One of the things that can sometimes annoy purists when it comes to modern sports, especially as advanced statistics have become increasingly more accessible and credible along the way, is that the traditional stats that we’ve long known and loved are not quite valued anymore. For the Dallas Cowboys, looking at the team’s primary pass rushers–Rashan Gary and Donovan Ezeiruaku–you will find a combined total of 0.5 sacks on their ledgers this season through two games.
That would seem to be problematic. Dallas in general has just 2.0 sacks to its credit this season, and one of those went to slot corner Caleb Downs. For the rest of the Cowboys defense, getting to the quarterback has just not been happening (they’re 29th in the NFL), and for a team that rebuilt its defense in hopes of (among other things) getting to the quarterback more, that’s an early failure.
Cowboys Pass Rush Has Been a Failure Thus Far
Early is the key word there, and the Cowboys have been upbeat about the defense in general, even with the light numbers. Still, by the measure of Pro Football Focus, the Cowboys’ pass rush ranks 27th out of 32 teams. Gary has been especially poor in his role, but Ezeiruaku, at least as the Cowboys see it, has actually been good and getting better.
Over the course of this season, his improvement is going to have a lot of say about whether this defense continues to improve. Ezeiruaku was a second-round pick in 2025 out of Boston College, and needs to start showing he’s worth it.
Donovan Ezeiruaku ‘Playing Awesome’
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer, in an appearance on 105.3 The Fan this week in Dallas, defended Ezeiruaku, who is one of just three players on the defense to log two quarterback hits in two games.
Said Schottenheimer: “He is playing awesome, he really is. We say it this way, whether you talk about turnovers on defense, creating them, or sacks, they come in bunches. Is it going to be this week? Shoot, I hope so. He has been playing incredible. If you look at the technique that he is using, man he is creating a really cool assortment of tools with his pass-rush moves, and that’s really cool to see for a young player.
“He is taking a lot of things that (the coaches) are all teaching him. This guy is developing at a high, high rate.”
Cowboys Back ‘Awesome’ Former 2nd-Round Pick Despite Stats