The Landry Hat
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Dallas Cowboys defensive line is the wild card to 2020 season

By Tyrone Starr

LANDOVER, MD - OCTOBER 21: Defensive end Demarcus Lawrence #90 of the Dallas Cowboys reacts after a play in the fourth quarter against the Washington Redskins at FedExField on October 21, 2018 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD - OCTOBER 21: Defensive end Demarcus Lawrence #90 of the Dallas Cowboys reacts after a play in the fourth quarter against the Washington Redskins at FedExField on October 21, 2018 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /
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Dallas Cowboys
DeMarcus Lawrence #90, Dallas Cowboys, Carson Wentz #11, Philadelphia Eagles (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images) /

Dallas Cowboys

DeMarcus Lawrence, Gerald McCoy, Dontari Poe, Tyrone Crawford, Randy Gregory, Neville Gallimore, Aldon Smith, Dorance Armstrong

The Dallas Cowboys season could ride on the success (or failure) of the eight guys listed above. The front office has literally turned over every rock possible in an attempt to improve this unit. Whether it works or not depends largely on what a lot of these veteran guys have left in their tanks.

Speaking of tanks, “Tank” Lawrence is the undisputed leader of this group. Even in a down year sacks-wise, he still played at an above-average level in 2019. He’s also the only guy besides Armstrong from the list above that played a single snap as a Dallas Cowboy last year.

McCoy and Poe represent a massive upgrade from anything this team has seen on its interior defense for as long as I can remember. The two have combined for 80 career sacks with nine combined in 2019.

Crawford did not play last year due to injuries. Gregory has not played since 2018, while Smith has not played since 2015. I think it would be fair to severely temper any expectations from any of these three and just be pleasantly surprised at whatever they do provide. Unfortunately, with just Armstrong and rookie Bradlee Anae behind them, depth on the edge may be more about numbers than actual productivity.

I decided to put Dallas over Washington solely due to the star power of Lawrence and the history of McCoy and Poe. The gap between these two teams is minute at best though.

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