The Dallas Cowboys will always be one of the more talked about teams in the league no matter what happens. They’re coming off a year where they took control of the NFC East once again and won the division for the second time in three seasons under Jason Garrett. Dak Prescott also won his first playoff game in January when they defeated the Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card Round. There was also another type of chatter surrounding the team, the future of “Tank”, better known as Demarcus Lawrence. He was already franchised for the 2018 season (you all should know how I feel about the franchise tag by now) after a breakout year in 2017 where he was second in sacks behind Chandler Jones. Today, the Cowboys decided to reward him with a contract extension of five years and $105 million.
Tank has been the Cowboys best defensive player pretty much since he was drafted by the team. The guy can do it all and he can keep an offensive lineman on his heels throughout the game. There are many defensive ends that rush the passer with a lot of energy and no plan but will use their ability, but that isn’t Tank. Number 90 has a ton of ability with a plan behind how he rushes the passer. What I mean is he’ll use special moves to get by and continue to use them as the game goes on. He can get around you with the speed on the outside, he can plant the foot to the left, cut inside to the right to wreak havoc, he can stunt meaning he can run one way and act as if he’s pulling similar to what offensive lineman do and he can power rush. There’s one move he does, and the opposition never seems to have an answer for it. He does a “double swipe dip move” where he can get low, freezes the tackle trying to defend him and swipes him then rips underneath and gets by. It clearly works for him! Every defensive lineman is different. Some like to bulrush, others like the swim move but hey, whatever works for you, right?
I’ll never forget a sack he made against the Seattle Seahawks in 2017. He used a simple bulrush on the right tackle, Russell Wilson saw it which forced him to escape out the pocket with his breakaway speed. Wilson spun once, he tried to spin again but it didn’t work the second time because Tank stayed on his uphill shoulder and sacked him for a loss of 22 yards. He doesn’t give up on the play which is how it should be. This is a huge signing for the Dallas Cowboys. I’m glad they were able to get him locked into a contract.
