Fact or fiction: 5 theories why the Cowboys defensive tackle position continues to be a weakness

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The Cowboys weakest link is their interior defensive line, but why has this been such a problem for them over the years?

Defensive tackle is a position of concern for the Dallas Cowboys. Their best player is Osa Odighizuw who is in the last year of his rookie contract. They recently made a huge investment in Mazi Smith, but after an underwhelming rookie season, people have slowed their roll on that one. After those two, it gets worse. Veteran Carl Davis, second-year player Viliami Fehoko, and rookie Justin Rogers have a combined 30 defensive snaps between them in Dallas. This position group remains a weakness for the Cowboys' defense, but why is this always an issue year after year?

There are a lot of theories as to why this is, and today we’re going to run through them. Some of them have merit, others, not so much, so we thought this would be a good time to play a little fact or fiction.

FACT OR FICTION: The Cowboys don’t spend enough draft resources on DTs

It’s hard to be good at a position if a team is not properly investing in that area of the roster. For this exercise, we will look at a 10-year sample size from 2014-2023. That’s a nice round number and it’s also the year Will McClay took on a larger role in the draft process. We are excluding the 2024 draft picks since they have yet to play.

There was a time not so long ago when the Cowboys completely neglected the defensive tackle position. Over the first five years of this 10-year sample period (2014-2018), the Cowboys only selected four defensive tackles, and only one was taken in the top 200 players. That player was Maliek Collins.

However, since 2019 the Cowboys have changed their tune and have selected seven defensive tackles, all within the top 200. In total, 11 of the 87 players they’ve drafted in this 10-year window were defensive tackles, tied for the third-most of any position, trailing only edge rusher and cornerback.

Verdict: Fiction

What once was the case is no longer true. The Cowboys are at least trying to get better at defensive tackle and are using a lot of draft picks to do so.

FACT OR FICTION: The Cowboys don’t spend enough premium draft resources on DTs

It’s one thing to throw draft capital at a position, but it’s another to use the good picks for them. We remember names like Joey Ivie, Quinton Bohanna, Ken Bishop, and Jordan Carrell. They were all selected in the sixth or seventh round. That’s not going to help you much.

But similar to the previous hypothesis, the team has adjusted their approach considerably in recent years. We indicated that over the past five years, the Cowboys have taken seven defensive tackles, all selected within the top 200 picks. And more than half of them were taken within the first two days - Trysten Hill (2019), Neville Gallimore (2020), Osa Odighizuwa (2021), and Mazi Smith (2023). When you throw in Collins (2016), that’s five DTs taken in the top 100, making up 17% of their draft picks in that range. That’s the third-highest premium draft pick percentage over the last 10 years, again trailing only edge rusher and cornerback.

Verdict: Fiction

It’s not just quantity, but quality. It wasn’t apparent before doing this exercise, but now we can safely say that the Cowboys have allocated a decent amount of premium draft picks at the position in recent years.

FACT OR FICTION: The Cowboys are not good at evaluating DTs

So, if the Cowboys are active in the draft and using good picks for the defensive tackle position, they must not be very good at picking good ones. Looking through the 11 defensive tackles the team has drafted, only two have turned into starting-caliber players, Collins and Odighizuwa. That is not a very good hit rate. It’s the lowest hit rate of any position except for offensive tackle.

It should be noted that the OT position is low for two reasons. First, the good ones they draft (Zack Martin, Connor Williams, and Tyler Smith), are converted to guards, and the other ones they select are late-round flyers who they hope will stick as a possible swing tackle. With Tyron Smith and Doug Free/La’el Collins/Terence Steele securing the edges, there hasn’t been a huge need to address the offensive tackle position until this year.

Verdict: Fact

The Cowboys are bad at this. They keep upping the ante as twice over the last five years they’ve used their top draft resource heading into the draft on a defensive tackle, but it has yet to pan out.

FACT OR FICTION: Late-round darts aren’t sticking at the DT position

Using premium draft picks is a team’s best chance to get a good player, but that doesn’t mean they can’t pull a rabbit out of their hat on Day 3. The Cowboys have done this plenty at other positions. Tight ends and safeties are good examples. Dalton Schultz and Jake Ferguson have been great finds as have Xavier Woods and Donovan Wilson.

The Cowboys aren’t so lucky at defensive tackle. None of the darts they’ve thrown at the position have stuck.

Verdict: Fact

As bad as the Cowboys are at finding good defensive tackles early in the draft, they are even worse later. It’s been one giant whiffaroni.

FACT OR FICTION: The Cowboys don’t use outside measures for DTs

The Cowboys don’t spend money in free agency and that is not limited to defensive tackle. They’ve splurged a bit in the past with signings like Gerald McCoy and Dontari Poe, but like most other positions, they like to keep their investments low and will sign cheap players like Carlos Watkins and Brent Urban.

Free agency isn’t their thing, but sometimes when they need immediate help, they’ll take matters into their own hands and orchestrate a trade. They’ve done this at wide receiver (Amari Cooper, Brandin Cooks), cornerback (Stephon Gilmore), and edge rusher (Robert Quinn). The team used a seventh-round draft pick to acquire Johnathan Hankins a couple of years ago which was a good move, but it didn’t move the needle very much.

Verdict: Fact

The Cowboys are very cautious about using outside measures to add talent, and it’s even more lackluster when it comes to the defensive tackle position.

In summary, the Cowboys are trying to get better at defensive tackle, but they’re just not very good at it. The draft is their bread and butter, but this approach isn’t working for them at DT. If the team is serious about strengthening their interior defensive line, they must find another approach because what they are doing is not working.