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NFL playoffs throw a wrench into the Dallas Cowboys’ search for a new defensive coordinator – A to Z Sports, Mauricio Rodriguez
The Cowboys defensive coordinator search may have to wait some more.
The NFL playoffs just threw a wrench into the Dallas Cowboys’ search for a new defensive coordinator.
After an intense matchup between the Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills that went to overtime, one of their perceived top candidates will be unavailable for hire for at least one more week.
With the Broncos beating the Bills 33-30 in overtime, Broncos pass game coordinator Jim Leonhard will continue to coach in the postseason, which means he can’t be hired by the Cowboys nor any other team. Leonhard is one of the nine known candidates for the defensive coordinator opening in Dallas, and he’s seen as one of the favorites.
If the Cowboys want to move quick, they’ll have to hire someone not named Leonhard, however. The Broncos will play the winner of tomorrow’s matchup between the Houston Texans and New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.
Cowboys insider Bobby Belt said earlier in the week he thought Leonhard would be the team’s pick for defensive coordinator. However, you can expect him to be a contested target, starting with a division rival.
Gabe Jacas is my quiet favorite edge fit for the 2026 Cowboys – Cody Warren, Inside the Star
This edge talent would be a sneaky-good pickup for the Cowboys in the draft.
Every draft, there’s one player I end up defending more than anyone else. This year, that player is Gabe Jacas, and he’s quietly one of my favorite EDGE fits for the Dallas Cowboys. Jacas is not perfect, but I can already see how he would be used on Sundays. He isn’t showing up on a lot of highlight reels, he’s not a guy people argue about on draft night.
But, when you actually watch him play, you start to understand why he keeps winning snaps. Jacas plays strong, stays disciplined, and finishes more reps than he loses. Those types of traits matter more than flash once the season grind ends. What I like most is how his game could translate to the NFL. He is not built on one move or pure speed. If you watch him, he wins with leverage, timing, and all out effort.
Why He Makes Sense for Dallas
Dallas has always been best when the defensive line plays downhill and attacks. I see Jacas fitting that mindset because he wants to get upfield, make contact early, and force quarterbacks to move. He is not a player you ask to read the backfield or play in space. You let this man do what he does best, play forward and play physical. This is a player who doesn’t need to be featured to be effective. He is a lunch pale player who comes to work every snap. Jacas is comfortable being part of a unit, not the headlines. For a Cowboys team that already has interior talent capable of drawing attention, that is a good thing.
How He Fits Up Front
The next Cowboys defensive coordinator could put Jacas next to the outstanding interior players on this team. Quinnen Williams, Kenny Clark, and Osa Odighizuwa will make this young man’s job simpler. Guards and centers will be busy, which leaves tackles on islands, and Jacas knows how to take advantage of that situation. Now, if you were to balance him with a speed presence off the other edge like a Donovan Ezeiruku, protections get uncomfortable. Slide one way, you’re exposed somewhere else. That is how pressure is supposed to work. Jacas isn’t chasing sacks on every snap, he will be collapsing space, closing escape lanes, and forcing hurried throws. Those plays add up, even if the box score doesn’t always show it.
Cowboys legend on coaching trajectory that could lead back to Dallas – Ben Grimaldi, Cowboys Wire
All-time Cowboys great may be making a pitstop in Norman before coming home to the Cowboys.
While Dallas Cowboys fans are busy being invested in searching for their next defensive coordinator, many might have missed that one of the team’s former players continue to rise in the coaching ranks. A tight end who played 16 seasons for the Cowboys and built a likely Hall of Fame career, Jason Witten was recently named as the new TE coach at Oklahoma. The new gig is the second coaching stop for Witten, but his first in the college ranks. The franchises all-time leading receiver led Liberty Christian School to back-to-back high school Texas state championships in 2023 and 2024, beginning his ascension in the coaching world.
Last year, when the Cowboys were looking for a new head coach, Witten’s success at the Texas area high school made him a name that was brought up as a possibility to lead the NFL’s most recognized team. Although it was highly unlikely the Cowboys and Jerry Jones would hire a coach with no real coaching experience at a top level of competition, Witten was mentioned because of Jones’ affinity for his former player. It would have been a tough sell for Jones to hire Witten, who hadn’t had any real experience beyond high school. The Cowboys simply weren’t hiring someone without college or NFL coaching experience, and Witten was never a realistic candidate.
However, things can change quickly, and Witten’s new coaching job might help him be on the fast track to being the Cowboys’ head man one day. The first step is as a position coach at a high level FBS school, a box he checks with the Sooners. Now, Witten can work his way up quickly and be in line for bigger coaching jobs as time passes. With how college and NFL teams are currently operating, it doesn’t take long for former players to find their way into large profile head coaching jobs.
Cowboys 2025 rookie report: Reviewing Donovan Ezeiruaku-Mike Poland, Blogging the Boys
Assessing Dallas’ rookie edge rusher.
All year long we’ve looked at the rookie class and given previews and reviews on each player for every game of the season. Now let’s look back the season in its entirety and breakdown each rookie and how they performed. Let’s continue with second-round defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku.
Season stats – Snaps: 603, Total Tackles: 40, Total Pressures: 36, QB Hits: 12, Sacks: 2, Tackles for loss: 9, Forced Fumbles: 1, Safeties: 1, Penalties: 2
Donovan Ezeiruaku’s rookie year with the Cowboys was mostly what you’d hope for from a second-round edge rusher with some interesting production, real flashes of star potential, and a few rough edges that remind you he’s only 22. On the stat line, he finished the season with 40 total tackles, two sacks (which should have been three) and nine tackles for loss across all 17 games. He handled a genuine starter’s workload, playing on over 600 defensive snaps, good for more than half of Dallas’ defensive plays up front. That level of usage and steady involvement already says a lot.
Where he really pops is in the advanced numbers. PFF’s grading had him 73.1 overall by the end of the year, consistently ranking as one of the top rookie defenders in the league, and listing him as having the second-highest overall grade of any rookie rookie edge rushers from the 2025 draft. As a pass rusher he showed just how efficient he was with a pass-rush win rate that led the entire rookie edge class at 28%, plus the second-most quarterback hits totaling 12 hits. He was also credited with 24 defensive stops, again best among rookie edges, and an outstanding 88.8 run-defense grade in November when he briefly paced all edge rushers in that category. Put simply, the sack total stayed modest, but the underlying pressure and run disruption were absolutely real.
Early in the year, Ezeiruaku was all about near-misses with hits and hurries but without the finish, as quarterbacks got the ball out quickly behind a shaky Cowboys secondary. His first sack finally came in October against Washington, and both of his official sacks this season were classic moments of how he can win one-on-ones with relentlessness and energy. More than the sacks, though, he showed a complete profile in how he could bend the corner off the edge, convert speed to power into tackles and tight ends, and hold up against the run instead of being a boom-or-bust pass-rush specialist.
Category: General Sports
