Tag: dontari poe

Chiefs DL Danny Shelton wants to recreate iconic ‘Bloated Tebow’ play

#Chiefs DL Danny Shelton is keen to re-create one of Kansas City’s most iconic plays of the Andy Reid era in 2023.

Though the end of the preseason may doom his wishes to go unfulfilled, Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Danny Shelton wants to re-create an iconic play from the team’s history during the 2023 season.

The appropriately named “Bloated Tebow” pass was a play designed for defensive tackle Dontari Poe back in 2016 where the lineman took a snap from shotgun on the goal line and threw the ball to former Chiefs tight end Demetrius Harris for a touchdown.

When a fan on Twitter tagged Shelton in a post and asked for the play to be featured this season, the former first-round pick made it clear that passes like these are in his wheelhouse.

“Always wanted to do this,” Shelton wrote. “Gotta check it off my bucket list.”

Shelton may get his chance to revive this spectacular play in 2023 if Kansas City jumps out to a big lead against another divisional opponent at some point during their Super Bowl defense campaign.

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Cowboys rookie DT Neville Gallimore shining in increased role

With Gerald McCoy out for the season and Dontari Poe now off the roster, Neville Gallimore had an opportunity to step up, and he’s doing it.

The Dallas Cowboys’ run defense has been laughable in 2020, to say the least. Much of that can be attributed to injury and simply a lack of production on the interior of the defensive line. Gerald McCoy, signed back in March, suffered a ruptured quadriceps in August; he was lost for the season and eventually released. Dontari Poe produced only seven tackles in seven games and didn’t log a single sack or quarterback hit before he was released in October.

This set up an opportunity for third-round pick Neville Gallimore to show what he could bring to the table. In the Cowboys’ tough 24-19 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers last Sunday, Gallimore graded out as one of the best interior defensive linemen in the NFL in terms of run defense, run stops, and run stop percentage.

The Cowboys had their best outing of the year versus the run against Pittsburgh behind Gallimore’s breakout performance. They held the Steelers to only 46 yards rushing as a team on 18 attempts. Even though the Cowboys still rank 31st against the run, it was encouraging to see them render the Steelers offense so one-dimensional.

Gallimore didn’t see the field much early in the season, logging just 20 snaps in the first two games. After not recording a snap in Weeks 3 and 4, Gallimore has played at least 22 snaps in four of the last five games (17 snaps versus the Eagles in Week 8).

Gallimore’s combination of quickness and power is rare for a man who’s 6-foot-2 and 304 pounds. The duo of Gallimore and Antwaun Woods on the interior, coupled with DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory on the edge, may be the Cowboys’ best defensive line combination for the rest of the season.

The talented rookie now gets an extra week to prepare as the Cowboys are on their bye before hitting the road to face the Minnesota Vikings in Week 11. Gallimore will be needed more than ever. The Cowboys will be tasked with containing running back Dalvin Cook, who has rushed for nearly 400 yards and five touchdowns in his last two games.

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Cowboys failures in free agency shouldn’t make them gun shy in 2021

The Dallas Cowboys swung and missed this past offseason, but it shouldn’t stop the team from being aggressive in the future.

It’s a lost season for the Dallas Cowboys, which has to have set in for the team and their fans. After losing to the Philadelphia Eagles and falling to 2-6, there is nothing that can save the Cowboys from the dumpster fire known as 2020.

It was a bad team with Dak Prescott and it’s even worse without him.

There’s also no shortage of blame for the Cowboys being in this predicament. Blame the coronavirus for not being allowed to adjust to a new coaching staff, blame the lack of a preseason to help a team going through growing pains with new schemes and we can even blame the injuries, which have crushed the team’s ability be who they wanted to be.

And it’s fine to blame the players who are actually on the field because they haven’t helped with the turnovers, penalties or overall poor play.

Of course the sexy thing to do is always blame the organization. Jerry and Stephen Jones are easy targets, after all they selected the players and decided who was worthy of paying. As most observers continue to hammer home, not securing Prescott long-term was a misstep and failing to sign re-sign CB Byron Jones remains an egregious error.

Those were two huge mistakes, but the Cowboys did operate differently this offseason. Instead of shopping in the basement for bargains, the franchise actually went out and spent some real money on veteran free agents to help.

DT’s Gerald McCoy and Dontari Poe were good additions, even if Poe wasn’t the same player he once was. The team also brought in veteran saftey Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, CB’s Daryl Worley and Maurice Canady, and DE Aldon Smith to bulk up the defense.

Adding a capable backup QB like Andy Dalton was another strong move from and the Cowboys also signed versatile offensive lineman Cam Erving to pitch in if needed.

Most of the signings were good on paper, but just haven’t worked out.

Poe turned out to be washed up and McCoy, whose signing everyone applauded, got hurt, which has turned out to be a big loss. Clinton-Dix and Worley never worked out and Canady opted out for the season. The addition of Smith has been a major plus.

Injuries knocked out Dalton, but he helped win a game for the team and, until recently, Erving was injured as well.

In a perfect world, the Cowboys never need Dalton, but we’ve seen how 2020 has treated the best laid plans. The emergency use of Dalton was supposed to be for a few games to keep the teams head above water in case Prescott got hurt and was going to miss a few weeks. Dalton wasn’t supposed to be starting for the majority of the season.

The offseason plan was solid, the Cowboys brought in good options to help improve the team. They didn’t just patch up holes with street level players as they usually do, they added good (so we thought) players.

Each offseason Cowboys fans scream about the lack of aggressiveness from the front office. They want the team to be more assertive in acquiring talent to get better. And here was Dallas, making the moves to improve this offseason, they just haven’t worked out.

It would be sad if the Cowboys abandoned their approach from this offseason and went back to bargain bin shopping. This year’s results shouldn’t discourage them from being aggressive in the future.

The hope is the Cowboys will continue to find ways to get better each offseason and maximize their resources. Becoming skittish because one year didn’t work out isn’t the sign of a strong front office. The results from 2020 just means the Cowboys have to choose the players more wisely.

Dallas had a solid plan and it should be applied in the future. It didn’t pay off this season, but that’s no reason to throw the blueprints away.

You can chat with or follow Ben on twitter @BenGrimaldi

NFL trade deadline: 8 D-linemen the Bills could target

Buffalo Bills defensive lineman the team could target at the 2020 NFL Draft.

The 2020 NFL trade deadline is right around the corner. It’s slated for Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Sitting at 5-2 overall and in control of their own destiny at this point, could the Buffalo Bills add to their arsenal to solidify themselves as a legitimate contender in the AFC? Despite their record, the Bills do certainly have a hole or two they could stand to fill in their roster.

In this part of Bills Wire’s trade deadline coverage, we’ll take a look at a couple of defensive linemen the Bills could target as Tuesday inches closer and closer:

Jerry Jones ‘deliberately’ doesn’t answer if he cut Dontari Poe over kneeling protest

Jones spoke about the release of Poe on Wednesday.

The Dallas Cowboys released defensive tackle Dontari Poe on Wednesday night, a move that wouldn’t seem so noteworthy on the surface, particularly with reports he was playing overweight (The Star-Telegram cites a scout who said as much and added Poe isn’t “holding the point like someone of his size should”).

But there are some people wondering if Poe’s release also had anything to do with the fact that he was the only player to kneel during the national anthem this season.

That was the question asked by ESPN’s Chris Mortensen to owner Jerry Jones, whose tone about anthem protests has shifted slightly over the years:

“When you’re 30 pounds overweight and you’re not doing anything about what’s keeping you from performing well on the field, there is no reason to get into the other stuff. …

“I understand your question, and I’m deliberately not going to answer it,” Jones replied. “We have a platform here, but the platform on the football field has a high standard, and [Poe] was not up to the standard. He needed to correct that, and he did not. I’m going to leave it at that.”

Yes, Jones keeps citing Poe’s weight and performance, but why would he deliberately not answer the questions about the DT kneeling?

Jones similarly avoided directly answering questions about Poe in September:

“I thought our players, I thought they gave it sensitivity,” Jones said when asked about his team’s response to Poe. “They showed respect to Poe’s decision. I think they certainly did … show a sensitivity to our fans as a team team. … All in all, I thought our team was very real and very genuine in the way it approached it.”

Again: he wasn’t exactly backing Poe but he wasn’t ripping him either. And that seems to be Jones’s new policy: to avoid the questions entirely.

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Doors open for Gallimore: ‘Opportunity for me to step up’

The Oklahoma rookie has seen his snaps increase with each game he’s played in; changes in Dallas this week should keep that trend going.

When one door closes, another door opens. The Cowboys traded Everson Griffen to Detroit on Tuesday and cut Dontari Poe on Wednesday. That’s not one, but two doors closed on the interior defensive line. And two doors that are suddenly now open.

That extra-wide opening may come in handy as 6-foot-2, 300-plus-pound Neville Gallimore looks for a way in to the Cowboys’ long-term plans.

“I’m a rookie; I’m new to this,” the third-round draft pick told reporters via conference call on Wednesday. “All I know is that it’s an opportunity for me to step up personally.”

The 23-year-old Gallimore has seen his snap counts increase in each of the five games in which he’s appeared this season, from just six defensive snaps in the Week 1 opener to 38- over half of the defense’s total plays- last Sunday versus Washington.

The native Canadian who played his college ball at Oklahoma says getting to gradually wade in to the pool has helped him get acclimated to the pro game.

“Extremely beneficial,” Gallimore said of the chance to do more watching than playing early on. “It’s really cool from the fact, obviously coming from where I played ball at college- being faster, stronger than everybody- to being around guys where I’m not the fastest. I’m not the strongest. But just having a great group of guys who’ve been through the process and know what it takes. Just kind of leaning on them, understanding how I can be beneficial to the team by just doing my part and not having to do too much, but just doing my job the best I know how.

“Yeah, it’s a learning curve, but it’s a part of it. I know it wasn’t going to be easy. Heck, it wasn’t easy to get into this position anyway. So again, it’s just another opportunity for me to grow as a football player and again, just get better. That’s the biggest thing for me. I want to improve and I want to limit any mistakes or similar mistakes that happened in the past. Just grow. I’m just trying to be a better ballplayer, end of the day.”

Gallimore has always flashed impressive speed for a man his size; his natural athleticism was his main selling point entering the draft. Now it’s about honing his technique.

And with the opportunity for increased reps on the worst run defense in the league, the Cowboys hope Gallimore can get up to speed quickly.

“You know, obviously the biggest thing [is] just being able to be more effective in the run game. Stuff I’ve got to be better at,” he admitted. “That’s just something I’m working on: making sure my hands, my technique, everything is where it should be. I’m working on it and again, can’t really speak on it; just got to continue to show it. Obviously that’s biggest thing I’m working on: making sure that I’m taking steps to really help this team be more effective in run stop.”

Gallimore calls Dallas defensive line coach Jim Tomsula “a great teacher” and feels his overall play has already improved under the coach’s tutelage. The veterans in the locker room have helped, too, including the guys whose now-empty lockers are still warm.

“Dontari definitely took me under his wing when I got here and just kind of shed his light on me,” Gallimore shared on the same day Poe was released. “Definitely appreciative for what he’s done for me just on a personal level. Just kind of another veteran guy who’s been through the process, someone who’s been in the league for as long as he has, it’s no fluke… Definitely got a lot of love for Dontari.”

But now the ninth-year veteran is gone. And that will mean more looks for the rookie hoping to make the most of the chance offered by the vacancies Poe and Griffen left behind.

“I’m here for a reason. They got me here for a reason. So it’s my opportunity to step up, and I have that chance now. Taking it day by day. A lot of the progression doesn’t happen overnight. It’s about making sure I focus on the little things, just keeping my head down, and trying to get better.”

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Cowboys can’t find trade partner, release Poe, Worley

The Dallas Cowboys made two more moves today with the release of defensive tackle Dontari Poe and cornerback Daryl Worley.

This isn’t a “fire sale” by any means but the Dallas Cowboys continue to mold their roster to their liking heading into Week 8 as they are preparing to visit the Philadelphia Eagles. Defensive tackle Dontari Poe and defensive back Darly Worley were released on Wednesday after the team shopped them throughout the entire day.

Poe and Worley were signed this past off-season by the team to improve their defensive line and secondary. Unfortunately for these two, they have been a small part of a historically bad Cowboys defense. These moves occur just one day after trading defensive end Everson Griffen to the Detroit Lions.

This move opens the door for rookie defensive tackle Neville Gallimore to possibly get more reps in practice and then it translate to game day. With cornerback Chidobe Awuzie returning to practice this week and expected to play Sunday night in Philadelphia, releasing Worley makes that much more sense.

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Report: Cowboys to release Dontari Poe, Daryl Worley if no trade

The Cowboys are going to continue purging players who fail to live up to expectations.

The Dallas Cowboys started to purge their roster of malcontents and players struggling to live up to their contracts when they shipped defensive end Everson Griffen off to Detroit for a conditional Day 3 pick. It appears that Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones are not done trying to clean house on the defensive side of the ball.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero is reporting the club has informed DT Dontari Poe and CB Daryl Worley, both of whom have seen their snap counts decrease in recent weeks, that if the team is unable to find trade partners then they will be released prior to the deadline of November 3.

Poe was brought in to play nose tackle and be the run-stuffing player the Cowboys had missed while they chose to play lighter defensive tackles under the previous Rod Marinelli regime. However Dallas’ run defense has plummeted under the highly-regarded line coach Jim Tomsula and defensive coordinator Mike Nolan. Dallas has given up over 200 yards rushing in three of the last four games including 208 last week against Washington. The Football Team was averaging a league-worst 86.5 yards a game prior to the contest.

After playing 46 and 59 snaps in Week 3 and 4, Poe had played 31,26 and 33 snaps the last three weeks. Practice squader Justin Hamilton was promoted and has been the best interior defender the last two games.

Meanwhile Worley was often targeted by the opposition in coverage, whether in man or zone. Sometimes it appeared he didn’t know which defense he was supposed to be playing.

Worley played 73 and 75 snaps in Weeks 3 and 4, down to 52 in Week 5. After embarrassing gaffes continued that shot down to 21 in Week 6 and he only saw one defensive snap in Week 7.

The Cowboys are currently ranked a league-worst 32nd in points allowed in 2020.

Jerry Jones spoke about Dontari Poe’s decision to kneel during the national anthem

“They showed respect to Poe’s decision.”

It had been four years since Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem in protest of police brutality and racial injustice, and no player on the Dallas Cowboys had joined in on that demonstration.

That changed on Sunday.

Cowboys defensive tackle Dontari Poe became the first Dallas player to kneel for the anthem, and he did so with several standing teammates putting their hands on his shoulder.

Over the years, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had been among the league’s most outspoken opponents of player protests. And that tone somewhat changed in the aftermath of George Floyd’s and Breonna Taylor’s deaths. But Jones never said whether he would actually support a Cowboys player kneeling, and even after Poe took a knee, he didn’t necessarily take a stance one way or the other.

Speaking to 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, Jones applauded the team for how they handled themselves during the anthem. He complimented the team for respecting Poe’s decision but didn’t elaborate on what he actually thought about Poe’s protest himself. He said via Yahoo! Sports:

“I thought our players, I thought they gave it sensitivity,” Jones said when asked about his team’s response to Poe. “They showed respect to Poe’s decision. I think they certainly did … show a sensitivity to our fans as a team team. … All in all, I thought our team was very real and very genuine in the way it approached it.”

So, again, it wasn’t exactly an endorsement of protests from Jones. But it did show a definite shift from the no-protest stance Jones had taken since 2016.

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News: Cowboys defense practicing takeaways, eyeing soft QB schedule

Also, a possible playoff bubble, replacing Gerald McCoy, the recent linebacker shuffle, and how the Dallas sidelines will look different.

While still getting over the awful double-shot of Gerald McCoy news from Monday and Tuesday, there was plenty for Cowboys fans to feel good about on Wednesday, including a key reinforcement being officially added to the defensive line that McCoy just vacated.

Elsewhere, a franchise legend is still basking in his limelight moment, and the Dallas defense could be primed for quite a moment of its own. The team received word that the sidelines will be a little less colorful this season, and there’s talk of playoff teams moving to a bubble after the season. All that plus news about play calling, quarterback mentoring, linebacker shifting, turnover practicing, and opposing-passer ranking. Here’s the midweek News and Notes.

The strength of schedule for each NFL team based on opposing quarterbacks tiers :: The Athletic

Here’s a list where fans want to see their team near the bottom. The Cowboys are slated to face just one “Tier 1” quarterback, Russell Wilson, in 2020. Lamar Jackson, Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan, and Carson Wentz are considered “Tier 2” opponents. The majority of the Dallas schedule- 10 games- will be played against quarterbacks in the weakest two tiers.

Mailbag: Still top-five potential on defense? :: The Mothership

In the latest edition of Mailbag, Cowboys writers David Helman and Rob Phillips do their best to answer fan questions. In this edition, they take their turns predicting who will replace Gerald McCoy at 3-tech and look at whether the Cowboys have a chance to be a top-five defense without him.

Cowboys activate Dontari Poe same day they say goodbye to McCoy :: Cowboys Wire

As the Cowboys received terrible news about Gerald McCoy, fellow defensive tackle Dontari Poe officially made his return from injury. The two play different positions along the defensive line, but Poe’s presence will nevertheless ease some of the burden left by McCoy’s absence.

No Cowboys cheerleaders in 2020 (bad), sideline reporters (ok), or Rowdy (awesome) :: Cowboys Wire

The sidelines at AT&T Stadium will look very different this season, with several longtime staples suddenly MIA due to the COVID-19 crisis.  But there is a silver lining, as the eviction of one of the parties may portend a return to the Super Bowl if history repeats.

Dalton embracing mentor role in Cowboys QB room :: The Mothership

Snagging QB Andy Dalton was an excellent offseason move by Dallas. Easily now one of the best backups in the league, the veteran has experience and knowledge that he’s sharing with the Cowboys’ young quarterbacks.

Ezekiel Elliott on Cowboys in 2020: ‘We’re going to run the ball’ :: ESPN

There is a misconception surrounding Mike McCarthy that the former Green Bay head coach doesn’t like to run the ball. But McCarthy understands the back he has in Ezekiel Elliott, and the former two-time rushing champ expects the Cowboys to continue pounding the rock.

Why Drew Pearson belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame :: NFL.com

Drew Pearson isn’t in the Hall of Fame yet, and that’s a problem. The 1970s’ All-Decade wideout is overqualified for the achievement, with three first-team All-Pro selections and a Super Bowl win. Gil Brandt helps explain why Pearson should finally get the call in 2021.

McCarthy: Kellen Moore calling plays is ‘best decision’ for 2020 Cowboys :: Cowboys Wire

Mike McCarthy has turned over the big laminated menu to Kellen Moore. But he’s given up play-calling duties before… and then taken them back when things didn’t go so well.

Leighton Vander Esch believes the Cowboys defense practices getting turnovers more now :: Blogging the Boys

A longstanding deficiency of the Cowboys seems to be getting extra attention under Mike McCarthy and Mike Nolan. The third-year linebacker reports that there is now a portion of each practice session dedicated to “punching, raking, hammers, all the stuff. Tackling and punching at the same time.”

Bucky Brooks: What the LB position switch means :: The Mothership

The analyst breaks down the recent shuffling of Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith, and explains why each player’s individual game should improve… and predicts the new roles could allow the Cowboys defense as a whole to become a blitzing nightmare for opposing quarterbacks.

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