CNNSI
Cowboys pass-rush takes yet another hit.
Attrition pounded the Dallas secondary in March, with three of the five guys who started in the defensive backfield in the divisional playoffs now gone. But through the team’s spring work, internally, the pass rush has grown into a much bigger concern, and the suspension of David Irving, announced Wednesday by the league, certainly won’t help.
While it became clear early in May that rookies Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis would be able to help fill in the blanks left by the free-agent exodus, what’s left up front remains muddy and the Cowboys have themselves to blame for that, because that’s where they’ve tried to cut corners. Irving and DeMarcus Lawrence both served suspensions as collegians, and Randy Gregory plummeted on draft day because of his drug issues and doubts about his mental state. And now all three have been suspended as pros. Irving was actually off the Cowboys’ draft board in 2015 after he was tossed from Iowa State’s team in 2014, and Lawrence is the only one of the three set to be available on opening day. And that’s without even mentioning the failed Greg Hardy experiment.
Having had Charles Haley and DeMarcus Ware, no one knows the value of an edge rusher better than Jerry Jones, and he also knows how hard it is to find one without drafting him high. So Jones, and the team, tried to get “creative” in finding one. The result? Dallas now needs first-round pick Taco Charlton to grow up in a hurry, because it sure looks like a very talented roster might have a fatal flaw.
