Cowboys' depth additions of veteran DTs Linval Joseph, Jordan Phillips help Dallas mitigate Achilles' heel

FRISCO, Texas -- Dan Quinn's Dallas Cowboys defenses were dominant when rushing the passer and taking the ball away in his three seasons as the team's defensive coordinator from 2021-2023 before being hired away to be the Washington Commanders.

However, Quinn's units had a specific Achilles heel. A fatal flaw if you will. That weakness was stopping the run. In Quinn's three seasons, Dallas was a top five scoring and third down defense while ranking as the best at pressuring the quarterback (41.4% QB pressure rate), intercepting the football (59 interceptions) and forcing turnovers (93 takeaways). The Cowboys were slightly below average against the run, allowing 118.2 rushing yards per game (17th in the NFL in that span). 

That weakness became pronounced in 2023 when Dallas' 112.4 rushing yards per game ranked 16th in the league. The Cowboys only lost six of their 18 games, including the postseason, last year, and their run defense played a starring role in four of those defeats. They allowed 266 rushing yards at the Bills in Week 15 (a 31-10 defeat), 222 rushing yards at the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3 (28-16 loss), 170 rushing yards at the 49ers in Week 5 (42-10 loss) and 143 rushing yards against the seventh-seeded Packers in their 48-32 wild-card round playoff defeat (a game in which they trailed 27-0 and 48-16). 

The great news for Cowboys fans is new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer may have found a solution to the issue: getting owner and general manager Jerry Jones to beef up the interior of the team's defensive line. 

Cowboys defense under Dan Quinn since 2021

There wasn't much depth behind 2023 first-round pick defensive tackle Mazi Smith and 2021 third-round pick defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa for most of the offseason, but Zimmer coaxed Jones into changing that. The Cowboys traded a 2026 sixth-round pick to the New York Giants in exchange for 10-year veteran defensive tackle Jordan Phillips (six feet, six inches tall, weighs 330 pounds) and a 2026 seventh-round pick on Aug. 15. Six days later, Dallas signed 14-year NFL veteran and former Zimmer pupil with the Minnesota Vikings, Linval Joseph (six feet, four inches tall, weighs 328 pounds) on Aug. 21. 

Their additions could be exactly what was needed to help elevate Dallas' middling run defense to an above-average level, thus boosting the Cowboys' lethal pass rush led by three-time All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons to even great heights.

"I think just in all its going to make our life easier, just them getting that penetration," Parsons said of Phillips and Joseph on Wednesday. "Them forcing the quarterback to step back, getting that knock back that's going to be extremely important, especially on early downs. That's where a lot of sacks come from right, on first and second down. Third down sacks are common a little bit but not too much, right. You catch them in the play action, you catch them off guard, you just got to be on the snap right. Getting that early push, those guys, those big monsters right there, I think its going to be a great asset. It kind of shows you what type of guy Zimmer is. I haven't seen this kind of reconstruction in the d-line room since I've been here. I don't know if it's Zim or what. He got it done."

"That's why we brought them in, get more stops off the run defense," cornerback Jourdan Lewis said on Monday. "Making sure first and second down is handled. Those guys know exactly what to do on that end. So getting experienced guys in there to help the young guys and go out there and compete and stop the run by going out there and doing it."    

Jones himself admitted Zimmer was the driver behind the moves on Aug. 28. 

"Well, I will always, if you have confidence in, and had some experience, it's not a question of trusting somebody. It's just understanding when they say, 'wow' as opposed to when someone else says 'wow.' There can be two different degrees of that," Jones said. "You got to know who's saying [it]. Well,, hello Zimmer, we know who's saying it, has a recommendation so to speak. There's no question, these players that you see that played for him were greatly influenced by his assessment of how they could help us win."

Joseph, a 35-year-old who won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants in the 2011 season, would have liked to have been signed earlier in the offseason, but a two-week acclimation period will work for him. 

"The decision wasn't mine," Joseph said of his late signing on Aug. 27. "They had a lot of stuff going on here and I'm just glad everything got done at the beginning of the season, so I have a chance to get a couple weeks before the season starts, and learn my teammates, and get back to ball."  

He also admitted Zimmer, his head coach during his six seasons on the Vikings from 2014-2019, was the driving force.

"I thought about it, but you never know what's going to happen," Joseph said of joining the Cowboys after seeing they hired Zimmer this offseason.  When I did get the call it was like, 'OK, this kind of does make sense.' So I entertained [the idea], yeah. ... [Zimmer] Plays a big role [in his signing]. I know Zimmer. I know this defense and I'm just glad to be a part of this defense again. I played six years in this defense and it really helped my development in my game."

Zimmer isn't the only familiar face Joseph is reuniting with in Dallas. The Cowboys also signed 32-year-old, Pro Bowl linebacker Eric Kendricks this offseason, a player who suited up as a Viking for his first eight seasons from 2015-2022 before a pitstop with the Chargers in 2023. Four-time Pro Bowl running back Dalvin Cook also signed a one-year deal with the team on Aug. 29. 

"Someone said they're tired of these Minnesota guys, but they're obviously joking," Kendricks said on Aug. 29. "It's crazy. You never know how the league is going to end up, but these guys, the one thing they have in common is they're high character guys. They are guys that I would trust, and I'm happy to have them."

Kendricks raved about the impact Joseph will have on Smith, Odighizuwa and some of the other young Dallas defensive linemen, both on and off the field. 

"Linval is a great leader," Kendricks said. "Very stout, just a beast man. The strongest player I've ever played with. He's a freak. That's the only way to describe him. LeBron James, you know,  freak athletes that we know and love, he's [Joseph] a freak. Period. I've seen him do some crazy things."

The body type both Joseph and Phillips possess -- both at least 6'4 and weigh over 325 pounds -- is exactly what head coach Mike McCarthy appreciates in his interior defensive linemen. 

"Well No. 1 body type and experience since I arrived here is something we've talked about at length," McCarthy said on Aug. 29. "Just the body type in there and just look at those guys. I think our linebackers I've never seen them smile so much in run periods [in practice]. Those guys bring a wealth of experience. I think it's definitely going to help us. I also love the fact that the experiences they bring to the locker room too. So you can see that already with their personalities. So we're excited about the additions."

Those additions, in tandem with Smith's development after a disappointing rookie campaign has McCarthy feeling confident about his interior defensive line heading into a make-or-break 2024 season.

"I think really when I look at Mazi throughout the offseason program, he did a good job with the football part of it," McCarthy said on Wednesday. "But he was in the pure focus rehab [after offseason shoulder surgery]. He came back where he needed to be in training camp. I thought he did a nice job with the weight. He's coming back at a nice path there. I just think once we got going in the padded work he's very very comfortable in what we're asking him to do. He's gearing up. He's ready to go."