Nolan's Cowboys Plan (Over-)Simplified: 'Get Your Best 11 On The Field'
FRISCO - It sounds so simple: "I have always believed,'' new Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Nolan told us the other day here inside The Star, "it's about getting your best 11 on the field.''
There are three obstacles to Nolan, head coach Mike McCarthy and the rest of this freshly-baked defensive staff accomplishing this.
One: It's an over-simplification of how this is really going to work. Dallas has vowed to be more "multiple,'' which means an assortment of players creating an assortment of "looks,'' with four-down-linemen as a central philosophy but many branches springing from that tree.
Dallas' "best 11'' is going to change, a lot, depending on down and distance and deception - or at least that's what's being promised. And the idea is that is not be simple - certainly not for offenses trying to diagnose it.
Two: "The best 11'' is really going to be about takeaways. Dallas has long been short on ballhawks - in 2019 the poorest in the NFL at interceptions - and in my conversations with staffers, "the best 11'' is going to come with an asterisk ...
"The Best 11 Who Can Create Takeaways.''
"The No. 1 thing in winning football games is getting the ball for your offense," Nolan said. "As a defense, that's what we'll strive to do all the time."
That mindset, if Nolan's Cowboys stay true it, can change the mold of what a "best'' player is. Byron Jones is going to be the guinea pig here. He was Dallas' best cornerback and might be the best athlete on the team. But he does not have a knack for making plays on the ball ... mayb rendering the free agent something well short of "best.''
Three: How soon will they recognize what "bests'' they have? A full half of this roster is unsigned. Jones would like to come back, but at what price? Sack leader Robert Quinn told me he'd like to re-sign with his "brothers,'' but at what price? The new coaching staff views Sean Lee as a "warrior'' but there's no contractual commitment yet. Jeff Heath is a free agent and he has been a core player here but is he "best 11''?
Beyond "bright-eyed'' DeMarcus Lawrence and the promise of Jaylon Smith and Xavier Woods, Dallas' defensive roster is at present loaded with questions. It is assumed that Leighton Vander Esch returns to form following neck surgery, and, well ... there are a lot of assumptions being made about what this defense might be in 2020.
"Players will determine what we can do and what we cannot do,'' Nolan said, "not the scheme. The scheme is basically what you have to utilize the players, it goes the other way. I tell you what, 3-4 and 4-3 is really just a personnel decision to get your best 11 on the field.''
But at this early stage, Nolan's Cowboys defense has more "scheme'' than it has "players'' - making it an offseason challenge to have any idea what "The Best 11'' even really means.
