As you know by now, Micah Parsons is out and Kenny Clark is in. If you watched the Jerry Jones press conference on Thursday, you heard how excited the Dallas Cowboys front office was about improving their putrid run defense with the addition of Kenny Clark. During the press conference, Jerry mentioned many times how adding Kenny Clark was just as important to them as the two first-round draft picks they acquired from the Green Bay Packers.
Someone should probably tell Jones’ they had an entire offseason to help improve the Dallas run defense, and could have done so without trading their best player. Nonetheless, the deal is done, and Clark is expected to play a big role in Dallas under Matt Eberflus. Clark, who will turn 30 this season, is coming off the worst season of his career statistically, but a toe injury was more to blame for Clark’s struggle rather than an overall dip in his play.
Clark has been a top defensive lineman in the NFL for a majority of his career. Now healthy, Clark will team up with Osa Odighizuwa to give the Cowboys their best defensive tackle tandem in over a decade. While the Cowboys are banking on improving their run defense with the recent trade, everyone should temper their expectations of extreme changes in the Cowboys ability to stop the run.
Bringing in Clark is a step in the right direction, but run defense is far from a one-man job. Diving into things a little deeper, the Packers defense was strong against the run in 2024, but Clark himself did not impress on tape or from an advanced metric standpoint in being an elite run defender. In fact, he was more impressive as a pass rusher and backfield penetrator in the few games I watched from 2024. In order to have a strong run defense, it takes contributions from all 11 players on the defensive side of the ball. Clark ranks out positively in the run defense category for most of his career, but the Cowboys are not built to stop the run.
With Odighizuwa, Dante Fowler, and one of the young ends expected to be the starters along side Clark on the defensive line, the Cowboys have went from one of the worst run defending defensive lines in the NFL, to still bottom half of the league. Ultimately, the Jones’ traded away one of the biggest strengths of the team (pass rush) to slightly improve their ability to stop the run.
At the end of the day, the Cowboys will likely not be the 31st ranked defense when it comes to rush EPA, but can they be good enough to balance their lack of pass rush that could be a much bigger weakness now heading into the 2025 regular season?
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