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Dallas Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland made history in 2023.
Bland, 24, intercepted nine passes in his second season, while setting an NFL record returning five of them for touchdowns.
Beyond becoming a takeaway machine in the Cowboys‘ secondary, Bland developed a reputation as one of the top cornerbacks in the league.
“It’s been pretty impressive,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said, of Bland and the Cowboys’ secondary prior to the NFL Playoffs. “Those guys do a great job and are well coached. They jump a lot of routes, but you don’t see a lot of routes go over the top of their heads. That speaks a lot of those guys, because you don’t always see that.”
Pro Football Focus lists Bland as the Cowboys’ most improved player during the 2023 season.
“Bland improved astronomically compared to his 2022 rookie campaign,” Zoltán Bunday writes for PFF. “Even becoming a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. He set an NFL record with five pick-sixes and also earned the second-highest PFF overall grade among cornerbacks.”
Bland capped his second NFL season with 69 total tackles, while holding opposing quarterbacks to a meager 50.9 passer rating when targeting him.
A former fifth-round pick in the NFL Draft, Bland hasn’t just outplayed his draft position, but become a cornerstone player on the Cowboys’ defense.
DaRon Bland, Micah Parsons Defensive Player of The Year Finalists
Despite being ousted from the NFL Playoffs in blowout fashion to the Green Bay Packers, the star power on the Cowboys’ roster is garnering plenty of respect.
Ahead of NFL Honors on February 8, both Bland and Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons made the list of Defensive Player of The Year finalists:
- DaRon Bland, Dallas Cowboys cornerback
- Maxx Crosby, Las Vegas Raiders defensive end
- Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns defensive end
- Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys linebacker
- T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker
Bland’s strong season proved even more valuable than his statistics might suggest, because it came on the heels of All-Pro Trevon Diggs tearing his ACL during a practice on September 21.
Meanwhile, Parsons continues to bolster his reputation as one of the game’s premier pass-rushers, tallying a career-high 14 sacks, to go with his 64 total tackles.
Parsons also led the league in quarterback pressures and pass-rush win-rate, underscoring his dominance and how disruptive he is against opposing quarterbacks.
“I think I put in a good fight against some great guys across the league,” Parsons told reporters, via CBS Sports. “I think it’s going to be a good battle. Either way I look at it, I understand how disruptive guys like Myles (Garrett), T.J. (Watt) and whoever else is in the running is. I get to watch those guys. I think Maxx Crosby had a great year that might have went overlooked because his team might not be a playoff team.
“There’s always discrepancies to who they think should get it and base it off of teams and things like that. You always got to deal with those types of implications too.”
Cowboys Defensive Coordinator Dan Quinn on The Move?
Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has been among the most coveted assistants over the past two hiring cycles, and could be on the verge of taking a head coaching job.
With the Washington Commanders and Seattle Seahawks jobs the last two remaining head coaching vacancies in the league, Quinn is in the mix for both openings, according to the NFL Network.
Quinn’s stock is certainly rising based on the Cowboys’ dominance on the defense the past two seasons, and the star power Dallas has assembled at all three levels has certainly been a driving force.
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