Rush job: Cowboys need pressure from Spencer | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | SportsDay: Football: Cowboys
excerpt:
IRVING – For all but one of the Cowboys' rookies, their performance will have no impact on the fate of this season. Their contributions will come another year.
Anthony Spencer does not have that luxury.
He needs to be a big-time pass-rusher and contributor when the season starts Sept. 9 against the New York Giants.
Is it fair to put that kind of pressure on a rookie, even if he was a first-round draft choice? Probably not, but that's the reality of the situation.
Repeat after me – the 3-4 defense does not work without two outstanding pass rushers at outside linebacker. Any offensive coordinator can devise a scheme to shut down one elite pass-rusher, but having two creates significant issues. Talk to any 3-4 specialist, and he'll confirm that information.
If we're truthful about the situation, the pressure is on Spencer to perform because we have no idea what kind of player Greg Ellis is going to be this season as he continues to recover from a ruptured Achilles' tendon he sustained last October.
No one does. No matter what the organization says, it's all speculation.
This is not an indictment of Ellis' work ethic or Jim Maurer's training staff or rehabilitation specialist Britt Brown. Ellis has always been among the hardest workers and Maurer's staff has long been considered among the league's best.
But they will also tell you the human body offers no guarantees. Every player's injury is as unique as a snowflake; so is their recovery.
Wade Phillips says Ellis is day-to-day. And he is. Ellis, though, has been day-to-day for two weeks. And he could be day-to-day for another two weeks or two months.
Again, no one knows.
We do know the Cowboys completed the San Antonio portion of training camp without Ellis participating in individual or team drills. Whenever Ellis finally does return to the practice field, we have no idea whether he's going to be the same high-motor quality player he has been for a decade or whether age and injury have stolen some of his skills.
If we're honest, that's why the Cowboys spent a first-round pick on Spencer in the first place. Eventually, he's going to replace Ellis as a starter. For now, when the baton gets passed is irrelevant. What matters right now is Spencer's ability to consistently pressure and sack the quarterback.
In his preseason debut Thursday against Indianapolis, Spencer did not record a sack, a tackle or an assisted tackle. Before you label him a bust, understand that Indianapolis does not allow Peyton Manning to get sacked.
The combination of Manning quickly reading the defense, his fast release and the three- and five-step drops the Colts use makes it almost impossible to sack him. The Colts yielded a league-low 15 sacks last season.
Still, Spencer, who played most of the first half, showed some traits that indicate he can handle the job.
Phillips will help Spencer by using him on the left and right side, so the Cowboys can prosper from any matchup advantages. When Dallas uses its nickel defense, Spencer will rush from defensive end, the position he played at Purdue.
On the Colts' second series, Spencer showed tremendous first-step quickness and nearly drilled backup quarterback Jim Sorgi in the back as he rushed from outside linebacker. Instead, he showed restraint and pulled up just before hitting Sorgi, so he wouldn't draw a penalty.
Rush job: Cowboys need pressure from Spencer
Rush job: Cowboys need pressure from Spencer
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