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The weakest position group on the weakest side of the ball for the Dallas Cowboys has been identified.
Bleacher Report columnist Kristopher Knox named Dallas’ cornerback corps the team’s “biggest liability” heading into the 2020 campaign.
The Dallas Cowboys lost standout cornerback Byron Jones in free agency, which leaves the team lacking talent and experience at the cornerback position. Jourdan Lewis has just 13 starts in three seasons. Anthony Brown has 33 but had only four starts and nine appearances last season. Trevon Diggs and Reggie Robinson II are both rookies.
Chidobe Awuzie is the only full-time starter from 2019 who is returning. He and Lewis are the only Cowboys cornerbacks who logged interceptions last season, and they had a combined total of just three.
As a whole, Dallas’ defense should be serviceable. The Cowboys ranked 10th in pass defense and 11th in points allowed last season. Against teams with high-end weapons on the perimeter, however, they could struggle.
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Depth Chart Snapshot
The Cowboys’ corners, led by new secondary coaches Maurice Linguist and Al Harris, truly are a sum of their parts. To replace Byron Jones, who bolted to Miami, the club brought aboard veterans Daryl Worley and Maurice Canady, re-signed Brown to a three-year contract, and used second- and fourth-round draft picks on Trevon Diggs and Reggie Robinson, respectively.
Canady opted out of the season due to concerns over COVID-19. His defection leaves Jourdan Brown, Anthony Brown, and Chidobe Awuzie as the starters in base and/or sub-packages, with Worley, Diggs, and Robinson as the primary backups.
Entering his age-25 campaign, Lewis is due for a significant uptick in activity after playing just 589 defensive snaps (55 percent) across 16 appearances in 2019, when he notched two interceptions and 51 combined tackles.
Rounding out the room are deep reserves Chris Westry, CJ Goodwin, Deonte Burton, and Saivion Smith, who tested positive for — and has since recovered from — the coronavirus.
Possible Position Switch
In his post-draft remarks back in April, new Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy indirectly hinted that Awuzie could be moved to safety, giving the defense additional versatility behind Xavier Woods and free-agent signing Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.
McCarthy again addressed this topic last week in his state-of-training-camp press conference. He danced around Awuzie’s potential switch once more, “only stating that he wants flexibility in the secondary,” per Nick Eatman of the team’s official website.
“It sounds like Awuzie might be one of a few corners who could be tried at different spots,” Eatman said. “There has been speculation on veteran Daryl Worley possibly playing some safety and perhaps even rookie Reggie Robinson II.”
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