A Dallas Cowboys team desperately in need of bringing down opposing quarterbacks rejoice in the activation of rookie defensive end Demarcus Lawrence.
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Here comes #90. In the 2014 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys made to move to sacrifice a later round pick to move up and grab defensive end Demarcus Lawrence. It wasn’t difficult to tell why. They lost two of the their top pass rushers in free agency and had a ton of questions surrounding another in lineman Anthony Spencer.
Lawrence, initially, was set to join a Cowboys defense that was in the doldrums in every major category and had just come off of the franchise’s worst defensive season of all time. How’s that for pressure? Because of this, all eyes were squarely on the rookie Lawrence to come in and save the day. No matter how unfair that might have been.
The terrific news is that is simply no longer the case. With the Cowboys’ acquisition of linebacker Rolando McClain (who is playing out of his mind this year) and other key pieces including the return of Anthony Spencer, Dallas has been able to pull off the miraculous; the defense is now very impressive. This is exactly the situation you want a rookie player coming into.
"“I ain’t going to say they need me because they’ve been doing it and winning games with me not being there,” Lawrence told SportsDayDFW. “I’ll just say I’ll be a help to them when I get back.”"
Instead of the initial pressure of Lawrence trying to save the day, the Cowboys are dominant (sans a horrible game versus the Redskins) that have them at 6-2 with one of the better defenses in the NFL. Where they lack in sacks, they make up for in quarterback pressure and takeaways. This means that activating Lawrence now adds another defender to gameplan for. He can play loose and hungry.
And after being off the field for weeks, hearing the “what ifs”, and staring the NFC best Arizona Cardinals in the face, I anticipate he’ll eat well. Because the expectation to be the superhero is gone. Is he the missing piece that takes this defense to over the top? Time will tell. And I’ve never seen a clock lie.
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