Dallas ranked 31st in run defense in 2024. It required both a turnaround from a historically bad pace and a late season collapse by the Panthers for the Cowboys to avoid the basement. They were one of only five teams to allow a positive EPA on the ground, and it marked a 21-spot drop in the rankings from the season prior. In all bluntness, the Cowboys run defense stunk. And while most of the blame falls on the Cowboys’ unwillingness to invest in run-stopping DTs, perhaps there’s more blame being placed there than should be.
Well-intentioned actions to fix the issue took place over the offseason. The team replaced Mike Zimmer at defensive coordinator with Matt Eberflus, then churned portions of both the linebacker and defensive line positions. However all of the change wasn’t position as the club curiously resisted demands to fix their interior defensive line with a stout 1-tech, and also parted ways with perhaps their best run-stopping defensive end in DeMarcus Lawrence.
Dallas doubled down on the combination of Osa Odighizuwa and Mazi Smith at defensive tackle and added pass rush specialist Dante Fowler to replace Lawrence on the edge. At linebacker they added a few new veteran faces to the mix, bringing in Jack Sanborn and Kenneth Murray first, and then moving up to select Shemar James in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft.
Given the massive issues they had a season before, the moves where rather underwhelming overall and the hole is still a cause for concern across Cowboys Nation heading into training camp this summer.
Last-minute additions can still be made before the regular season begins, but most of the premier run stoppers were gobbled up months ago.
Yet maybe the Cowboys see their issues against the run as more of a team issue than a talent issue. They might see a scheme change and culture shift as a cure to their run stopping problems in 2025. And they might be right.
For as poorly as the middle of the Cowboys defensive line played in 2024, the blame doesn’t fall completely at their feet. That level of failure took a group effort and the secondary, edge players and linebackers all carry blame.
Pro Football Focus handed out abysmal grades to run defenders everywhere on the Cowboys defense. The Cowboys’ LB, DT and DE units all finished in the bottom five in 2024 and the only unit outside of that cellar, the LBs, still finished in the bottom 10. Either the Cowboys have an uncanny knack for finding terrible run defenders or the issue is something other than talent.
At the end of the day, it’s discipline that’s plaguing the Cowboys run defense. It’s an issue that dates back to the Dan Quinn years and an issue that has yet to be met with any degree of accountability. Linemen are routinely moved off their marks, rushing lanes are opened and blockers freely move to the second level.
Dallas’ second level defenders freelance. They all-too-often play without gap responsibility, make sloppy reads, and refuse to do the dirty work needed to have a successful run defense. From real time diagnosis, to tackling form and fundamentals, to gap integrity, it all comes back to discipline. Discipline in the offseason, discipline in training camp and discipline between the whistles.
The Cowboys should have upgraded defensive tackle over the offseason. Period. At the same time, they are talented enough across the defense to be far better than they’ve been. If Eberflus can instill discipline from the jump and the players buy in and hold each other accountable, the Cowboys could see a massive improvement in run defense. But if the discipline and commitment to greatness isn’t established then it wouldn’t have mattered who the Cowboys signed in free agency because a team can’t win if they aren’t committed to the dirty work.
You can follow Reid on X @ReidDHanson and be sure to follow Cowboys Wire on Facebook to join in on the conversation with fellow fans!
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys run defense issues deeper than an unwillingness to sign 1-tech DTs
Reporting by Reid D Hanson, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
