Cowboys thin at DT but showing quiet confidence

It’s one of the more overlooked realities of the offseason: despite minimal depth at defensive tackle (and at 1-tech in particular), the Dallas Cowboys haven’t made a serious push to reinforce the position. 

And that puts a lot of heat on Mazi Smith.

Smith is heading into his third year. He played plenty of snaps last season. And while the raw production didn’t jump off the page, what he was doing was re-acclimating to the second most difficult position in football after being asked to lose 30 pounds and become something he wasn't ...

And one of the hardest to find difference-making depth at: defensive tackle.

Behind him now? Seventh-round rookie Jay Toia. That’s the list. 

Two guys at 1-tech and two guys at 3-tech. Ideally you have 5 rotational contributors at defensive tackle so Justin Rogers is at the very least worth tracking, but he's not something to bet on at this juncture especially given the current depth of the edge room. If they're going heavy anywhere on the defensive side of the ball, it'll most likely be edge. 

Yes, the Cowboys extended Osa Odighizuwa and signed Solomon Thomas. But those are 3-tech disruptors and not necessarily 1-tech anchors. They don’t play the same position or role that Mazi does — and they don’t live in A-gap. So the nose tackle room, the 1-tech anchor spot, remains incredibly thin and unproven.

However, the lack of urgency before, during, and after the draft is telling. 

The Cowboys approached this offseason with eyes on fixing the trenches. They added bodies on the offensive line: Robert Jones, Saahdiq Charles, Hakeem Adeniji. On top of already having T.J. Bass and Brock Hoffman. That was telling context during our campaign for offensive line not just being in play in round one, but being likely. 

The Cowboys were telling us how desperately they were looking to upgrade right guard.