Dez last 4 weeks has been great
Week 13: 4rec 84 yds 1 TD (6 targets)
Week 12: 5 rec 72 yds 0 TD (7 targets)
Week 11: 6 rec 80 yds 2 TD (8 targets)
Week 10: 6 rec 110 yds 1 TD (9 targets)
21 rec. 376 yds 4 TD
Even had a pretty good game Week 8 versus Eagles, a lot left on the table, but certainly not a terrible game statistically.
There was a stinker in between with the Browns game, but sometimes it's another guys day (Witten & Beasley)
But since missing those 3 games + a bye, we've gotten Pro Bowl level Dez Bryant.
He'll never put up the 90 catch, 1300 yard season from 2012-2014 again, just isn't in the cards with a team that can be so dominant with the running game and Dak being a different QB than Romo is, but he's certainly got the ability to be just behind Antonio Brown, Julio Jones, AJ Green & Odell.
On the opposite side of the field.... There's a lot of salvagability there, but in the vision of moving guys down the depth chart.
DLine
-Demarcus Lawrence is a high level starter.
- Tyrone Crawford can be the 2nd DT on the depth chart. If Malik Collins continues to progress, eventually he'll be a starter, but as a 3rd DT, he's great now
- I prefer T. McClain over Cedric Thornton as the 4th DT, but Thornton is signed for another couple of years, and McClain is not.
Linebacker
- Sean Lee has been great, he's really our heart on defense.
- Anthony Hitchens can play all three spots with varying levels of success, and Justin Durant provides nice stability for us (Durant would need to be re-signed, don't think it will take much).
- Jaylon Smith was supposed to be a Top 10 pick, if he lives up to that, he and Lee will cause some damage.
(May be able to get away with current Linebackers and get great play with Durant & Wilbur as our SAM & WILL backups, and Hitchens our Starting SAM, but leaves us a bit open with Jaylon coming off a ridiculous injury & Sean Lee having an injury history)
Secondary:
-2 weeks ago, Mo was Ranked the 9th best DB & Carr was ranked the 18th best DB (surprisingly) by Pro Football Focus.
- Mo has been really good, but the injury history SHOULD scare a lot of team away (Has played 32 games since 2013)
- Anthony Brown has been a steal in the 6th round
But if you nudge everybody down 1, and put Carr at the back of the depth chart because he's in the last year of deal.
Weakside DB: Scan
Slot DB: Mo
Weakside & Slot Backup DB: Brown
Backup Strongside DB: Carr
You're looking at a top flight Secondary.
-Byron has been great. He can really flex between Strong & Free Safety, and even DB because he's extremely athletic, physical, and has great coverage ability on TEs & WRs. Where I think he should play a bit more Strong than Free is that the passing game has become a lot more check downs as opposed to down the field 15+ yard throws. With that, you can force QBs into higher risk passing by having Byron take TEs out of the game completely.
-The other safety is the least of our problems.
So if you're trying to improve the Defense, here's how I rank our issues
1. DE opposite of Lawrence
2. DT opposite of Crawford
3. # 1 DB
4. SAM OR Backup MIKE (Depending on if you keep Hitchens in one position SAM or if you move him all around)
5. Free Safety
6. Backup Strong Safety
In a really good position considering that on offense, our only requirement is to figure out
1. Do we try to keep Leary & Move Collins to RT, or stay with La'el at LG & Free at RT, and still be the best Line in the league
2. Our # 2 WR