The Cowboys appear to have found their Jeff Heath replacement, as the team agreed to terms with free agent safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, who reunites with the head coach who drafted him, Mike McCarthy.

The 27-year-old spent the first 4.5 seasons of his career with the Green Bay Packers before being traded to the Washington Redskins midway through the 2018 season. Clinton-Dix then signed with the Chicago Bears for the 2019 season, where he acquitted himself quite well, posting 65 tackles, two interceptions, and two pass break-ups while QBs had a 69.2 passer rating when targeting him in his lone season in the Windy City.

Listed at 6-1 and 208 pounds, Clinton-Dix is two inches taller but similarly built to the Cowboys’ incumbent starter at free safety, Xavier Woods. Clinton-Dix is a solid safety who, much like Woods, does his best work in coverage. Thus far in his career, Clinton-Dix has displayed plus ball skills, posting 19 interceptions and 19 passes defensed (including playoffs) since entering the league, per Pro Football Focus. Moreover, with over 3,900 snaps in coverage throughout his career, he has only been primarily responsible for allowing six touchdowns in coverage since entering the league (one per season), per PFF.

One area where Clinton-Dix could prove to be incredibly valuable is replacing Byron Jones as Dallas’ tight end eraser. While he doesn’t have great size, he’s sticky enough in coverage and has good enough ball skills to cover tight ends who align inline or in the slot. Here’s a great example:

New #Cowboys safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix with a nice PBU in man coverage. Outside leverage to funnel the TE to the deep safety. Mirrors the break and beats the TE to the ball for the PBU. pic.twitter.com/5Ey229rYB1 — John Owning (@JohnOwning) March 20, 2020

On this play, the Bears are playing Cover 1 (man coverage with a free safety defending the deep middle), which means Clinton-Dix is in off-man trail coverage on Giants tight end Kaden Smith (No. 82).

Once the ball is snapped, despite Smith stemming inside off his release from the line of scrimmage, Clinton-Dix correctly maintains outside leverage so that he can funnel the TE to his help. From there, he does a great job of mirroring Smith’s break, putting himself in position to drive on the ball and beat Smith to the catch point to break up the past before it can be completed.

Clinton-Dix also proved to be effective when using a strong jam when aligned in press against tight ends. Here’s a great example:

Another impressive jam by Ha Ha Clinton-Dix at the LOS. Disrupts the timing of the route immediately. pic.twitter.com/OEWR5VSCRM — John Owning (@JohnOwning) March 20, 2020

On this play, Clinton-Dix is aligned in press against Detroit’s tight end TJ Hockenson, who’s aligned inline. Once the ball is snapped, Clinton-Dix jumps Hockenson, employing a strong two-hand punch to jolt the TE and disrupt the timing of the route.

Given that the Bears were sending a five-man pressure from a seven-man surface (number of defenders on the line of scrimmage and inside the box), Clinton-Dix knows that the QB is going to want to get the ball out quickly because of the quick pressure potential. A successful jam essentially eliminates Clinton-Dix’s man from being an option for the QB in that scenario.

So not only is this a good example of Clinton-Dix’s ability to successfully jam TEs at the line of scrimmage, but it also shows off Clinton-Dix’s football intelligence, situational awareness and conceptual understanding of play calls as a whole.

Even when he’s not in man coverage against tight ends, Clinton-Dix shows well as a box safety in coverage. He does a great job of matching receivers out of the backfield, giving him the ability to shadow running backs in high-leverage passing situations when he’s aligned in the box or spinning down from a two-high safety shell -- very similar to what Jourdan Lewis has done against Alvin Kamara when the Cowboys have faced the Saints in recent years.

He also displays good awareness in zone coverage. He understands when to pass off routes and overlap zones when need be (above clip).

The addition of Clinton-Dix could hint that the Cowboys plan to run more two-high (split-safety) coverages under Mike Nolan than they did the last couple seasons (Dallas played with a single-high safety nearly two-thirds of the time last season) -- something we speculated may happen when Nolan was hired -- as Clinton-Dix is much more comfortable playing as a split-safety than as the single deep safety. This play is a great illustration:

Clinton-Dix does a nice job driving on this deep-over route from the No. 3 WR to the field for the INT. Finishes the play with a house call for the TD. pic.twitter.com/fyimHOwml0 — John Owning (@JohnOwning) March 20, 2020

On this play, Clinton-Dix is aligned as the deep safety outside the hash and to the boundary (bottom of the screen). Once the ball is snapped, Clinton-Dix reads the tight end releasing inside on the shallow-cross and immediately gets his eyes to the inside, or No. 3, WR on the trips side of the formation, who is running a deep over route underneath Clinton-Dix’s alignment.

After identifying the deep over route, notice how Clinton-Dix shuffles toward the sideline so that he can maintain outside leverage on it. Once the QB begins to throw, Clinton-Dix is able to drive on that deep over route and beat the receiver to the catch point, resulting in an interception that Clinton-Dix returns for a touchdown.

Nonetheless, Clinton-Dix does have a propensity to take the cheese, as he can be fooled by play-action and pump fakes. This is why it’s risky to trust Clinton-Dix to consistently perform as a single-high safety (Cover 1/3). As the last line of defense, it’s important that the deep safety in a single-high coverage doesn’t take the cheese and bite on any underneath action, as it can compromise his primary responsibility on the back end. Here’s a good example:

Here, Clinton-Dix is aligned deep as the single-high, or ‘post,’ safety. Once the ball is snapped, the QB quickly fakes the handle and pump fakes to the outside receiver, who is running a double move.

Even though the pump fake didn’t stress his zone, Clinton-Dix oddly begins to drive forward from his deep middle alignment, which causes him to be just a tick late when he arrived at the catch point on the outside receiver’s vertical route. If Clinton-Dix had been more patient from the deep middle, it would have put him in perfect position to intersect with the receiver at the catch point and make a play on the ball.

Wouldn't say Clinton-Dix excels in run support, but this was a nice job coming downhill to beat the WRs block and coming to balance before making the tackle. #Cowboys pic.twitter.com/McN3voqVuO — John Owning (@JohnOwning) March 20, 2020

As a tackler, Clinton-Dix is prone to the occasional fly-by missed tackle, but he’s proven to be effective when he comes to balance at the tackle point (above clip), which can allow him to contribute to the team’s overall run defense.

Unfortunately, Clinton-Dix tends to be a bit passive in run support and really struggles to defeat blocks, even from wide receivers (above clip). He’s not aggressive when filling against the run and only sticks his nose in the fray when necessary, which could beget concerns about the quality of run support from the safety position. Neither Woods or Clinton-Dix really thrives against the run and both will have some trouble defending it when aligned in/around the box, which is another reason why the Cowboys should see a rise in split-safety coverages moving forward.

Given that Clinton-Dix signed for an inexpensive short-term deal (one-year, $4.5 million with $2.5 million guaranteed), his presence, much like Gerald McCoy, doesn’t preclude Dallas from taking a safety early in the NFL draft if the value matches up because, at worst, he can be a cheap bridge to a young safety in 2021.

Clinton-Dix is essentially the inverse of the man (Heath) that he’s likely replacing. Heath was a physical safety who did his best work against the run, whereas Clinton-Dix is more of a finesse safety who thrives in coverage. Nonetheless, in today’s NFL where the passing game is king, Clinton-Dix’s skill set is more valuable than Heath’s at this point in their careers, which is why Clinton-Dix should be viewed as an upgrade over Heath.

Having Woods and Clinton-Dix in the fold gives the Cowboys some interchangeability with their safeties, as both have the capability to play deep, in the box and in the slot -- though with slight differences, as Woods is more comfortable against receivers whereas Clinton-Dix is more effective versus tight ends in the slot. There are reports that Clinton-Dix was signed to be the free safety while Woods should step in at strong safety spot, but the interchangeability of their skill sets should lead to a good amount of crossover between the positions.

Ultimately, Clinton-Dix figures to slide into the starting safety spot next to Woods, whichever starting safety spot that may be (free or strong); however, if you’re expecting Clinton-Dix to be some sort of savior for the Cowboys at safety, you’re more than likely going to end up disappointed -- that’s just not the caliber of player he is at this point. However, he can be a solid piece who fills a valuable role on the defense.

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