AFTERMATH: Are The Cowboys On The Right Track To REBUILD Defense After Micah Parsons Trade?

Summary

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Locked On Cowboys: AFTERMATH – Are The Cowboys on the Right Track to Rebuild Defense After Micah Parsons Trade?

Hosts: Marcus Mosher & Landon McCool
Date: May 22, 2026
Episode Theme:
A deep dive into the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive rebuild one year after trading superstar linebacker Micah Parsons, examining the emotional fallout, roster construction strategy, and the new philosophy for building a championship defense.

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Episode Overview

Marcus Mosher and Landon McCool revisit the blockbuster Micah Parsons trade roughly nine months after its occurrence. They reflect on the emotional and strategic ramifications for the Cowboys, scrutinize the return package and subsequent roster moves, and debate the most effective way to build a dominant NFL defense in today’s league. The hosts consider whether Dallas is better positioned for long-term success, or if they ultimately lost too much by moving on from a generational talent.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Mixed Feelings and Fallout from the Parsons Trade

[01:19–06:46]

• Fan and Franchise Emotions:

  • Both hosts emphasize the trade’s emotional toll on Cowboys fans and the organization itself.
  • Landon: “If you have very clear cut feelings that feel cut just one way, then you probably have a pretty biased…feeling about the situation.” [02:02]
  • Landon acknowledges shared fault and regret: “For the two people at the center of this, Micah Parsons and Jerry Jones, I think they probably both made mistakes that they regret a lot. …Both sides are definitely at fault here.” [03:27]
  • Marcus: “Micah Parsons is one of the biggest superstars you can have…just as big of a name as several quarterbacks…It’s really unfortunate it played out the way that it did.” [04:26]

• Timing Criticisms:

  • Marcus critiques the Cowboys' decision for rushing into the trade post-draft, limiting their leverage and potential return.
    • “If you knew that a deal wasn’t going to get done, trade him well before the draft…Once you got into training camp…I didn’t see the reason…He wouldn’t have lost value. Trading him in Week 7 or the 2026 offseason, you would have gotten the same exact haul.” [05:51]

Trade Package & Roster Impact

[08:01–10:14]

• Value of Return:
  • Marcus calls the return—two first-rounders and Kenny Clark—underwhelming, suggesting adding Clark (with a big contract) limited Dallas' flexibility.
    • “The Clark addition to the trade made it a little bit harder to do what they needed to do…So you give away the youngest of the three [OSA’s trade].” [08:39]
  • Landon notes Clark was a targeted “win now” acquisition, which didn’t align with where the franchise found itself post-trade.

Defensive Rebuild: Year 1 Evaluation

[12:00–15:59]

• Resource Reallocation:

  • Marcus outlines Dallas’ use of Parsons’ vacated salary and trade haul:
    • Kenny Clark ($21M), Quinnen Williams ($22M), Jalen Thompson ($12.5M), Kobe Durant ($4M), plus first-rounder Malachi Lawrence.
    • “That is two starting defensive tackles, a starting safety, and a starting cornerback…on top of the first round pick…” [12:42]
  • Added downstream effect: drafting Devin Moore and LT Overton via trade maneuvers with picks from Green Bay. [13:49]
  • Landon stresses the “aggregate” (Moneyball-style) approach: “You don’t replace Micah Parsons one-on-one. …Part of the aggregate is getting multiple players to fill that up, but also part of it is using scheme to replace that production.” [14:26]

• Scheme Shift – Enter Christian Parker:

  • Both expect new DC Christian Parker to leverage diverse pressure and coverage schemes to maximize less top-heavy talent.

Was the Star-Focused Model Capped Out?

[15:59–21:24]

• Rostering Dilemmas:

  • Marcus doubts Dallas would have invested in depth if Parsons remained:
    • “Would they have spent more money going up and getting Kobe Durant? …Honestly, my gut says no, just because this is the way they operate.” [16:10]
  • He recounts historical struggles: even with Parsons, Dallas' D “could not stop any offense” in key 2023/2024 games.
  • Landon argues Cowboys’ 2021–2023 defenses were “the best you were going to be able to build around Micah Parsons because he was cheap.” [17:57]

• Superstar Model vs. Depth:

  • Once a star gets paid, roster flexibility shrinks.
    • “When you’re paying one guy $50 million…I think it just narrows the margin.” – Landon [20:02]
    • Marcus: “Micah can be unbelievably great…But…I think at some point the Cowboys realized…we can’t be so top heavy.” [20:29]
  • Landon underscores the importance of balance: “In the playoffs… it’s about having a high floor at all the positions so you’re not exposed…” [21:24]

How to Build a Modern, Dominant Defense

[23:52–29:08]

• Superstars vs. Scheme/Depth – League Examples:

  • Seattle Seahawks: no generational star, but cohesive scheme and player fit.
    • “My point being is that team defensively is built on excellent scheme…a whole bunch of really good players…” – Landon [24:46]
  • Houston is the rare superstar-driven defense but “that’s the hard build.”
  • Chargers, Vikings, Eagles: fundamentally sound, scheme-led units without headline “superstars.”

• Best Practice:

  • Landon posits the premier modern defenses are “able to solve all the problems that NFL offenses are going to throw your way.” [28:05]
    • Not just pass vs. run but situational adaptability, varied offensive threats.
    • “You need to be able to have a solution for all this because…by the time the postseason comes…all have extremely good offenses that know how to win multiple ways…”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Regret From Both Sides:

  • Landon: “Both sides are definitely at fault here. Both sides probably definitely regret ultimately that what happened.” [03:27]

• On Replacement Through “The Aggregate”:

  • Landon: “You don’t replace Micah Parsons in a one-on-one. It’s the classic money ball. You do so in the aggregate.” [14:26]

• On Top-Heavy Roster Risks:

  • Marcus: “If we want to be a championship caliber defense, we can’t be so top heavy.” [20:29]

• On Team-Building Philosophy:

  • Landon: “The best way to attack trying to build a good defense is build one that’s going to be able to solve a multitude of problems, and it’s not just focused on one thing, i.e., the pass rush…” [28:27]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:19 – Initial reactions, mixed feelings, and regret (Parsons/Jones dynamic)
• 04:26 – The trade’s timing and strategic blunders
• 08:01 – Assessing the value of the return package & Kenny Clark discussion
• 12:00 – Where the defense stands now: resource allocation breakdown
• 14:26 – The “aggregate” theory and scheme impact
• 16:10 – Could depth have been built around a paid Parsons?
• 17:57 – Limitation of the star-based approach; personnel review
• 20:29 – Why flexibility, depth, and “high floor” players matter
• 23:52 – Constructing defenses in today’s NFL: league examples & lessons
• 28:05 – Final thoughts: adaptability and modern defensive blueprints

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Overall Tone

The episode is contemplative, honest, and balanced—sympathetic to both the business and emotional sides of the Parsons trade. There’s respect for Parsons as a generational talent, but also a hard look at how NFL teams must adapt to win. Marcus and Landon voice the frustrations of “what could have been,” while also recognizing potential in the new, depth-focused direction of the Dallas defense.

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Conclusion

This episode gives Cowboys fans and NFL observers a blueprint for understanding not just the aftermath of the Parsons blockbuster, but how teams must recalibrate philosophies in pursuit of a championship. While Dallas may not have “replaced” Parsons with any one player, the hosts are cautiously optimistic about the franchise’s renewed emphasis on versatility, depth, and scheme—a necessary shift in today’s ever-evolving NFL.

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Transcript

[Landon McCool]

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[Marcus Mosher]

the Dallas Cowboys aren't going to be able to replace Michael Parsons, but they're doing a good job of building a defense without him. We'll get into that next.

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[Marcus Mosher]

Welcome back. I am your host, Marcus Mosher. He is Landon McCool. And on today's show, we are revisiting the Micah Parsons trade. We're going to talk about where the Cowboys stand a year later. Are they building a more complete defense? Did they get enough back in the trade? But Landon, I want to start with this. We are about nine months removed from that, that trade that nobody really saw coming. First of all, how are you feeling, you know, now that we're through a draft, we're through a full offseason, we're through one full season without Micah. How are you feeling about this trade,

[Landon McCool]

man? I mean, I feel a lot of things about the trade, which is fine, by the way.

[Marcus Mosher]

I think you're allowed to have mixed feelings here.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, I think you should. I mean, honestly, I, I think if you have very clear cut feelings that feel a cut just one way, then you probably have a pretty biased, you know, one way or another feeling about the situation. I think if you're a Cowboys fan, I don't know, it was hard not to be kind of torn apart a little bit by it, obviously. And, and it's, and even now, kind of looking back, it's hard not to have mixed feelings about it simply because I, I think we all had a level of assumption that it was a terrible mistake and that the Cowboys would never be, never going to be able to recover from such a thing. And, and I think early on when you didn't have, you know, when, when the return, some of the return or all of the return that you got from Michael Parsons was, Was. Was hypothetical and it was just draft picks that you hadn't gotten any names associated with. It was very easy to kind of be upset with the whole situation and what the Cowboys got in return. I think that looking back, to speak broadly about it, just to get into the segment, I think on a personal level, for the two people at the center of this, Micah Parsons and Jerry Jones, I think they probably both made mistakes that they regret a lot, you know, and I think that they let their egos get involved as. And I, both of them. I, I don't think that we should just exclude this to Jerry Jones. And I think it's fair to give Jerry Jones maybe an outsized portion of the. The, you know, the trade happening. But I think that both sides are definitely at fault here. Both sides probably definitely regret ultimately that what happened. But I, I also think that the, the other side of this that's kind of surprising is that I think the Cowboys have bounced back from the situation so far rather well. And so we'll. We'll see the results obviously, coming up in the season with, you know, besides all the. The emotion that's surrounding it, I think if you look at. At the names that, that finally have come down, it's. You have to be at least encouraged that. That it. It feels like they've made some progress into fixing this defense and certainly more than I imagined that they would when the trade actually, actually rolled down.

[Marcus Mosher]

We're going to get to where the Cowboys are at after the Micah trade, where they're at their rebuilding process here in just a second. But I, I'm. I'm with you. I think both sides either regret this or will regret this. I. From the Jerry Jones standpoint, like Micah Parsons is one of the biggest superstars that you can have on the defensive side of the ball. I mean, he is just as popular and as big of a name as several quarterbacks around the NFL. And that matters to Jerry Jones. He's always thought of the Cowboys as, you know, star power and star driven. I think the fact that he's not here, it's really a big blemish on his resume because the kind of the same for Jerry Jones is he's never let a player leave that he's wanted to keep. He wanted to keep Micah and unfortunately it just didn't work work out. And I would almost guarantee you if you gave Michael Parsons true serum and, and asked him would you rather be playing in Dallas or in Green Bay, all things considered, you know, it would be Dallas. He still Lives in the, you know, the Dallas area right now. He's still going to basketball games and watching the Mavs and hanging out. Like, he clearly likes being in Dallas. This is the team that he wanted to be drafted to. I think it's really unfortunate that it played out the way that it did. My biggest problem with the entire trade was the timing of. And if you were going to trade Micah, the time to do it was either before free agency ever started. Like, if you knew that a deal wasn't going to get done, trade them well before the draft, you're going to have way more suitors. And I think once you got past the draft and once you got into training camp, I just. I didn't see the reason why the Cowboys felt like they needed to trade them. I know Micah was threatening to hold out. He was having the back injury kind of holding over them, but he wouldn't have lost value. Trading him in Week 7 or trading him in the 2026 offseason. You would have gotten the same exact haul. And I think that's my biggest. The thing that I, I think the Cowboys regret most is the timing of the trade. They didn't make the playoffs anyways. They weren't better. Despite Jerry Jones saying they were going to be better on defense without Micah, they weren't better. They should have just held on to him and explored the options either midway through the season or after the season.

[Landon McCool]

Well, I mean, to be clear, like, you know, it's. It all stems from the fact that they won't admit that this was a. A emotional reaction thing on both sides. On both sides. Like, I mean, if it was. If this was a planned strategic move for the Cowboys to. To find a way, you know, through analytics that, that, you know, oh, we can get X amount of players for Micah Parsons. What. Like, if that were true, then you would have traded him at the optimal time to get the most value when you have the best time to actually strategize and use these picks, to get these picks this year, that year before the draft, like you said, instead of having to wait a whole season to. To get a return on your. Your trade. So it, you know, it's. It's. That's the original sin here. And I think without kind of viewing it through that lens, it's. It's hard to justify the timing. Right? Like, it's. It's hard to sit there and go. It's hard to. You can't have it both ways. You can't sit here and tell us that this was like, Some well thought out strategy. And you also traded Michael Parsons at the point in which you got the least possible amount of value back in return. So it just doesn't work like that.

[Marcus Mosher]

The other part of it was I just didn't like the trade package. Two first round picks in Kenny Clark. I, I mean, obviously it wasn't enough. We don't need to rehash this, but I, I always thought of Kenny Clark as kind of this big contract that Green Bay had to unload to take on Micah Parsons. And that's not to say that Clark isn't a valuable player, but I think they would have been better off just getting more draft capital. And let's say it was the equivalent of a third round pick. If they would have had that additional third round pick, they probably still would have had Oso Digizua on this roster. Now you would have just had more money that you could move around and use on free agents. I'm happy that Clark is on this team, but I think the whole idea of this trade was to gain more flexibility. And I actually think the Clark addition to the trade made it a little bit harder to do what they needed to do this offseason. And we saw it with the OSA trade. Like Jerry Jones said, they could not justify having three defensive tackles making that kind of money. So, so you give away the youngest of the three and a guy that we both really liked.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, I mean, look, I, I understand it to some degree that if they're picking osa, it's because maybe he's the least, he's the guy that they could get the most return who also in turn is the least best natural fit in this defense of, of the three, you know, but I agree, like, you know, they clearly, they've clearly focused on Kenny Clark. Like defensive tackle was clearly something that they were looking to get in return if, if they were getting a player

[Marcus Mosher]

in this trade because I think they wanted to have it for the 2025 season and that's where it was just short sighted. Like you should have known as soon as you were trading Micah you weren't going to be competitive in 2025. You can't rebuild a defense, you know, three days before the season starts.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, and, and, and, and I don't disagree. I, I, I feel like that that's the reason that they ended up going with, with Col Clark is because they, they clearly were fixated at the position specifically and then clearly they were continued to be fixated because they ended up using the return of, of one of the obviously the biggest parts of the return of Michael Parsons to go trade for another defensive tackle who was even more of an upgrade at the position. So.

[Marcus Mosher]

All right, so let's talk about that

[Landon McCool]

spot of the of the defense, obviously, which is fine.

[Marcus Mosher]

They defensive tackle is a really important spot. They should be focused on it. But I want to talk about where they're at kind of in the rebuild and I'm really, I'm calling this year one of the defensive rebuild. Did they do a good job of replacing Micah Parsons? We'll get to that next. This episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA playoffs are here and every possession matters. And if you're looking to get even closer to the action, FanDuel has a great offer to get you started right now. New customers can bet just $5 and get 150 in bonus bets. And if your first bet wins, that's right, turn 5 bucks into 150 in bonus bets just for getting started. I like using FanDuel during the playoffs because everything I need is right there in one place. You can check stats, trends and matchups before making your picks, which makes the whole experience just feel a lot more informed. It's really easy to navigate the app and it makes playoff basketball even more engaging for from start to finish. So head over to FanDuel.com to get started. The playoffs have been awesome. Go check out all of the odds and lines. FanDuel play your game.

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[Marcus Mosher]

welcome back to the Locked on Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen every single day. Get your daily Cowboys fix completely ad free by joining the Everydayer club today. Get your 7 day free trial right now and get closer to your team without the interruptions. Click the link in the show notes or go to locon cowboys supercast.com to claim your free trial. All right Laden, let's talk about where the Cowboys are at in the rebuild and I want to start with the players that they have acquired with either the picks from the Micah Parsons trade and the kind of cash savings. So this is really rough math so don't get too caught up in the numbers because it's. You can't really go based on cap number or guaranteed and all that kind of stuff. So what I'm using is cash paid. The packers are roughly paying Micah Parsons $45 million for this upcoming season. The Cowboys are paying Kenny Clark 21 million, Quinn and Williams 22 million, Jalen Thompson 12 and a half million and Kobe Durant 4 million. That is 59 million. So that is $15 million more than what the packers are paying Michael Parsons. But again, that is two starting defensive tackles, a starting safety and a starting cornerback on top of the first round pick that you got from. That you used on Malachi Lauren. So we heard Jerry Jones say that this could potentially be five players that they turn him into. That's five players right there.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah. And I mean, again, like, you know, more than half of that is. Is still hypothetical because we haven't seen these guys play yet.

[Marcus Mosher]

But we should also mention they traded back from 20 to 23.

[Landon McCool]

Oh yeah, yeah.

[Marcus Mosher]

That they got from Green Bay and they used those extra picks. I believe on one was Devin Moore and the other one was LT Overton. So those at least need to be mentioned as well.

[Landon McCool]

Sorry. Yes, those were the three I was thinking of. But of course, obviously the names that you mentioned, the starters they got in free agency. But yes, on top of that they also added the. Malachi Lawrence, the pick, the. I mean, with the trade back at 23, the, the Devin Moore pick and LT Overton as the seven players. Yeah, I mean, again, like all those guys, you know, those three are hypothetical. We still have to see exactly how they pan out. The other guys. I mean, to go out and, you know, kind of solidify your. Basically your entire secondary with some extra, with the extra cash you picked up. I, I think that's absolutely huge. And, and look, I think, you know, part of this question is is how. How did they replace Micah Parsons? And ultimately, you know, you. You don't replace Micah Parsons in the, you know, one on one. It's. It's the classic money ball. You do so in the aggregate. Right. And. And part of the aggregate is going to get multiple players to fill the. Kind of fill that up. But also part of it is using scheme to replace that production. Right. To de. Emphasize the need for a winning only on the edge. Right. And I think that that's part of what Christian Parker was brought in here to do to help bring in some more exotic stuff to help win with coverage a little bit to help promote more coverage sacks. Because again, that's the other thing we have to remember, if Micah Parsons had stayed with The Cowboys in 2025, he's still playing in front of that terrible Cowboy secondary that wasn't going to be providing him with any extra time. So I think that the Cowboys understood the fact that when it was time to try to solve the how do we get, how do we replace the production that we got from Micah Parsons, that it was going to need to be a multifaceted attack. They obviously did so with a variety of personnel, but also with the change in scheme, which like I said, hopefully will put more emphasis on pressure coming from more than just the edge rusher position.

[Marcus Mosher]

The other part of this is we know how the Cowboys front office operates. If they would have signed Micah Parsons to the deal that kind of we all wanted them to sign to, they would. It would have been a very stud and dud defense and we're going to talk about that here in segment three. But would, would they have gone out and signed Jalen Thompson to a 12 and a half million dollar deal? Maybe. And that gets you to that 49 and a half million. But would they have spent more money going up and getting Kobe Durant? Would they have used some of this extra cash in signing, you know, more defensive players to build a good defense around Micah? Honestly, my gut says no, just because this is the way they operate. And I was even thinking back to the last couple years of Micah 2023 and 2024. 2023, they were pretty good in the regular season, but there were a couple of games against good offenses that they could not stop. Any defense or, sorry, any offense. Right. Even with a healthy Micah. The playoff game was obviously the tip of that. The Green Bay did whatever they wanted to in 2024. Again, I know you had a new defensive coordinator. They gave up 44 points to the Saints. The Ravens had almost 500 yards of offense when you played that game in week three. And even then there were a couple games once Micah got back from the, the ankle injury. 34 to Philadelphia, 34 to Houston, 26 to Tampa Bay, 41 to Philadelphia. And I just wonder if they would have had an extremely hard time building a defense that was consistent game over game and not so reliant on pass rush and turnovers. I think it's incredibly hard to get these special generational talents, those guys, there's only a couple of them in the entire NFL, but I do wonder if that's the best way to build a championship caliber defense.

[Landon McCool]

It's not hard to make the argument, in my opinion, that those 2023 teams were the best defenses that you were going to be able to build around

[Marcus Mosher]

Michael Parsons because he was cheap and you had a bunch of talent. Like when I go look at the 2021 defense, it's staggering how much talent they had. Yeah, that just wasn't going to be the case in upcoming years. And you're already seeing that play out in Green Bay going into year two. Green Bay, I think once Micah Parsons got hurt, I don't believe they won another game the rest of the season, including the playoffs.

[Landon McCool]

And, and, and there's something to the idea that even though you had those teams as good as they were, and you probably aren't going to be able to collect talent at that rate without, you know, a lot of luck and, or a bunch of draft picks that you, you don't have access to after the Mike Parsons trade, you wouldn't have had access to. I, I think it's. If 2021 and you know, those years were as good as they're going to get, like it wasn't good enough. And so, I mean, looking, looking at it through that lens, it makes it more understandable. The two things that are never going to be understandable, that are, that are tied together for me, as we've kind of clearly spoken about, is the timing of it and the, the compensation that the Cowboys got in return, which clearly was not enough.

[Marcus Mosher]

You look at these starters like of that 2021 team, I mean, they were just loaded. You had DeMarcus Lawrence kind of in the prime of his career. You had a young OSA de Gazoua, you had Dorrance Armstrong, you had Randy Gregory. Even the defensive tackles were really good. They had a. Leighton Vanderash was playing really, really well at that time. The secondary was loaded. Trayvon Diggs was coming off in all pro season. The odds of you getting talent like that ever again is pretty low. So I, when you're, when you're paying

[Landon McCool]

a one guy $50 million, I don't think that it's impossible to get that sort of talent because you've accumulated a bunch of draft picks. You hit on a couple, sure, that can happen, but I think it's really, it just narrows the margin when you have to pay one player. So it's just like what's happening on offense. Like it makes operating diff difficult to kind of go take big swings once you're paying one player an extraordinary amount of money.

[Marcus Mosher]

Yeah, this is not to just dump on Mike, because that's not what we're doing. We're recognizing he is one of the very players in the league. It just and I think this is what the Cowboys were running into is that it really limited their flexibility and it really limited their margin of error. Like Micah can be unbelievably great and he can have these games with eight and nine pressures and two sacks. But I think that Buffalo game in 2023 is a great example. Not that they just couldn't stop the run, but there were holes all over the defense and good offenses can absolutely exploit it. And it happened again in the playoffs with Jordan Love and Matt LaFleur. And I think at some point the Cowboys realized, hey, if we want to be a championship caliber defense, we can't be so top heavy. And I think that's why ultimately they decided to make this move. Even as reckless and as ill timed

[Landon McCool]

as it was, it's in the playoffs especially, it's about having a high floor at all the positions so you're not exposed because good offenses will take advantage of those exposures and instead of having a superstar specifically at an important position of need. I know that doesn't necessarily sound intuitive, but I think that that's how it's played out in playoffs all the time and I think that's what's been happening with the Cowboys too.

[Marcus Mosher]

All right, so let's talk about how to build a dominant defense in the modern era and kind of talk about where the Cowboys are at in their rebuild and how do they get there? We'll get to that next. This episode is brought to you by Square, the system that helps fix one of the biggest headaches in running a business. Starting a business is exciting, but actually running it? That's where things get complicated fast. Payments, inventory, staff, scheduling, online orders. It's a lot to manage, and that's why Square brings everything together in one connected system. Square helps you take payments, track sales, manage inventories, and keep your business running smoothly without juggling a bunch of disconnected tools. I love Square. There's a coffee shop right down the road from my house that I go to all the time that runs on Square. It just makes everything seamless. The checkout is incredibly quick, so if you're starting a business or running one that deserves better tools, Square helps you sell, manage and grow without slowing down. And right now you can get up to $200 off square hardware at square.com go/lot NFL that's square.com go/lot NFL run your business smarter with Square and get started Today. I'm honored to make history and to make my Community proud.

[Landon McCool]

What a brilliant tackle from Naomi Carver.

[Marcus Mosher]

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official bank of U.

[Marcus Mosher]

S Soccer. Bank of America NA Member fdse welcome back to the lot on Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen every single day. Landon, let's talk about the best way to build your defense in today's NFL. Do you think it is by just having two or three stars and then just trying to fill in the pieces? Are you better off to have a lot of depth or is it kind of a combination of both?

[Landon McCool]

I mean, I hate to be this guy because I have prescribed not being this guy, but I do think that this is interesting, at least. Analysis. Who are the two superstar players on the Seahawks defense?

[Marcus Mosher]

You would say it's probably Devin Witherspoon.

[Landon McCool]

Who? Anybody heard of Devin Witherspoon? Like the public, you know, general public, before the playoffs, you think, well, I mean, that's.

[Marcus Mosher]

He was a top five pick, but you're right. Like, I think the casual NFL fans probably did not know much of him. Yes.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah. And I think even when Witherspoon was taken in top five, like, I think he's always been a really good player. I'm not poo pooing Devin Witherspoon. But my point being, like, I don't think Devin. I don't think of Devin Witherspoon as a Micah Parsons type.

[Marcus Mosher]

He's not.

[Landon McCool]

He's not.

[Marcus Mosher]

He's an awesome player, but he's not in that generational tier. No.

[Landon McCool]

And so my point being is that that team defensively is built on excellent scheme. A whole bunch of really good players that also fit that scheme extremely well. And I think the best example is. Is Nikki Imawari. Right. Is that he is a physical freak. He's. He's an incredible athlete. He played well in college, but specifically, he's a very good fit for what McDonald wants to do with that defense. Right. So I think that that's where, you know, you can find the kind of defense. And not just to point out, obviously, the Seahawks, because they won the super bowl, but I think you go all across the league, you see defenses that are coached by strong scheme and players that fit that scheme extremely well, that make it, you know, kind of take it to the next level. I mean, Houston.

[Marcus Mosher]

Yeah, Well, I was say Houston is. Houston is the one defense that's just loaded with superstars now.

[Landon McCool]

Monsters. Yeah, yeah.

[Marcus Mosher]

And. And they don't have a complicated scheme at all. It's very much. They're going to run cover two, cover three, but their players are going to be better than your players. What a luxury to have if you can do that. Awesome. You know that's great but that's the hard build.

[Landon McCool]

Like that's the hard way to do it. Yeah. To try to get all those that personnel really difficult.

[Marcus Mosher]

Two other defenses. The Chargers finished second in the NFL last year in points allowed per game, 17.6. And our I would argue their best players were Derwin James, a really, really talented box safety that can do a little bit of everything and a 34 year old Khalil Mack who was. We wanted the Cowboys to sign him. Free agency. Cleo Mack can still play. He's not Khalil Mack when he was winning, winning defensive player of the year. He's a good edge rusher right now. But the Chargers were just incredibly deep at every single position. They were very fundamentally sound and that's why they were so good. Same for Minnesota. Minnesota finished third in the NFL last year in yards allowed per game. Their best players were probably Jonathan Garnard, Andrew Van Ginkle and Byron Murphy. Again all really good starters but nobody that is going to command three first round picks in a trade.

[Landon McCool]

I mean even the Eagles, right. Like they had good personnel but like even their best and elite players like I mean Bond wasn't doing anything anywhere before he got to the Eagles. Right. It was, it took his fit with the Eagles to make it really work. Right. Like obviously they got some superstar rookies that to come in to help them out and obviously Christian Parker was a part of that. But again a scheme led defense that was complicated and knew how to problem solve. And I think that is where I wanted to kind of get to in in general in this segment is to me how to build a defense is to be able to solve all the problems that NFL offenses are going to throw your way. Guy. It's not about like I think there are teams that like Houston specifically that are going to dictate to you and I think Minnesota maybe does some of that a little bit. A little bit as well by just being so aggressive and forcing the issue that you're going to have to figure out how to do that. But I think for the most part the best way to attack trying to build a good defense is build a defense that's going to be able to solve a multitude of problems and it's not just focused on one thing, I. E. The pass rush is not just about rushing the passer and stopping the run. You can't do that anymore by just stopping the run all the way to the pass on the passer, right? Like you need to be able to and not just pass versus run. You need to be able to solve all the kind of different third downs, situational stuff up tempo. You know, you need to be able to solve for teams that have a running quarterback, teams that have scramblers like, you know, guys who can solve problems outside of the pocket that buy time. You need to be able to have a solution for all this because by it's fine to be good in the regular season, but by the time the the postseason comes down, it's only the cream of the crop that are playing in there and they all have extremely good offenses that know how to win multiple ways. You need to be able to counter that with the defense that can beat them in multiple ways.

[Marcus Mosher]

All right, that is it for today's show. We'd like to thank you for making Lockdown Cowboys and your first listen of the day. Make sure you subscribe and follow the podcast so you get all of the latest episodes and if you never miss an episode, the everyday or club is built for you. Get locked on Cowboys ad free members only, discord access and so much more. Head over to LockedOn cowboys.supercast.com to join the club. And for those of you on video, we can send you the first ever 24.7national NBA YouTube channel and on audio, make your second listen the lockdown NFL Draft podcast. Follow Landon on Twitter @mccoolbcb. I'm arcusmosier and we'll see you right back here on Monday.

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