Cowboys: Robert Quinn is on pace for a 16+ sack season

Don’t look now but veteran pass-rusher, Robert Quinn, is averaging 1.2 sacks per game and on pace for a mind-boggling 16+ sack season with the Dallas Cowboys.

Robert Quinn was supposed to be an insurance policy. Acquired for the low-low cost of a sixth round pick, Quinn was added last offseason to provide protection in case the Dallas Cowboys couldn’t re-sign DeMarcus Lawrence and/or Randy Gregory couldn’t escape the commissioner’s suspended list. He wasn’t meant to be a team-leader.

After all, Quinn hadn’t had a double-digit sack season in five years. He was hardly the war daddy he once was (19 sacks back in 2013). Over the past four seasons he’s averaged just six sacks.  Quinn was basically a low-investment, complementary-type player, who would hopefully capitalize on all the attention his fellow bookend, D-Law, was getting.

Robert Quinn hasn’t just been able to capitalize on Lawrence’s double-teams, but he’s forcing double-teams himself and is causing quite the headache for opposing offensive lines.

As I pointed out last Sunday, Quinn and Lawrence are two of the most double-teamed ends in the NFL, yet they’re also two of the most successful. According to ESPN’s Next Gen Stats, Quinn is seeing double-teams on roughly 29% of his snaps (amongst the most in the league). Yet, his win rate is at nearly 34% (an elite number).

This allows the Dallas Cowboys to keep their extra players back in coverage and not be forced to blitz in order to create pressure. That’s important because universally almost all passers perform BETTER when blitzed compared to when not blitzed. That’s because not all blitzes “get home” and with less defensive backs in coverage, windows get bigger and big plays grow in frequency.

With Quinn and Lawrence performing so well in spite of the double teams, Dallas isn’t forced to blitz every passing down and can keep things very uncomfortable for opposing passers. This is a winning formula Dallas must preserve. That means trying to extend Robert Quinn’s deal while they still can.

As mentioned above, Robert Quinn is on pace for a 16+ sack season. And that’s after missing TWO GAMES! If he actually succeeds in reaching 16, there’s really no way Dallas can afford to retain him. Their only chance at keeping the winning formula on the edge is trying to extend his deal now.

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Clearly Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper take priority, but just because they’re more important doesn’t mean everything else gets ignored. If Dallas can lock Quinn up for a couple extra seasons (going to take significant guarantees though), they can keep this underrated advantage going for the foreseeable future.

Keep in mind, Dallas will be saving roughly $10 million per season once they inevitably cut Tyrone Crawford. They could easily roll that into a new deal for Quinn, who happens to be Pro Football Focus’ 14th rated pass-rusher.

Now, keeping up this pace is going to be difficult for a 29-year-old vet. But he’s defying odds now by succeeding in spite of all the double-teams, and Dallas is about to free money up by cutting Craw. While Randy Gregory could seamlessly assume Quinn’s role next season, no one knows what’s going on with his eligibility.

Robert Quinn is having a heckuva season for the Dallas Cowboys and may be worth locking up to an extension. Can he keep up the momentum?

• Published on 11/01/2019 at 12:00 PM
• Last updated at 11/01/2019 at 07:58 AM