NFL Defensive Line Rankings: Are Cowboys Underrated?

Pro Football Focus ranked all 32 team's defensive lines and the Cowboys were near the bottom

With a refocused DeMarcus Lawrence, revamped Randy Gregory and new coordinator in Dan Quinn, the Dallas Cowboys' defensive line should be improve in 2021. But according to Pro Football Focus, there's nowhere to go but up. 

PFF ranked the defensive lines of all 32 NFL teams, and the Cowboys' unit scraped the bottom. Only five teams ranked lower.

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PFF says Dallas' weakness in the interior of the line is its major liability:

27. DALLAS COWBOYS

Randy Gregory will have an opportunity to finally put it all together as the starting left edge defender in Dan Quinn’s new defense in Dallas. The first six years of his NFL career have featured up-and-down play and extended suspensions, but he was playing the best football of his career down the stretch of 2020, earning an 80.5 overall grade on his 270 defensive snaps. He still needs to show he can play up to that level as a starter over the course of an entire season.

While Dallas' edge group features some promise, the team needs several interior players to take big steps forward. The Cowboys allowed 2.3 rushing yards before contact per attempt in 2020 — a half yard more than any other defense in the NFL. 

The Cowboys' defense in 2020 was historically horrible, giving up more points than any other unit in franchise history, the second-most yards and the most rushing yards.

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Improving the defense was the main priority in the offseason, starting with the hiring of Quinn.

The retirement of solid leader Tyrone Crawford won't help, but Dallas added free agents Carlos Watkins, Brent Urban and Tarell Basham. The Cowboys also sought help in the draft, by taking eight of 11 players on the defensive side of the ball including top pick Micah Parsons and defensive linemen Osa Odighizuwa, Chauncey Golson, and Quinton Bohanna.

They are clearly counting on a return to premier production from Lawrence, Gregory staying on the field and enough improvement from third-year pro and former top draft pick Trysten Hill to at least stick on the final roster.

The Cowboys' high-powered offense is certainly what will carry the team in 2021. While the defensive unit doesn't have to be great, it needs to be significantly better than it was in 2020.

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