Photo Credit: Dallas Cowboys
FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys defense has been in a historically bad downward spiral in 2020 but things improved for the squad at Philadelphia.
The unit had four takeaways, topping the defense’s grand total of three through the first seven games combined. The improved performance by the embattled Dallas defense began with strong safety, Donovan Wilson.
On the team’s first defensive series, Wilson sacked Carson Wentz on the move for a loss of ten yards, knocked the ball out, and recovered the fumble to put the Cowboys’ offense back on the field. The Texas A&M product was relentless in the fight for the football. He showcased effort and physicality that the Cowboys’ defense has been lacking.
On Wilson’s performance, head coach Mike McCarthy told D210Sports “ I thought he graded out well. He obviously had the impact sack/fumble return there that really, really got everything started for us. He’s doing an excellent job taking advantage of this opportunity. So I thought probably yesterday might have been his best performance, best he graded out all season. “
The former sixth round pick has continued to develop with added reps. He did not receive any snaps through the first three games of the season with Darian Thompson lining up opposite Xavier Woods in the backfield. In week four against the Browns, Thompson was handily beat in coverage by Odell Beckham Jr. that resulted in an embarrassing 37-yard touchdown pass from Jarvis Landry to OBJ. Wilson then entered the game and Thompson spent the remainder of the ballgame watching from the sideline.
Wilson saw his first real defensive snaps (70, 93%) against the Browns and finished the game as the team’s leading tackler, including a sack off a safety blitz that displayed his value in the secondary.
The Cowboys’ drafted Wilson in 2019 (213th overall) and he made an impression last year with three interceptions during the preseason. He was described as a hard-hitting, physical safety coming out of college and despite the evidence in the prelude games, he saw little playing time after making the 53-man roster out of training camp. Behind Xavier Woods, Jeff Heath, and Darian Thompson, he saw just 16 snaps last year.
Heading into 2020, not much seemed to change with three veterans in front of him: Woods, Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix, and Thompson. As luck would have it, things drastically differed in the secondary than what was expected. Clinton-Dix was cut prior to the start of the season after Thompson bypassed him on the depth chart. Then after several errors in coverage that resulted in big plays for opponents, Thompson was benched and Wilson became the starting safety opposite Woods.
New year, new coaching staff and the new regime is not married to players. Every player gets a fresh clean slate in Mike Nolan’s system. It certainly helps Wilson’s case having a former coach in his corner. Cowboys’ defensive backs coach, Maurice Linguist helped coach Wilson at A&M in 2018 and the two reunited in Dallas.
He has continued to take advantage of opportunities on the field and does by no means fix the issues on defense, but has helped reduce them with his playmaking skills. Wilson shows promise and has been an upgrade in coverage and run support.
