasons, these two players have a total of 18 sacks, an average of just three sacks per season.

As if there hadn’t already been enough injuries suffered by the Cowboys, Lawrence’s back is now an issue that can only put yet more urgency on this issue of pressuring opposing quarterbacks.

There’s no doubt that Dallas needs more playmakers upfront, and a youngster named Noah Spence might be just the ticket.

If you’re unfamiliar with Spence, the included video will show you plenty about what this gifted athlete can do. Unlike the widely discussed Joey Bosa, a teammate of Spence’s while both were at Ohio State, Spence is a better athlete who is all about speed and quickness while also offering plenty of weight to go along with it.

In the event you’re familiar with Spence, you’re already aware that he didn’t remain with the Buckeyes because of his addiction to the street drug ‘ecstasy.’

Now, the day will hopefully come when, as a society, we stop allowing governments and corporations to determine what dangerous chemicals people can or cannot put into their bodies. Until then, we can really only wonder just how much more damage these policies are doing to people than the actual substances themselves.

In this case, the Cowboys might be asking themselves whether or not they can afford to take a chance on a second-straight pass-rushing specialist that faces problems with addiction that could compromise his availability on the field.

Tough question, indeed.

Gregory shows tremendous promise as a difference-maker upfront for the Cowboys if he can just hold off on smoking cannabis for the remaining time he’s in the NFL. But unlike Gregory, Spence has the strength and weight to line up with his hand on the ground from day one. Standing 6’3” and weighing around 265, Spence is noticeably bulkier than Gregory, who entered the draft standing 6’5” and weighing just 235 pounds – most linebackers weigh more than that, right?

At this point, Gregory has added at least 15 pounds to that tall, skinny frame. But again, he won’t be available until the month of October at the earliest.

Spence comes in with a relatively clean slate and appears to be a few steps ahead of Gregory, at least where recognizing the true cost of his addiction is concerned. When you go from Ohio State to Eastern Kentucky after having been exiled from Columbus, that should at least be a major wake-up call.

This is the primary reason that Spence will likely fall out of the Top 10 of the ’16 NFL Draft in April.

If there’s any truth to the idea that Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones might opt to trade down from the fourth-overall selection, adding a player like Spence, in addition to more draft picks early on, could be an outstanding strategy.

If I’m making the call, I don’t shy away from Spence at all, although I’m not opposed in any way to adding Bosa as early as the fourth pick.

Indeed, it’s all about risk-reward, and with Gregory the potential reward might have a respectable ceiling.

With Spence, I think that the ceiling might be even higher given the type of player he is – I don’t necessarily count addiction as being a character-killer that some people still seem to and I can only interest myself in what Spence might become as a professional football player.

Next: Cowboys Draft: How High Is Too High For RB?

Spence looked pretty awesome wearing the red and silver of Ohio State, but the blue and silver of the Dallas Cowboys would look even better even better.

In a perfect world, there would always be a young, fresh DeMarcus Ware waiting to be plucked by the Cowboys in every draft – but sometimes you have to take advantage of the somewhat problematic Charles Haley, another great pass rusher that has four more Super Bowl rings than Ware.

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