Dallas Cowboys go “next man up” in their secondary

The Dallas Cowboys manhandled the Colts on Sunday, but in among the win was the news that Anthony Brown was injured. Before being injured, Brown had been good at times and allowed big plays at others. But the defense worked with him at CB2, and while many feel Brown should be replaced eventually, that replacement came a little early on Sunday.

With Anthony Brown out the rest of the season, the Dallas Cowboys will have to lean on their depth. Since Jourdan Lewis is also injured, Dallas has already started stretching that depth and now must turn to unproven options.

Kelvin Joseph will most likely to take over the sport vacated by Brown, which means his place will need to be replaced on special teams.

The Dallas Cowboys are now without Jourdan Lewis and Anthony Brown, and it will be next man up at CB2 and special teams

Assuming that Joseph is the replacement for Anthony Brown, and Daron Bland is now entrenched at the slot, it probably means the Cowboys will pull up Kendall Sheffield from the practice squad. What does that mean?

Joseph currently leads the Cowboys in penalty yards, and while his play on special teams has been good, his showing to this point in the secondary has been very average. That leaves the depth behind him as Nahshon Wright, C.J. Goodwin, and Sheffield as the depth behind the three current starters.

Should Joseph move to starting corner, that means he would probably not play special teams. He has been a huge boost to the special teams and losing him could hurt the unit. That means Wright will most likely be on special teams coverage. Wright is a different type of player from Joseph, and his tackling is not on the same level. Goodwin plays special teams and will probably be the last option at corner.

That leaves Kendall Sheffield and his role moving forward. Sheffield played for Dan Quinn in Atlanta, so he has experience playing in a game and with the system. What will probably happen is the Dallas Cowboys will platoon Joseph and Sheffield to ease Joseph into heavy playing time. Should Joseph not be able to get up to where Quinn feels comfortable, Sheffield would be the stopgap.

The secondary will be able to work their way into comfortability within the next few weeks with Houston and the Jaguars back-to-back before the Christmas Eve Eagles battle. The pass rush is still getting home, so it will certainly help the back half of the defense. It is the next man up for the Dallas Cowboys, and they need them to step up quickly.