Blogging The Boys
Matt Eberflus seems to be finding a lot of success early on.
The Dallas Cowboys completed their second padded practice in Oxnard on Monday, beginning the transition into drills that resemble actual football. This is also the start of where the Cowboys can back up their talk about being a more physical, imposing team in the only area it matters - between the lines instead of in some of the skirmishes and dust ups that were a theme of the very first few practices for Brian Schottenheimer’s team.
The search for players that can bring physicality and juice to practices is wide open. Defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus’ side, with his unit doing what they do best in a player-friendly scheme and flying around, finishing at the ball, and creating turnovers, is leading the way.
Veteran safety Malik Hooker has taken a liking to this style of play in a very noticeable way. After all, it was Eberflus that had a huge say in drafting Hooker after he left Dallas and became the defensive coordinator for the Colts. Hooker had an interception in Thursday’s practice, and this hit in padded work Monday that borders just slightly past where the Cowboys would probably like to see their “live” tackling go at this stage of camp, but don’t tell that to the rest of the defense.
Also on Monday, according to ESPN’s Todd Archer’s practice report, Hooker had a pass breakup, run stop against Javontae Williams, and coverage on Luke Schoonmaker to force an incompletion.
The defensive player of the day might have been safety Malik Hooker. He had a pass breakup, met Javonte Williams on a run, blanketed tight end Luke Schoonmaker for an incompletion and hit Jalen Moreno-Cropper, which drew a loud cheer from his teammates.
The Cowboys defense under Eberflus may be having fun on the field so far, but the task of having this unit gameday ready by week one is no laughing matter for the coach now in his second stint with Dallas. Eberflus is the third defensive coordinator in three seasons to get his hands on this cast of players, at this point a completely jumbled up compilation of those that played under Dan Quinn, both Quinn and Mike Zimmer, or are new to just Eberflus’ style.
The demands by all three coordinators from the safety position has varied a lot, reaching it’s most drastic point under Quinn, but the Cowboys overall feel towards valuing the position enough to put top resources into it has not changed. This is why many of the safeties still on the roster go back to Quinn’s time with the Cowboys, including Hooker. This has not seemed to bother Eberflus one bit, using all of his depth here to disguise coverages well enough for HC/play-caller Brian Schottenheimer to point out, and even using hybrid player Israel Mukuamu at cornerback in a pinch while Dallas works through who can start the season at corner while nursing injuries to Trevon Diggs, Shavon Revel,...
