The Dallas Cowboys defensive secondary will sort itself out

Following a defensive heavy draft class, who will start in the Dallas Cowboys’ secondary will be a major storyline this offseason.

Last season, the Dallas Cowboys finished 14th in the NFL in total defense. Yet, their passing defense ranked a lowly 26th. Dallas was also tied for 27th in the league with just nine interceptions on the year. Something had to change.

And this offseason, it did in a major way. The Cowboys allowed three starters in their defensive secondary to leave during free agency: strong safety Barry Church and cornerbacks Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne. Throw in former starting safety J.J. Wilcox and basically, the backbone of this Dallas’ secondary for the last five years has now vanished.

And in their place? Primarily rookies. The Cowboys spent seven of their nine selections in the 2017 NFL Draft addressing their needs on the defensive side of the ball. Out of those seven picks, four of them were defensive backs. Those secondary selections included Colorado’s Chidobe Awuzie, Michigan’s Jourdan Lewis, Louisiana Tech’s Xavier Woods and Florida State’s Marquez White.

With this sudden influx of youth in Dallas, the next question to be answered is which rookies will stand out enough to win a starting role in the defensive secondary this offseason, if any? According to the Cowboys secondary coach Joe Baker, it’s a good problem to have.

"“We’ve got some good problems now,” Baker told the Dallas Morning News. “We have a lot of guys who can do a lot of things. Usually what ends up happening is it ends up kind of sorting itself out as you go, so you just sort of give it time and usually it plays out as, ‘OK, who is going to be best outside? Who is going to be best inside?’…We have ideas about where we’ll start, but I think we’re a long way away from where it’s going to end up. We just have to let it play out.”"

Beyond the rookies, the Cowboys current depth chart at cornerback include veteran Orlando Scandrick, second-year marvel Anthony Brown and free agent signee Nolan Carroll. At safety, former first rounder Byron Jones, special teams ace Jeff Heath and Kavon Frazier fill out the roster. Where the rookies fit-in will be decided over the next few months.

But the overwhelming sentiment seems to be that the Cowboys secondary actually got better this offseason. Which is kind of hard to believe. Although Carr, Claiborne and Church had their struggles, they also had years of NFL experience under their collective belts. To think first-year players can come in and perform better is hard to imagine.

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Still, many former members of the Dallas Cowboys secondary were brought in before defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli was handed the reins in Dallas. These current rookies were handpicked by Marinelli and his staff to thrive within this defensive scheme. So, in that way, they do have an edge to succeed this season. But only time will tell if they are actually better than their predecessors or not. Stay tuned.