Does the addition of ex-TCU standout solve the Cowboys’ linebacker problem?
In the middle of the second round of the NFL draft on Friday evening, the Dallas Cowboys cashed in on a veteran linebacker target they had been hunting down over the course of a few weeks, as they traded for former TCU standout Dee Winters, sending a fifth-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers.
In talking about the move later Friday, the Cowboys front office explained that Winters had been a target for Dallas going back to when the two teams connected over the trade that sent defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa to San Francisco last month.
“The first time we broached it was when we traded Osa,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “We kind of had that on our radar, we had it on theirs. It had just taken some time to come around. Sometimes, you got to be patient on these things. They were working on their end, being patient. We had Dee on our radar for six weeks, eight weeks. It’s been a while.”
After swinging and missing on multiple linebackers in free agency such as Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker, the Cowboys finally get some experience in the middle for an off-ball linebacker unit that only contained DeMarvion Overshown and Shemar James going into the weekend.
Now, the Cowboys not only have experience in there, but also a player who can be the lead communicator, wearing the green dot on his helmet, for a defense that was missing that final crucial piece after a busy offseason reconstructing that unit. However, work is still to be done at linebacker, with needed depth required to go into training camp.
“We’re still building the room,” Stephen Jones said. “We needed to rebuild it. As [defensive coordinator] Christian [Parker] said, I think we only had two players in the room before the draft. So no, we need to keep being a creative there and adding players and have competition. We’ll certainly give that a good going over as we look at situations tomorrow. I do think it’s a work in progress, and certainly Dee Winters was a big step.”
Evaluating Dee Winters
In his two seasons of starting experience with the 49ers, Winters proved he could elevate into a starting linebacker role in the NFL. After one season working primarily on special teams, he slowed the NFL game for himself to step into a bigger role when injuries hit the second level for San Francisco.
As a downhill run defender, Winters is instinctive and decisive. While he may still need more experience in coverage, it does not appear that the second level will be asked to do a whole lot in coverage like it was last year under defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.
With that being said, Winters isn’t the end-all, be-all savior. There is still relative inexperience, but it serves as a great floor for where the Cowboys can continue to build the room on day three of the draft and in the rest of the offseason.
“I think it’s a work in progress,” Stephen Jones said. “We’re certainly not going to stand pat. We got other linebackers to get, and we’ll see how it works out tomorrow. If we don’t get it tomorrow, then as you said, we continue player acquisition throughout the year.”
