After flirting with a number of safeties in free agency, the Dallas Cowboys finally made a commitment, as the team signed former Bengals and Vikings safety George Iloka to a one-year deal Saturday.

Measuring in at 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds with 34.5-inch arms, Iloka, who was the college teammate of Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, has a unique size and frame for a safety. Despite his size, Iloka has spent a lot of his time playing in both box and deep safety roles thus far in his career, showing likable traits in both areas.

When covering deep zones, the 28-year-old plays a conservative style, as he'll sacrifice the ability to make plays on the ball to get enough depth so that he doesn't get beat deep. To his credit, Iloka does well as the last line of defense. He rarely let's receivers get loose deep.

In fact, Iloka actually displays some impressive range from deep zones. Here's one of the better displays of his range from the deep middle:

Even though the ball is underthrown, Iloka was still able to show off his speed and range from the deep middle, as he bails out his teammate who got roasted on a double move by the Rams receiver.

Starting the play in the deep middle, Iloka was on the near-side hash mark when the ball left the quarterback's hand, but was able to accelerate past the numbers to intercept the underthrown pass. That's rare to see, but it demonstrates the kind of athleticism Iloka has when healthy.

Unfortunately for Iloka, his propensity to get a ton of depth in his zone drops enlarges the gaps in between him and the intermediate zones, giving offenses a soft spot in the defense to attack. Here's a great example:

Despite the fact that Iloka aligns 14 yards off the line of scrimmage, he still drops an extra 10 yards once the ball is snapped, enlarging the gap between zones in Minnesota's defense. Therefore, when Xavier Rhodes (No. 29) attempts to pass off the Cardinals receiver who is leaving his zone, Iloka is too far away to be able to drive on and affect the pass. That gave Arizona an easy first down and chunk gain.

Iloka's conservatism in coverage is a double-edged sword for defenses. On one hand, Iloka won't give up a lot of back-breaking explosive plays. On the other hand, however, Iloka's conservatism will prevent him from making a lot of plays on the ball, which is why Iloka only averages three pass breakups per year, per Pro Football Focus.

Even though Iloka has largely played in the free safety role in his previous stops, he projects better as a strong safety for the Cowboys.

Xavier Woods, Dallas' current starting free safety, displays better and more consistent range than Iloka in coverage, as Woods is more aggressive and quicker to process at this point in his career. Jeff Heath, on the other hand, has struggled to be a consistently effective force for the Cowboys defense. Not only has Heath been a liability in coverage, but he's also been a liability against the run, missing more tackles against the run than any safety in the NFL last season, per PFF.

This is where Iloka can find his way into the lineup, as he is a sure-tackler who has above-average coverage ability in short-to-intermediate zones.

Iloka displays above-average mental processing from the box, as he's rarely fooled by play-action. Here's a great example:

On this play, Iloka does an excellent job of sniffing out the play-action, which puts him in perfect position to blanket the tight end leaking into the flat and deflect the pass. Despite the rest of the Bengals defense

sucked up by the run-action, Iloka stayed disciplined with his eyes in the right spot, enabling him to be in

to defend the pass.

When aligned in the box, Iloka's coverage abilities are best used in short-to-intermediate zones where his length can condense throwing windows.

Iloka's size and tackling ability enable him to be an effective force defender on the edge, as he displays the ability to take on and beat blocks from fullbacks and tight ends. Here's a great example:

On this play, Iloka is aligned as the overhang defender to the

of the Bengals formation. Once the ball is snapped, Iloka does an excellent job of taking on the tight end, who is coming across the formation to seal the backside, without getting widened.

Because Iloka set a strong edge against the tight end, he was able to use his length to disengage off the block to make the tackle once the running back attempted to bounce the ball outside.

Combined with his ability to take on blocks, the fact that Iloka is a sure-tackler makes him an asset against the run. Iloka is a technically sound tackler who does an outstanding job of coming to balance and wrapping up at the catch point.

Here's another example of what I'm talking about. Could have flown down hill and went for the KO punch, but instead breaks down, squares up, wraps up, and makes the tackle. Plays it safe and it works out for him on most occasions. pic.twitter.com/Ud0i2DBYzg — Connor Livesay (@ConnorNFLDraft) March 24, 2019

Unfortunately, this means that Iloka doesn't provide much of a physical presence on the defense. With his size and athletic ability, in theory, Iloka should be able to generate a ton of force at the tackle point, which would enable him to be a tone-setting type of safety for a defense. However, that's just not Iloka's game, as he uses his considerable size and frame to wrap and drag ball carriers to the ground.

Signing Iloka gives the Cowboys a player who can provide stiff competition for Jeff Heath for the starting strong safety job without tying up the amount of resources that would dissuade the team from taking a safety on Day 2 of the NFL draft.

Furthermore, Iloka's experience playing free safety gives Dallas an adequate replacement in case Woods get injured and has to miss time, as Heath has proven to struggle mightily when playing primarily in a free safety role.

Even if Iloka doesn't beat Heath outright for the starting strong safety position, his presence will deepen the depth chart at safety, which enables the Cowboys to limit Heath's snaps on defense, thus keeping him fresh for his most effective role as a special teams ace.

Best case scenario, Iloka beats out Heath for the starting strong safety role, providing the Cowboys with a solid box presence who can be effective in split-safety coverages as well. Worst case, Iloka is a reserve safety whose positional flexibility allows him to back up both the free and strong safety positions. Either way, the Cowboys benefit.

The theme of the Cowboys offseason thus far has been signing low-risk free agents who can adequately fill a position of need for the Cowboys. This strategy enables the Cowboys to enter the NFL draft without a glaring need, allowing them to stay true to their board with their early selections.

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Twitter: @JohnOwning