FRISCO, Texas – The Dallas Cowboys signed safety free agent George Iloka back in March, and now in the third week of team OTA’s, the former Minnesota Viking and longtime Cincinnati Bengal is ready to make his mark with America’s Team.
At this point in the off-season, the 28-year-old is ready to begin taking the knowledge he has absorbed the past few weeks and channel it on the football field. He wants to transform from “thinking to just reacting. “ His goal is to have the best year of his career and he is ready to earn his star as a part of the Cowboys’ secondary.
Iloka has begun learning under the leadership of “ Yin and Yang” as he likes to call them or his positional coaches Kris Richard and Greg Jackson. He expressed on Wednesday how the two complement one another’s coaching styles and what grabbed his attention about the Dallas defense.
The first thing that stood out to Iloka on film about was the amount of “energy, enthusiasm, and stamina” that the defense displays on the field throughout a game and into the fourth quarter. Now he has the opportunity to join the defense he has admired.
Throughout his seven-year NFL career, the majority with the Bengals (2012-2017), and one with the Vikings (2018), Iloka recorded 359 combined tackles, 118 assists, and nine interceptions. One thing the Cowboys’ secondary struggled with in 2018 was interceptions and with Iloka’s ability as a zone defender, the team is hopeful he will help improve that statistic in 2019.
Iloka came to Dallas because the team utilizes his strong safety position in an unfamiliar way and No.20 is ready to take on the challenge.
“ I just kinda want to get into this system because it’s a different way how they use the strong safety position. I was set there… 20 yards back in other defenses I have been in, so this one has you more towards the box and things that I like to do. That’s really why I came here. “
