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Rainer Sabin / Reporter
Throughout last season, the collapse of the Cowboys' defense proved an ongoing mystery that still has yet to be solved. Just how did a team that yielded the fewest points per game --15.6 -- in the NFC during 2009 become so vulnerable against opposing offenses in less than a year?
The question was even more perplexing when considering the fact that the starting lineup had undergone only one seemingly minor alteration when Ken Hamlin was replaced by Alan Ball at free safety. While Ball proved woefully inadequate in coverage, Hamlin likely wouldn't have fared that much better.
And so no one was willing to go so far as to blame that one move for the Cowboys' defensive failures that could be summed up thusly: They yielded 27.3 points per game, the highest total in the NFC.
Something was wrong, although it was hard to identify source of the problem. Was it the system? Was it the players? In the end, the Cowboys seemed to think that the scheme may have been flawed and so they hired Rob Ryan as the team's defensive coordinator.
Now that Ryan is stationed at Valley Ranch, NFL.com writer Pat Kirwan believes it's important for the Cowboys to find players that will be able to carry out Ryan's defense. Free agency, of course, has yet to start because of the ongoing lockout. And while the Cowboys have indicated they would explore the open market they have yet to indicate whom they may target. Kirwan has some suggestions:
The name of the game in Ryan's system, Kirwan writes, is pressure. Jenkins had seven sacks in 11 games last year while Asomugha was so feared by opposing quarterbacks he was targeted only 33 times in 2010, according to STATS, Inc.
Because of their skill-sets, Kirwan explains that both Jenkins and Asomugha would be able to thrive in Ryan's aggressive defense -- one that as of right now will be executed by almost all of the same players who yielded the fewest points in the NFC in 2009 and the most in the conference one year later.
Throughout last season, the collapse of the Cowboys' defense proved an ongoing mystery that still has yet to be solved. Just how did a team that yielded the fewest points per game --15.6 -- in the NFC during 2009 become so vulnerable against opposing offenses in less than a year?
The question was even more perplexing when considering the fact that the starting lineup had undergone only one seemingly minor alteration when Ken Hamlin was replaced by Alan Ball at free safety. While Ball proved woefully inadequate in coverage, Hamlin likely wouldn't have fared that much better.
And so no one was willing to go so far as to blame that one move for the Cowboys' defensive failures that could be summed up thusly: They yielded 27.3 points per game, the highest total in the NFC.
Something was wrong, although it was hard to identify source of the problem. Was it the system? Was it the players? In the end, the Cowboys seemed to think that the scheme may have been flawed and so they hired Rob Ryan as the team's defensive coordinator.
Now that Ryan is stationed at Valley Ranch, NFL.com writer Pat Kirwan believes it's important for the Cowboys to find players that will be able to carry out Ryan's defense. Free agency, of course, has yet to start because of the ongoing lockout. And while the Cowboys have indicated they would explore the open market they have yet to indicate whom they may target. Kirwan has some suggestions:
- The most interesting scenario and the one that is on top of the wish list is to go out and sign CB Nnamdi Asomugha from the Raiders and defensive lineman Cullen Jenkins from the Packers. Those two players would be key ingredients for new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan to turn a bend-don't-break defense of years past in Dallas into an attacking package much like his brother, Rex, runs with the New York Jets.
The name of the game in Ryan's system, Kirwan writes, is pressure. Jenkins had seven sacks in 11 games last year while Asomugha was so feared by opposing quarterbacks he was targeted only 33 times in 2010, according to STATS, Inc.
Because of their skill-sets, Kirwan explains that both Jenkins and Asomugha would be able to thrive in Ryan's aggressive defense -- one that as of right now will be executed by almost all of the same players who yielded the fewest points in the NFC in 2009 and the most in the conference one year later.
