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Cowboys lack a proven one-on-one winner off the edge and training camp may expose that fast originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Following the 2025 trade of Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers, the Dallas Cowboys' pass rush struggled, resulting in an NFL-worst 30.1 points allowed per game.
The team attempted to patch it heading into the new season by hiring defensive coordinator Christian Parker and acquiring Quinnen Williams and Rashan Gary. But according to Locked On Cowboys, the fix still has a hole in it.
During a recent episode, hosts Marcus Mosher and Landon McCool expressed concern over the lack of a proven, one-on-one winning edge rusher for the Cowboys.
"If we're talking about pure edge rushers winning one-on-one situations, I think you have an argument that we don't have a lot of certainty there," McCool said. "If you start talking about what the Cowboys have on the interior, and their ability to hopefully create double teams or... free those guys up so everyone's getting one-on-ones — I think that helped last year."
That’s the bet Dallas is making by letting Williams and Clark collapse the pocket from the inside so the edges don't have to win clean reps. It’s a real path, but it leans heavily on scheme instead of pure talent. When Parsons was with the team, he used to erase that gap all by himself. Gary is productive, but he has never had to carry a pass-rush room as the lone "alpha."
Behind him, the depth is incredibly shaky. Donovan Ezeiruaku is still working his way back from a late-January hip surgery that sidelined him all spring. While he is on track for training camp, the staff will have to nurse him along early.
Then there is first-round rookie Malachi Lawrence. The UCF product took first-team reps this spring and is projected to play 40% to 45% of snaps as a third-down speed specialist, but he is completely unproven. Neither has shown they can beat an NFL tackle yet.
Training camp reps won't lie. If nobody separates by the preseason, Dallas might be forced to hunt the free-agent market before Week 1. They seem cold on Von Miller, but Jerry Jones could easily pivot to remaining veterans like Haason Reddick, Derek Barnett, or Yannick Ngakoue if the kids falter in Oxnard.
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