Jay Ratliff is coming off his worst season with the Cowboys in 2012, in which he missed 10 of 16 games with injury and finished with just 16 tackles and no sacks--the first time he hasn’t recorded a sack since coming into the league in 2005--but Jerry Jones believes the former All-Pro is due to bounce back in a major way.
His reasoning: Ratliff will be better suited to playing defensive tackle in Monte Kiffin’s 4-3 than he ever was playing the nose.
“We think he is very sound physically,” Jones said, per the Dallas Morning News. “He will flourish, I emphasize ‘flourish,’ in this defensive scheme. He is a natural 3-technique. He is always highly-respected because he could play nose as well as he could with his forte being quickness, high agility, high motor. He is an integral part of what we’re doing. And I think he’s going to have an outstanding year. When you ask our coaches, they have nothing but positiveness as far as his contribution is concerned.”
Indeed, the Cowboys showed their confidence in Ratliff and the other members of the defensive front last week, when they went through the draft without selecting a single defensive linemen.
Of course, only time will tell if this confidence was warranted.
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