The Dallas Cowboys‘ first five games of the season have been about as rough as it gets for the defense.
Dallas is struggling on defense and is currently in the NFL‘s bottom 10 in total defense, run defense, and points allowed. They haven’t been able to put much pressure on the quarterback, with 5 sacks in five games.
This led to the first major change entering Week 6: Mike Pettine was hired as a senior defensive assistant. Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer has alluded to lineup changes coming, too. There might be one lineup change being recommended.
Dallas Cowboys Pressed to Bench Starter
ESPN NFL analyst Ben Sloak wrote an article with key observations from Week 5 and what might happen, or need to happen. Sloak called for the Cowboys to bench starting edge rusher Rashan Gary.
“On the defensive line, trade acquisition Rashan Gary has presented similar problems to those of Bland in the secondary. Gary has played 90 snaps of run defense this season and has somehow generated zero stuffs in that entire time. Consider that the next-closest edge rusher with zero stuffs is Vikings designated pass rusher Dallas Turner, who has 72 run defense snaps, 80% Gary’s volume of opportunities. Gary’s run stop rate of 7.8% — the rate at which he generated positive EPA tackles against the run — is well below league average for edge rushers and nestled among smaller pass rush specialists such as Andrew Van Ginkel, Aidan Hutchinson and Elijah Ponder.
On Thursday, the Buccaneers were happy to make Gary a point-of-attack player in the running game and found plenty of success running off the offensive right accordingly. As a pass rusher, Gary also lost contain on Daniels — known for little else besides scrambling — multiple times, allowing for easy chunk gains. That Gary is keeping snaps from rookie first-rounder Malachi Lawrence (or even fourth-round rookie LT Overton, who has been playing on the inside but can be a big end type) is hurting the Cowboys in both the short and long term.”
The Green Bay Packers traded Gary to the Cowboys in the offseason. This season, he has racked up 14 tackles, 3 quarterback hits, 1 tackle for loss, and 1 sack in five games.
Pro Football Focus has Gary graded as a 59.6 overall, ranking 66th out of 106 eligible edge rushers. He also got a pass-rush grade of 69.5 (ranked 27th) and a run-defense grade of 46.9 (ranked 99th).
Could Rashan Gary Be Taking a Seat on the Cowboys’ Bench?
Gary has had a rough season, as he hasn’t been the disruptive force the Cowboys hoped he would be. He’s struggled with consistency and needs to improve.
Gary could see fewer snaps after Lawrence got his first career sack against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 5. That might give the Cowboys more confidence in the first-round pick.
Dallas needs to change something on defense since nothing seems to be working. If Gary gets benched, his future with the team would be in question.
Cowboys Urged to Bench Disastrous $32 Million Starter After 5 Games