Perhaps no position group on the entire Dallas roster has been more of a sore spot in recent years than the defensive backs. A brutal interception drought, letting Byron Jones leave, and the failed courtship of several name-brand safeties has left many Cowboys fans feeling like maybe the coaching staff views the secondary as, well, a secondary concern.
But now there’s a new sheriff in town. And in the McCarthy era, everybody gets in on the action. Or at least they did on the first day of full-team practice.
It was a revolving door at cornerback on Friday at The Star in Frisco, with the depth chart apparently “wide open,” according to David Helman of the team website.
“Chidobe Awuzie and Daryl Worley split reps on the left side,” Helman writes, “while Anthony Brown and Trevon Diggs split reps on the right side. Jourdan Lewis and Brown split time as the slot cornerback.”
Behind them, Helman notes, “Xavier Woods and HaHa Clinton-Dix were the initial starting safeties, but both Darian Thompson and Donovan Wilson got a chance to work with the starters.”
Clinton-Dix brings six seasons of NFL experience with him to his first year in Dallas. With the better part of five seasons coming under the watchful eye of McCarthy in Green Bay, he had a good idea of what to expect from Day One of the coach’s 2020 camp.
Ha Ha Clinton Dixon on his 20 forced turnovers in 7 NFL seasons: "I think I was gifted with it. I’ve been working at it. I’ve been with Mike for 5 yrs going on 6 now. One thing he would preach us on is taking the ball away and ball security. We worked a lot of ball drills."
— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) August 14, 2020
The veteran also had good things to say about the Cowboys’ second-round rookie cornerback and fellow Crimson Tide alum.
Cowboys S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix on rookie CB Trevon Diggs, a fellow Alabama product: “He’s very long. He’s very confident. … He knows how to do it and wants to do it.”
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) August 14, 2020
While that pair of fresh faces look to bring a new ballhawking mentality to the Dallas DB room, another guy who flew under the radar may find himself getting a new lease on life under the new regime.
Safety Donovan Wilson got into 11 games in his rookie campaign last year; Friday he started his sophomore season on a strong note.
“The coaching staff gave Wilson an opportunity to work with the first-team defense,” Helman explains of Friday’s opening practice, “and he definitely made the most of it. Wilson read Dak Prescott looking to make a near-side throw outside the numbers, and he darted in front of the ball for a nifty interception. It was the first takeaway of training camp for a defense that is stressing the importance of generating turnovers.”
It seems the new-look Cowboys secondary has a primary objective for 2020.
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