Who are these New Look Cowboys (Defense)?

By:  Bobby Shores

Many Dallas Cowboys fans were hesitant to believe in their defense at the beginning of the season when it looked like the defensive personnel was going to essentially stay the same, no flashy free agent signings or high draft picks were used to shore up a defense that ranked near the bottom of the league in every statistical category in 2010. But led by new Defensive Coordinator Rob Ryan, a second year 2nd round draft pick inside linebacker and a journeyman safety; this defense has become a unit to reckon with.

Sean Lee - An instinctual and intelligent player that possessed an innate ability to always know where a play was going and to seamlessly flow through traffic to get there, Lee looked like the next great linebacker in a long line at Penn State. But after tearing his ACL in 2008 he never regained his quickness and ability before the Cowboys used a 2nd round pick on him in the draft. Couple his knee injury with all the minor injuries that he suffered his rookie year that helped keep him off the field, and Cowboys fans didn't have a lot of faith in him being much better than the old and slow linebacking corp of Bradie James and Keith Brooking that he was supposed to help replace.....but little did we know.

 Enter the first game of the 2011 season, Lee led the team with 12 tackles (10 solo) and an interception. That is when people first started to take notice. Lee followed that performance with 22 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, an interception and 3 passes defensed in the next three games. Now fans are not only noticing Lee, but declaring him a star. He has become a leader on the defense, spending countless hours studying his playbook and watching film which has helped him call the plays in the huddle and ensure that everybody is in the right spot.

His biggest attributes though are what made him great, pre-ACL tear at Penn State, that innate ability to diagnose plays before they happen, allowing him to get to the ball and make plays seemingly before the offense even knows what is going on. If the Cowboys latest 2nd round inside linebacker coming off a major knee injury, Bruce Carter, works out nearly as well as the first one, then they will have a linebacking tandem to reckon with for years to come.

Abe Elam/Gerald Sensabaugh - The safety position for the Cowboys for the last few years (ok well really since Darren Woodson retired) has been more of a "disaster" than a "safety", and when they did not address this position high in the draft and instead brought back a recent free agent disappointment in Sensabaugh and a journeyman in Elam, hopes were not high.....Especially since this nearly identical secondary last year spent more time pointing fingers at each other and yelling back and forth amongst themselves and the sideline then actually stopping the opponents....

In comes Elam with his conservative style of play and two years experience in Rob Ryan's defense lining up the secondary in the right places and keeping the lines of communication open with the front seven to make sure that everyone is on the same page, the amount of big plays the secondary gives up has reduced dramatically. While Elam plays conservative, Sensabaugh's ability to make plays (blocked FG, 2 fumbles and 2nd on the team in INT's & Tackles) has been greatly enhanced because he is playing much looser and more confident which has allowed his great athleticism to shine through.

While the secondary is still a work in progress, the improvement from last year, even with multiple starters missing significant time throughout the year has allowed the Cowboys to stay competitive.

The Rest of the Best - You cannot write an article about the Cowboys defense and not mention the contributions these guys have made:

DeMarcus Ware - Most disruptive defender in the NFL, if not the best defensive player, leading the league with 14 sacks.

Bradie James/Keith Brooking - While both have lost a few steps and are role players, the leadership and enthusiasm they bring everyday cannot be understated.

Terence Newman - While he always seems to be battling injuries and has missed significant time the last few years, and was nearly cut before the season started, he leads the team with 4 INT's and has to be the Cowboys "Comeback Player of the Year"

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Packers Cut A.J. Hawk, What Does His Future Hold?

If you look at the Packers linebacking corps, it is a definite strength of their defense.  They have superstar Clay Matthews as their LOLB, former Cowboys 6th round draft pick Eric Walden as their ROLB (Frank Zombo was the starter but he got injured and Walden was surprisingly good in the playoffs but they still might try to upgrade).  At the inside spots they have Desmond Bishop penciled in at one spot and the other spot will either go to A.J. Hawk or Nick Barnett. 

While you are probably thinking "How is A.J. Hawk gonna compete for a starting job when they just cut him?"  Well the reason they cut Hawk was because he was due over $10 million this year in the last year of his rookie contract, and there are not many ILB's in the league worth that much money, especially not A.J. Hawk.  So the decision to release him was strictly based on the economics of it. 

Now the Packers still have Nick Barnett under contract for 2011 at a total cost of about $6 million.  He only played in 4 games last year before breaking his wrist and being placed on injured reserve.  The wrist injury is not going to be a concern going forward, but his contract dollars will be. 

With Desmond Bishop already guaranteed a starting position at one ILB spot, Hawk and Barnett will be battling it out for the other, but they will probably not be battling it out in the way most people would expect, on the football field.  They will most likely be battling it out in the negotiation room.  Both players were drafted in the 1st round (Hawk #6 overall & Barnett #29 overall), about the only noticeable difference between the two is that Hawk is a 27 and Barnett is 29 years old.  I believe that Hawk is a better linebacker, while he has never been the "difference maker"/"high impact" player most teams hope for when they draft a player #6 overall, he has been a steady tackler and I feel he has improved in the last couple of years to be one of the more reliable ILB's around (I know that most people won't agree with me on that but in the games I have seen he plays steady). 

Currently the team is negotiating on a new contract with Hawk and if they can sign him to a decent deal then I believe that Barnett will be shown the door, and since Hawk does not seem to be a player driven by money it would be surprising to see him not come to terms with the Packers before tomorrow at midnight eastern time when the league will shut down.  The Packers are notorious for not overpaying their players, and really even underpaying them, and since they already have Barnett under contract they may really lowball Hawk and then hope Barnett will restructure his deal, basically I do not see them paying much more than their initial offer to Hawk and may try to get him in an incentive laden deal expecting him to only be a backup and then having a way above average LB on the cheap as a backup.

Since I am a diehard Cowboys fan, I believe that A.J. Hawk would be a perfect complement to team with Sean Lee as our ILB's for the future.  Hawk is a smart, instinctive, and somewhat conservative LB (from what I have seen) and would partner up well with the hard charging but over agressive Lee.  And we all know that Bradie James (while a fan favorite and solid tackler) has never been a good fit in the 3-4 scheme and last year I believe we saw the beginning of the end for the productive Cowboys linebacker and we all know that Keith Brooking is all but done unless he is willing to accept a pure backup role.  Also the ILB's were one of the many weaknesses of our defense last year and an area that Roby Ryan is sure to try and upgrade.  Unfortunately the near certain labor stoppage is sure to make a transition harder for any player and team which means that most players will probably stay put on the same teams.  But there is nothing keeping people like me from dreaming.......