Those who observe and analyze the NFL talk often about the “Year Two jump,” the exponential improvement that many a player makes in his second year at the pro level. No longer a rookie, the player is past the point where everything is new, and that familiarity allows the physical skills to bloom and catch up with what he has learned.
But it doesn’t just happen for individual players, Dan Quinn says. The Dallas defensive coordinator believes it can also happen with an entire unit.
And he’s hoping that Cowboys fans are about to see his defense make that quantum leap in their second season under him.
“For us defensively, for us as players and coaches, it’s roles, it’s knowing one another, knowing how to communicate more clearly and quickly,” Quinn told reporters over the Labor Day weekend. “When you have that process in place going in for your second lap at it, you get a little tighter, you get a little stronger. So although it’s true- playerwise from Year One to Year Two is usually when the biggest jump is made- I also feel from the system standpoint, that’s usually when you make your best jump as an offense or a defense or a special teams, just because of that connection, player to player. You recognize you’re more of an extension of one another, you feel that from the training camp of this group of where we’re headed.”
Quinn orchestrated a massive turnaround in his first season in Dallas after inheriting a defense that was statistically the worst in franchise history and among the most porous in the league. But by the end of 2021, the Cowboys led the NFL in takeaways. Now heading into the 2022 season opener, Quinn’s unit is viewed as the strength of the team- perhaps even more solid and settled than Dak Prescott and the offense, with all its question marks.
But in some ways, Quinn admits, it was easier when there was nowhere for the Dallas defense to go but up.
“Anytime you’re really good and you’re trying to punch through to the next ceiling, go to the next space,” Quinn explained, “it’s a little more challenging. But also in a good way, you can get there a little faster because you have a better awareness of all the things you need to do.”
Finding a once-in-a-generation phenom like Micah Parsons helped the Cowboys make serious strides on his side of the ball. The unanimous Defensive Rookie of the Year will obviously do that.
And while it’s both exciting and a bit mind-boggling to wonder if Parsons can actually get better in his second season, Quinn is confident there are several more of his charges who are already well-poised for a Year Two jump of their own.
“There have been a few players this year where I’ve seen that jump take place because they had a real plan of how they were going to attack the offseason,” Quinn said. “Like [safety Israel] Mukuamu. It was going to take all through camp of some of the things I wanted to see. He was making all of the steps, ticking the box, so to speak, but it wasn’t until I saw the preseason games where I said. ‘It’s come full circle on his improvement.'”
Mukuamu recorded two interceptions this preseason. Now he hopes to snag his first of the regular season after missing out on the team’s league-leading 26 picks last year.
But Quinn also sees tremendous opportunity for the Dallas defensive line to make a name for itself. After giving up 4.5 rushing yards per carry in 2021- tied for fifth-worst leaguewide- the unit is loaded with young interior tackles who are about to show the football world what Quinn has already seen in practice.
“One of the areas we wanted to improve was in the run defense inside, to play more square, to play stronger. I’ve seen that. You’ve seen the jump from [Quinton] Bohanna, you’ve seen it from [Neville] Gallimore. I know he’s not going from [Year] One to [Year] Two, but he missed so much time last year that I felt it’s appropriate that [we] put him in that bucket, even though he’s not that,” shared Quinn. “[Trysten] Hill missed damn near the entire year with him coming back. So seeing those guys make these jumps at the defensive tackle spot is certainly something that I think is going to pay dividends for us.”
Those dividends could come in the form of opponents’ fumbles. Quinn wanted to make fumble recoveries a priority this season and has said it was a specific focus of his in the offseason and training camp.
And with young players like Osa Odighizuwa, Kelvin Joseph, Jabril Cox, and Chauncey Golston- all cued up on their second-year launch pad- learning alongside savvy veterans like DeMarcus Lawrence, Dante Fowler, Leighton Vander Esch, and Jayron Kearse, Quinn sounds like a man who knows he has a front-row seat for what could be quite a show over the course of 2022.
“I think as you’re kind of moving forward, each year is new. It’s not an encore; it’s a new set. It’s a new group. But what I do love about this group, I think, we’ve got a deep crew and we’re going to row hard. We’ve got depth at defensive line. We’ve got depth at linebacker. We’ve got depth at safety. And we’ve got some guys that can really go. So by pushing that tempo and pace and how we want to go and play and be physical, I think we’ve got the ballhawking mentality. I think we’ve just got to keep pushing that standard of what we want to do together, and that’s what I’ve seen through training camp. And that’s why heading into this week I am so excited, because I think what we can become now, like most things, you’ve got to go prove it. And it doesn’t happen in one week or two weeks. It’s going to be over the long haul. But I think this is showing that they can be a crew that can get it for the long haul.”
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