Once Robert Quinn got paid a king’s ransom to sign with the Chicago Bears, right defensive end became one of the Dallas Cowboys’ biggest needs.

The Cowboys do have Tyrone Crawford returning from a season cut short by hip surgery, and although he does a lot of the dirty work up front, he just doesn’t have the juice as a pass rusher that Dallas needs opposite DeMarcus Lawrence.

Unless the Cowboys plan to sign Everson Griffen in free agency (please do), they will likely look to the NFL draft to fill that need. The 2020 edge defender class isn’t quite as top-heavy as recent years, but there is a lot of depth, especially on Day 2 (Rounds 2-3).

Let’s take a look at a few pass rushers at defensive end who could be fits for Dallas:

K’Lavon Chaisson, LSU

With Ohio State’s Chase Young likely gone in the top five picks, LSU’s K’Lavon Chaisson is the belle of the ball for the Cowboys at defensive end.

LSU EDGE K'Lavon Chaisson is shot out of a damn cannon on this sack vs Florida. Great surface area reduction as he corners as well. OL struggle to block below their waist. pic.twitter.com/2IO6upkOEZ — John Owning (@JohnOwning) March 3, 2020

Listed at 6-3, 254 pounds, Chaisson is an electric pass rusher who has the speed to stress an offensive tackle’s pass set and the bend to corner at acute angles. Although he aligns primarily in a two-point stance, Chaisson is actually more explosive from a three-point stance because it eliminates the pesky false step that hampers his get-off from two-point.

When he’s able to time up the snap, Chaisson’s speed rush is a trump card few offensive tackles can hang with, even in the NFL. The ability to reduce his blockable surface area makes his speed rush even more dangerous -- he’s able to contort his body to give tackles an incredibly small strike zone to try to deter his rush up the edge.

I'm continually impressed by Chaisson's ability to corner and flatten to the QB at the apex of his rush. This isn't a sack but turning this tight of a corner with that much speed is mighty impressive. pic.twitter.com/56rY2zGL6n — John Owning (@JohnOwning) February 6, 2020

The saying “he can run under a table” is often overused when discussing pass rushers, but it’s 100% true in regard to Chaisson. Offensive tackles really struggle to block targets below their waste, and Chaisson’s ability to drop his pad level and turn tight corners will give blockers fits at the next level.

Great speed-to-power from by K'Lavon Chaisson. He uses a beautiful long arm shot put to generate a quick win. Really like how he keeps his off-hand high to prevent 52 from latching as Chaisson walks him back. Great pad level, body lean and hand placement as well. pic.twitter.com/oiRZqKLfTo — John Owning (@JohnOwning) February 23, 2020

He is also ascending in his ability to convert speed to power. Chaisson loves to use a long-arm technique as a changeup off his speed rush because offensive tackles typically sell out to defend the speed, compromising their ability to anchor against power.

As a run defender, Chaisson shows an impressive ability to defeat blocks despite a lack of sand in his pants, doing a good job of using length and leverage to stack blocks on the edge. One of his more impressive plays from last season was against Georgia, when he defeated potential top-10 pick Andrew Thomas on the edge before stringing the running back out to the sideline. Despite a considerable length disadvantage, Chaisson proved that an understanding of how to use length is much more important than just having long arms in the first place.

Still, he has some rawness to his game, which is a big reason why his college production (just 9.5 career sacks) doesn’t match his outstanding skill set. Chaisson needs to tune up his hand technique and footwork. For example, he tends to loop his arm-over technique way too high, giving blockers free access to his ribs to knock him off course. Chaisson also telegraphs his two-hand swipe with an exaggerated swinging of his arms.

On top of that, he also has a troubling injury history: A torn ACL ruined his 2018 season and an ankle injury hampered him early in the 2019 season.

Nevertheless, the fact that Chaisson did his best work against the highest-caliber competition he faced should ease any concerns fans may have about the raw edges to his skill set. In his last four games, when he faced Texas A&M, Georgia, Oklahoma and Clemson, he accumulated 4.5 total sacks while posting at least four pressures in each game.

If the Cowboys are looking for a player with a similar skill set to replace Quinn, there may not be a better realistic option in this class than Chaisson. You just can’t teach his speed, bend and natural feel for leverage.

Yetur Gross-Matos, Penn State

Although the Cowboys have a new coaching staff in place, the scouts and front office executives -- who do most of the work evaluating prospects -- are essentially the same as in previous years, so it’d be unwise to throw out all of the team’s draft tendencies from the last decade.

With that in mind, here is every defensive end the Cowboys have drafted since 2015:

Player Height Weight Arm length (inch) Joe Jackson 6-4 275 34 1/8 Jalen Jelks 6-5 256 34 5/8 Dorance Armstrong 6-4 257 34 3/4 Taco Charlton 6-6 277 34 1/4 Charles Tapper 6-3 271 34 3/8 Ryan Russell 6-4 269 33 3/8 Randy Gregory 6-5 235 34

It’s safe to say the Cowboys definitely have a type, as they appear to value overall size and length heavily in their evaluations. Randy Gregory is the lone exception from a weight perspective, but he easily checked the height and length boxes. What we don’t know is how much this was driven by Rod Marinelli and how much was driven by the front office’s overall philosophy on evaluating defensive ends.

Under the guise that it was more front office-driven than Marinelli-driven, Penn State’s Yetur Gross-Matos is someone the front office is sure to fall in love with. Listed at 6-5, 266 pounds with 34 7/8-inch arms, Gross-Matos checks every box from a size perspective.

On top of that, he checks the production box, having accumulated two straight seasons with at least eight sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss. He’s also very athletic for his size, showing well in the vertical and broad jumps at the scouting combine with a rumored 40-yard dash time in the 4.6s (he skipped the 40 at the combine).

Unfortunately, that athleticism doesn’t always show up on tape. Gross-Matos often appears lackadaisical with his upfield burst, rarely stressing the sets of opposing offensive tackles. On top of that, he often made things worse by attacking blocks squarely, making the offensive tackle’s job on the edge easy on too consistent of a basis.

Nice rush from YGM here that should've ended in a sack. Doesn't land clean with the cross chop but immediately sequences to a short club with a rip to finish. Block in the back knocked him off balance just as he was looking to finish. pic.twitter.com/7xJbZeOQIY — John Owning (@JohnOwning) February 19, 2020

Still, when Gross-Matos does attack the edges of blocks, he displays an intriguing upside as a pass rusher. He is improving in his ability to sequence his hands to defeat blocks on the edge and attack the pocket.

Yetur Gross-Matos has a real nice feel for inside moves and attacking leverage points during his rush. Great hand placement/technique as well. pic.twitter.com/VLbPdOPziu — John Owning (@JohnOwning) February 19, 2020

Right now, Gross-Matos is best as a pass rusher when utilizing his inside counter moves. He has a great feel for inside moves, which is boosted by his ability to attack leverage points (wrist, elbow, shoulder) to clear contact.

Gross-Matos also has an excellent feel for penetrating the line of scrimmage against the run, as the effectiveness of his inside moves translates to his ability to backdoor blocks and penetrate against zone runs. He also has the size and length to develop into a dominant edge setter with additional strength, better pad level and footwork.

While he’s not receiving much buzz there now (and would be a notable reach, per the solid second-round grade I gave him), don’t be surprised if Gross-Matos is a consideration at No. 17 or if the Cowboys decide to trade back. He checks all the boxes the Cowboys have valued in the past.

Julian Okwara, Notre Dame

Notre Dame’s Julian Okwara is probably the most underrated defensive end in this draft, likely due to the broken fibula that cut his final season short.

Listed at 6-4, 252 pounds with 34 3/8-inch arms, Okwara checks all the boxes from a size perspective and has considerable room to grow. (His older brother, Romeo, is a Detroit Lions defensive end who has played in the high 260s for most of his career.) Additionally, Okwara has the highest pressure rate among edge defenders in the 2020 draft dating back to 2018, according to Pro Football Focus.

Okwara didn’t test at the combine because of his recovery from the broken fibula, but it’s obvious on tape he’s an elite athlete for the position. He reportedly ran an absurd 4.53 in the 40-yard dash during workouts last spring.

Okwara hitting a 2-hand swipe to beat the hands before cornering. pic.twitter.com/L1p91jg8jV — John Owning (@JohnOwning) March 6, 2020

Okwara’s film doesn’t disappoint either, displaying fantastic burst to stress pass sets and pretty good bend and lower-body flexibility to corner at high speeds. His hands developed nicely during his four years at Notre Dame, as he displayed effective swats, swipes, chops and rips to go with a promising long arm to defeat hands and stay clean when rushing off the edge. Despite his lean build, Okwara has also found success rushing from the interior thanks to his heavy hands and quickness.

Okwara just tossing an RG out of the club. pic.twitter.com/NgKJZfJHtA — John Owning (@JohnOwning) March 6, 2020

Okwara’s hands are boosted by his wiry strength at the point of contact. Despite playing in the 240s for much of the season, he displayed heavy hands that enabled him to find a lot of success with power moves while also translating well to stacking and shedding blocks against the run.

Okwara does need to do a better job of protecting his chest at the point of contact against the run because when he uses power and length to create knock-back and separation, he’s an incredibly effective run defender. He just needs to be more assertive with his hands early in the play.

If his senior season wasn’t shortened by injury, Okwara is definitely the type of prospect who would have garnered first-round buzz. While Chaisson is a great option for the Cowboys in Round 1, Okwara would be an even better value in the second round if they can swing it.

Curtis Weaver, Boise State

The Boise State-Cowboys pipeline is a real thing -- especially on defense -- so it wouldn’t be a surprise if they targeted edge defender Curtis Weaver on Day 2.

Listed at 6-2, 265 pounds with 32 3/8-inch arms, Weaver doesn’t quite have the height and length the Cowboys value at the position, but he more than makes up for it with his production profile. He posted at least 9.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss in each of his three seasons at Boise State, and he generated the second-highest pressure percentage among edge defenders in this draft class, according to PFF.

Weaver is an agile athlete who is lacking a bit in terms of vertical explosiveness, but he wins consistently because of his outstanding cornering ability and well-developed hands. This play is a great example:

Ball is out quick but this is some nifty handwork and some really good cornering from Curtis Weaver. Love how stuffs the RT's outside hand to his hip, which aids him in cornering and makes it very difficult for the RT to re-fit his hands. pic.twitter.com/r50nzSAwyc — John Owning (@JohnOwning) February 21, 2020

Here, Weaver initiates with a stab technique to draw out the offensive tackle’s hands before immediately sequencing into a cross-chop pull to defeat the hands and corner (D-line coaches often say that offensive linemen have a button on their chest that, if pressed, causes them to throw their hands). On top of the sublime hand technique, pay attention to how quickly Weaver transitions from attacking vertically to cornering and flattening toward the quarterback.

Curtis Weaver does a good job of slipping blocks to penetrate and make plays in the backfield vs the run. pic.twitter.com/PHIYAEqmuT — John Owning (@JohnOwning) March 3, 2020

Weaver is a bit of a boom-or-bust against the run in that if he doesn’t penetrate immediately, he’s often rendered ineffective. When it works, it’s great because it enables him to be a backfield disruptor who can put an offense behind the eight ball. But in the NFL, Weaver is going to need to get stronger and learn how to stack blocks with leverage at the point of attack, or he will be incredibly inconsistent against the run.

Another area of concern is his stance -- he aligned almost exclusively in a two-point stance in his final year at Boise State, even when put inside. If drafted by the Cowboys, Weaver will definitely be playing with his hand in the ground which is why there’s concern, as there’s probably a reason Boise State didn’t force him to play from a three-point stance.

Still, Weaver’s hand technique, bend and overall pass-rush ability are nothing to sneeze at, and if the Cowboys strike out on pass rusher early, he could be a great option in Round 3.

Bradlee Anae, Utah

Utah’s Bradlee Anae is the best example of traits vs. tape in this class. Listed at 6-3, 257 pounds with 32 1/8-inch arms and below-average athleticism for the position, Anae isn’t the type of prospect who looks good on the hoof, but he has some of the best tape in the class, displaying outstanding hand technique and footwork as a pass rusher and run defender.

Filthy inside spin by Utah EDGE Bradlee Anae. pic.twitter.com/MY5U3XTQF1 — John Owning (@JohnOwning) March 22, 2020

Anae doesn’t have the speed to stress sets or the lower-body flexibility to effectively corner at high speeds, but he more than makes up for that with the best hand technique in the class. He has a plethora of moves he uses to clear contact and create soft edges, including a stab-chop, side scissor, rip-swipe, cross-chop club and an assortment of snatches. On top of all that, Anae has one of the best chop-spin moves (above clip) to counter back inside in this class.

Love the initial footwork from Bradlee Anae to maintain his gap integrity, which prevents him from being hooked by 73. This enables him to penetrate the backside B-gap behind the pulling LG and help finish the tackle behind the LOS.



Also, Fotu 👀 pic.twitter.com/25DQ1KsMrw — John Owning (@JohnOwning) February 24, 2020

His technical savvy carries over to defending the run, where he displays outstanding initial footwork, a great feel for leverage and heavy hands at the point of contact.

While some may be afraid to draft a player who would need to be an outlier from an athleticism perspective to be a distinguished contributor at the next level, Anae’s dominance at the Senior Bowl gives more confidence that he could be the exception to the rule. On just 16 pass-rush snaps, he generated five pressures and three sacks, meaning he created pressure on half of his attempts against the best senior talent this draft class has to offer.

While I would personally consider drafting Anae in the third round, if he’s available on Day 3, the Cowboys would be unwise to pass him up regardless of what they did on the first two days -- he can provide that kind of value for them as a quality depth contributor.

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