Dallas Cowboys: No ‘War Daddy’, No Problem. Edge Rusher a Must
By Reid Hanson
The Dallas Cowboys may not find a “war daddy” pass-rusher at pick #28 in the NFL Draft but finding a pass-rusher early is still a must. Here’s why…
Forgive me while I step into full-blown columnist mode here today. Things have been going on in mock drafts around the NFL and in Cowboys Nation that require blunt rebuttals: The Dallas Cowboys need to draft a pass-rusher and they need to do so in the first two rounds.
One of the most popular mock drafts is from ESPN’s Todd McShay who posted a 3-round mock draft for every team in the NFL. In it he had the Dallas Cowboys escape sans a pass-rusher.
Other mock drafts followed suit, addressing different positions of need and opportunity and ignoring that of the pass-rush. While a perfectly valid case can be made for drafting defensive backs early and often, ignoring the pass-rush in the first two rounds could have tragic results.
What the Dallas Cowboys need is someone who can be situationally dominant.
No War Daddy, No Problem
There is no “war daddy” coming to Dallas at pick 28. Sure, it’s possible, but history suggests that double-digit sack guys are exclusive to the very top of the draft.
And even then, they’re a rarity. But just because a war daddy isn’t likely to be there doesn’t mean the Dallas Cowboys can ignore the position early in the draft.
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The goal of the Dallas Cowboys shouldn’t be to find a player capable of playing every down and collecting double-digit sacks on the season. It should be finding a player capable of being a dominant rusher on the edge when the Cowboys need him to be. It may sound like splitting hairs but the two are vastly different with the latter being undeniably more important.
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Consider this: In a playoff game, who cares about season totals?
No one, because it is a single elimination tournament. The only thing you should care about it is producing NOW when the stakes are the highest. Year after year the Cowboys had DeMarcus Ware racking up the sack totals but if he didn’t produce in the playoffs, those sacks didn’t matter.
If the Dallas Cowboys can find a pass-rush specialist (and this year it’s littered with them in the early rounds) it doesn’t matter if he only plays half of the snaps. It’s what type of dominance he exhibits on those snaps that he is playing.
Many mock drafts are too hung up on scheme fit that they ignore and/or minimize the value of simply being a great pass-rusher. That’s what the Dallas Cowboys need is a pass-rusher. If he can play the run or play multiple downs and situations then all-the-better. But pass-rusher is what Dallas needs and pass-rusher is what they’ll need to get over the hump.
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A war daddy would be nice but he’s completely unnecessary. What the Dallas Cowboys need is someone who can be situationally dominant. Someone who can shake things up, join the rotation, and play the right edge.