Cowboys’ defensive issues are rooted in constant change, lack of continuity

FRISCO — The Dallas Cowboys drafted defensive tackle Mazi Smith with aspirations that he could be a solution to their run defense problem. A first-round investment warrants that type of hope.

What followed is a potential case study for a nurture-versus-nature debate — and not only for Smith, but for a huge swath of recent Cowboys’ draft picks. Especially on defense.

The Cowboys entered this week with not only one of the worst defenses in the league, but one of the worst defenses in franchise history through eight games. The Cowboys are ranked 31st in points allowed this season (31.3 per game). They have allowed 250 points in total through eight games, which is the third-most in franchise history, according to ESPN. This season’s defensive start is only behind the debut season for the Cowboys in 1960 and the 2020 season, which included a one-and-done year for former defensive coordinator Mike Nolan.

Something has to change. Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer has said change will come this week before the Cowboys play the Arizona Cardinals on Monday.

Cowboys

Ironically, change might be what has led the Cowboys to this point.

“We’ve had three different defensive coordinators in three years,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said on Friday in his semi-weekly visit with success. “And so while change creates a freshness, or new ideas, you also pay the price of giving up continuity.”

It looks like it’s been a costly price for the Cowboys.

The Cowboys weren’t perfect under former defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, but they were, for the most part, successful. The Cowboys had a top-seven defense in points allowed in all three seasons under Quinn. They also had an identity: an aggressive group built on forcing turnovers and big plays. With an identity came draft selections that fit that identity.

Quinn’s success helped him land the head coaching job in Washington before the start of last year. The Cowboys hired former Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer as their new defensive coordinator. When the Cowboys moved on from Mike McCarthy, they were forced to hire a new defensive coordinator for the third year in a row. They landed on current defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.

Three different coordinators means three uniquely different defensive systems, too.

“It’s not ideal,” said Schottenheimer, who has been with the Cowboys to see all of the last three defensive regimes. “The biggest change was when [Quinn] left.

“It’s an adjustment, and what people don’t realize is whether you’re playing 3-4 [and] 5-1 with DQ, or [Zimmer’s] four-down, or [Eberflus’] four-down, they’re not the same systems, and they’re not built on the same things.”

That’s true for the language used in each system. Coaches will often have different verbiage for the same concepts. It’s also true for how they build their teams through the draft.

The Cowboys have selected 30 defensive players since 2020 — a span that included four different defensive coordinators. That included 14 selections in the top three rounds. Among those picks, 12 remain on the active roster. Among those 12, only six have averaged over 20 snaps per game this season: corner DaRon Bland, corner Trevon Diggs, defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, linebacker Shemar James, defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku and defensive end Sam Williams.

For those players still on the roster — especially for those drafted to fit Nolan or Quinn’s scheme — there’s been a whiplash of adjustments the last three years. Smith, for example, has never known continuity on defense. There’s an impact to that. Bland, for example, had 14 interceptions in his first two NFL seasons. Since Quinn left, Bland has had one interception in 13 games.

Nature got those players to the Cowboys; nurture might’ve affected their time here.

“When you have a world like we have where we sign players for long-term agreements — long-term being three, four, five years in a row — and you change the way they’re coached or the philosophy of how they go play a certain position, then you see what you get into,” Jones told The Fan on Friday. “You get players that aren’t in line with who you’re bringing in as coach. So do you bring coaches that are aligned with the players you have under contract? Or do you bring in coaches they will have to bring other players that you don’t have under contract? Continuity really is an edge.”

So what does that mean for the absence of it?

For the Cowboys, it’s meant trying to combine players that were drafted for other defenses with players they acquired to fit a new one this year. Eberflus, when asked about it, said that not every player is built to play in every system.

“You can’t ask a big 3-4 defensive tackle to play in an attack front,” Eberflus said as an example.

Eberflus was later asked if that’s a problem on the Cowboys’ current defense and he said he didn’t believe so. While there are differences between his scheme and the previous ones, Eberflus pointed to some of their similarities — even to Quinn’s.

Eberflus also didn’t put stock in the idea that different defensive coordinators could impact the development of players on the roster. He pointed to each year being different and each roster — with the constant shuffle of players — being different too.

“To me, it’s more about working with the guys that you have,” Eberflus said, “and having continuity with the group that you have and having the guys play next to each other. That’s important.”

Still, the Cowboys find themselves in a place where change is required for in-season success. But what about after this season?

Cowboys co-owner Stephen Jones said on Friday that the hope is Eberflus can remain with the Cowboys beyond this season. At the least, that would guarantee some continuity.

Twitter/X: @JoeJHoyt

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