Cowboys Maliek Collins injury makes fallen rookie trifecta

For the third straight season, the Dallas Cowboys highest drafted pass rusher has suffered an injury that will stunt his development and early contribution.

With news surfacing that rookie defensive tackle Maliek Collins broke his foot last week in OTA’s, Dallas Cowboys fans are experiencing a brutal dose of deja vu.

Collins already underwent surgery and is expected to miss 10-12 weeks. The recovery time will wipe out most of his training camp and preseason games.

For the third straight season the Cowboys highest drafted pass rusher has suffered a lengthy injury that will stunt his development and early contribution.

On July 29, 2014 rookie defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence also broke his right foot and didn’t return to the field for over 13 weeks on November 02.

Dallas used their second and third round pick to move up 13 spots to draft Lawrence (Pick 34) and received nothing for the two high value picks for over a half a season.

Lightning struck again in Week 1 of 2015 when rookie end Randy Gregory (second round pick) suffered a high ankle sprain.

Gregory only missed the next four games but continued to deal with aggravations all season. By November he’d only managed 32 total snaps.

While attempting to upgrade pocket pressure the last three drafts, the Cowboys can’t seem to find healthy, early dividends from their highest drafted rookie rushers.

Significant leg injuries sustained early in a rookie pass rushers time with the team are devastating to development.

In the case of both Lawrence and Gregory, neither recorded a regular season sack after returning from missing valuable development time.

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Collins will have an even tougher battle with the timing of his injury. He’ll likely be available for the opener, but being prepared to contribute is another story.

Missing minicamp and most of training camp is the most costly setback a rookie pass rusher can endure.

These practices are exactly when they learn to advance pass rush skills to a level that can challenge starting caliber pro competition.

It takes countless hours of on-the-field teaching and drill repetitions for improvements to become second nature.

This type of live fire experience and trial and error cannot be duplicated by observing others go through the process.

Luckily for Dallas the defensive tackle position is stocked well enough to handle their business without a considerable rookie impact.

The lack of dire concern following the setback to the top drafted rusher only reinforces my biggest criticism of the draft.

Dallas had no business drafting a defensive tackle as the highest taken healthy defensive player when already sturdy at the position and hurting elsewhere.

Now that second round pick Jaylon Smith and third rounder Collins are both injured during rookie development, Dallas will turn to later round picks and pray for a boost.

With three draft selections in the top 67, depending on later round picks for any defensive gains should’ve never been the case, even with an unforeseen injury.

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