Dallas City News

One of the more fun things to follow through training camp and the preseason so far for the Dallas Cowboys has been the development of Mike Zimmer’s defense, taking over as coordinator after a three year absence from the NFL entirely. Each practice, scrimmage rep, and preseason snap has helped unravel the mystery of what exactly this defense might look like – but the prevailing trait is that they are going to keep opposing offenses, and those of us covering it, on their toes. Veteran DT Jordan Phillips made his team debut on Saturday against the Raiders, playing ten snaps and making a stop against the run in the first quarter, but the newest member of a defensive line completely rebuilt to play better run defense is not here to just plug holes between the tackles.

Phillips was apparently brought in to play the 3-tech position, which in short means lining up on the outside shoulder of a guard and aiming to create penetration as an interior pass rusher. This is something Phillips has done well throughout his career, amassing 9.5 sacks in 2019, his first full season playing for the Bills under DC Leslie Frazier. Frazier found himself in Buffalo after being replaced by Zimmer as the Vikings’ HC.

The Cowboys have not exactly generated a lot of pass rush this preseason, but have more than enough reason to believe this will change when players like Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence are taken out of bubble wrap for the start of the regular season. Phillips himself was quick to point out his assignment in helping these edge rushers get to the quarterback when he is not put in pass rush situations himself.

“It’s going to be fun. Every D-line that I’ve ever been on has great edge rushers. And I’ve always been that guy in the middle that can push the pocket and flush people to them. I’m excited to help them get some more sacks.”

Phillips has not only been a space-eater in the middle, but he’s helped some very notable players have big seasons. Alongside Ndamukong Suh with the Dolphins in 2016 and 2017, he aided Cameron Wake with back-to-back double-digit sack campaigns. During his two years with the Cardinals, he helped Haason Reddick and Chandler Jones have seasons north of 10 sacks, and he assisted Ed Oliver in getting 9.5 sacks for Bills last season.

Despite his massive physique, Phillips is extremely athletic. He can play the zero, one, three, or five-tech.

Another player whose absence in the preseason has gone more under the radar is the Cowboys’ projected starter at the 3-tech position, fourth-year DT Osa Odighizuwa. Getting the same bubble wrap treatment as Parsons and Lawrence says a lot about what the team thinks of Odighizuwa as a breakout player this season, starting this breakout under Dan Quinn last season. The fact Dallas sees Phillips as both a rotational player at Odighizuwa’s spot to keep both tackles fresh, as well as an upgrade to their interior run defense where Mazi Smith and rookie Justin Rogers are also making strides, shows off the depth this defense is building in just their first offseason of a new scheme.

Having flexibility up and down the defensive line is never a bad thing, but prioritizing putting players in the best position to succeed should come before everything. Every snap Phillips sees in a pass rush position is a potential vote of confidence in either Smith, Rogers. or a player further down the depth chart to stand up at the nose tackle position – where a seventh-round pick in Rogers has impressed with the ability to play as a heads up nose and not get knocked off the line of scrimmage.

The Cowboys only swapped late-round picks with their rival, the New York Giants, to add a player they are already finding numerous ways to help them in Jordan Phillips. Phillips is just one cog in a defense that appears more than ready to hit the ground running with two strong preseason performances in the books against the Rams and Raiders, and keeping an eye on exactly how Phillips is lined up in the final exhibition game this Saturday will be one of the key things to watch for against the Chargers.