Dallas Cowboys: Can David Irving be a double digit sack artist?
By Tim Kohut
The Dallas Cowboys haven’t had a double digit sack guy since DeMarcus Ware had 12 QB takedowns back in 2012. Is this the year the drought ends?
Defensive end has been a revolving door for the Dallas Cowboys since coordinator Rod Marinelli took over the defense back in 2014. After cutting DeMarcus Ware, their perennial double digit sack guy and surefire Hall of Famer, they haven’t had that consistent quarterback disrupter most great teams employ. Rather, they’ve had to mix and match with a plethora of different draft picks and free-agents, and the product has been mostly underwhelming up to this point.
Not to say this by any means is Marinelli’s fault. He’s done a masterful job at getting production out of the defensive line without any stars. However, having a disruptive edge rusher has always been a staple of his defensive scheme, and he’s lacked one thus far in his tenure. But could 2017 be different?
While there aren’t many big names on the defensive line this year either, the defensive coordinator has plenty to work with. The first person that comes to mind is David Irving— a guy they plucked off the Chief’s practice squad in the middle of 2015 and has certainly turn heads since his under-the-radar arrival.
Irving burst onto the scene in 2015 with some seriously disruptive play in the middle of the line. The 6’7″, 284 pound defensive lineman quickly made an impact when Marinelli moved him inside, to the three-technique, on passing downs. However, it was a Week 6 game during the 2016 season where he really showed off his pass-rushing chops.
In just 19 snaps against the Green Bay Packers in Week 6 of last season, Irving garnered a sack, one pass deflection and three forced fumbles, becoming the first player to do so in such limited snaps. This was all in just the fourth quarter, to boot. The performance earned Irving the NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Irving was similarly disruptive in games against Tampa Bay and Detroit in Weeks 15 and 16 respectively, where he had a combined three sacks and another force fumbled in limited snaps. However, that’s where the problem lies for David in his young career thus far– he struggles to find consistency.
Up until the game against the Lions, Irving wasn’t able to to put together back-to-back dominant performances all season long. After his breakout game against Green Bay, the defensive end saw limited playing time due to his inconsistent play on the field.
Irving also wasn’t much of a factor in the Cowboys’ loss to the Green Bay Packers in the Divisional Round of the 2016 playoffs, only accounting for one total tackle. Although, he arguably was held on Aaron Rodgers‘ final throw that put the Packers into field goal range, which could have been a potential game-changing play had it been called.
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Despite his up-and-down season, there is reason to believe David Irving can become the force the Cowboys have been missing since they released Ware back in 2013. With the ability to play as both the outside rusher and under-tackle in Marinelli’s hybrid Tampa-2 scheme, he could be a breakout player for the ‘Boys with a larger role in 2017. And if there’s anyone knows how to get the most of him, it’s Rod Marinelli.