Dallas Cowboys built their elite defense using the draft

The Dallas Cowboys deserves a lot of credit for building an elite defense exactly how they wanted to, through the NFL Draft.

Against a highly-touted New Orleans Saints offense last Thursday night, the Dallas Cowboys showed a massive primetime audience that elite defense in the NFL wasn’t a thing of the past. In fact, the Cowboys have won four straight games and launched themselves to the top of the NFC East standings on the backs of their stellar “D”.

But this has been a long time coming for the Cowboys. For several years now, the front office in Dallas has opted to pour the majority of their resources into drafting their desired roster and retaining those players rather than bringing in high-priced veteran free agents from other teams. The majority of the defense in Big D is homegrown.

And it’s been a slow process of developing these prospects that is finally starting to pay off. The Cowboys currently possess the second best defense in the NFL when it comes to scoring, limiting opponents to a mere 18.6 points per contest.

Checkout the draft history of the Cowboys’ lineup on defense that started against the Saints last Thursday.

DeMarcus Lawrence, DE – 2014 / Round 2 (34th) / DAL
Tyrone Crawford, DE – 2012 / Round 3 (81st) / DAL
Maliek Collins, DT – 2016 / Round 3 (67th) / DAL
Antwaun Woods, DT – 2016 / UDFA / TEN
Leighton Vander Esch, LB – 2018 / Round 1 (19th) / DAL
Jaylon Smith, LB – 2016 / Round 2 (34th) / DAL
Byron Jones, CB – 2015 / Round 1 (27th) / DAL
Chidobe Awuzie, CB – 2017 / Round 2 (60th) / DAL
Anthony Brown, CB – 2016 / Round 6 (189th) / DAL
Xavier Woods, S – 2017 / Round 6 (191st) / DAL
Jeff Heath, S – 2013 / UDFA / DAL

Nine of the Cowboys 11 starters were drafted by Dallas between the years 2012-2018. The two exceptions being Heath, who was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Cowboys in 2013, and Antwaun Woods, who was signed as a flier free agent back in May.

Here’s what defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli told ESPN.com about his homegrown defensive group.

"“The thing about it is these guys have been with us for awhile. These are all our guys. We drafted most of them. They have the character we like. The speed obviously. And they hit.”"

Marinelli became the Cowboys defensive line coach in 2013 and has been the team’s defensive coordinator since 2014. So “the old ball coach” has had a big part in drafting every single defender on the starting lineup outside of Heath and Crawford. And even other key defenders like linebacker Sean Lee, pass rusher Randy Gregory and cornerback Jourdan Lewis are all on the roster as a result of the draft.

The Dallas Cowboys front office, scouting department and coaching staff deserve a ton a credit for the job they’ve done acquiring talent via the draft. And now, they are enjoying the fruits of those decisions by fielding a dominating defense.