The Cowboys’ Safety Situation
This week, the Cowboys released veteran safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.
This came as a surprise to many fans who assumed he would be taking over as the Cowboys starting safety.
This leads us to the question, who will be starting at safety this season? Yes, there are many who are hopeful that Dallas will go out and get Earl Thomas but let us assume that Thomas is not a Cowboy in 2020. Who will play the position?
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Clinton-Dix was picked up as a free agent during the offseason this year in the hopes that he would bring some much-needed talent and experience to the Cowboys secondary. Clinton-Dix entered camp as the front runner for the position, but it soon became apparent that he was falling behind other players at safety.
With Clinton-Dix gone the current safety options are Xavier Woods, Darian Thompson, Donovan Wilson, and Reggie Robinson II. The Cowboys have also mentioned the idea of having some players at cornerback move over to safety.
We have listed the options for safety so let us take a look at how each of these players has performed.
Xavier Woods
Woods is a name we all know. This will be his fourth year on the roster after being drafted by the Cowboys.
Woods has definitely had more actual playing time than Thompson, Wilson, and Robinson. He also lived in the shadows of Jeff Heath and Byron Jones. Woods has had an impressive camp, but he left the Cowboys Blue and White Scrimmage with an injury that the team says is not a “high concern.”
Woods will most likely be the starter at strong safety this season as long as he stays healthy.
Darian Thompson
Thompson is next up after Woods and will most likely be playing along-side him this season at free safety. Thompson is also a familiar name on the Cowboys roster. He has not had nearly as much playing time as Woods, but he has started in a few games. He also started in 16 games with the Giants.
Thompson has also had a good camp and even got reps with the first team. McCarthy talked about his performance so far.
“He’s definitely lived up to his reputation. His work ethic, his workload capacity is outstanding. He’s having a great camp.”
Donovan Wilson
Wilson was drafted in 2019 and has not really had a chance to prove himself on game day yet. He stood out in preseason last year and has had a good camp this year.
He has caught the eye of reporters including Calvin Watkins of The Dallas Morning News, who said he keeps making plays.
“Donovan Wilson continues to make plays. I have no idea why this man can’t get onto the field.”
The release of Clinton-Dix definitely moved him up on the depth chart. Wilson may see some time on the field but does not seem to be at the level of Woods and Thompson yet and most likely will not be a starter.
Reggie Robinson II
Robinson was a fourth-round pick for Dallas this year. He was drafted as a cornerback but was moved to safety during camp. He most likely will not start this season, but he is a player to keep an eye on in the future.
The Cowboys’ defensive backs coach, Maurice Linguist, also recently stated that he expects his players to be versatile in both the cornerback position and safety, which opens up the position to some more players.
“By no means are you only just one position for us. You play defensive back. If I know exactly where the safety is and I’m a corner, well that’s going to help me better understand what my technique is at corner. If I know exactly what a corner is doing at the safety position, it can help me move six inches to the left or six inches to the right and be successful.”
The Cowboys’ safety situation does not appear to be ideal this season, but the coaching staff must have some faith in their players if they were willing to let go of Clinton-Dix.
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