Cowboys Think Crawford Could Break Out in 2014

Tyrone Crawford missed the 2013 season due to a torn achilles

Somewhat lost in all the defensive line shuffling of this offseason is third-year Boise State product Tyrone Crawford, who lost the entire 2013 season due to a torn achilles. But, suffice to say, the Cowboys have high hopes for him.

Before departing for the Washington Redskins in free agency this offseason, Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jason Hatcher raved about Crawford’s potential to owner and general manager Jerry Jones

“He said, ‘That guy is going to be a perennial All-Pro,’” Jones said, per the Dallas Morning News. “That’s Hatcher telling me about Crawford. He said, ‘He’s the real deal.’”

Crawford is an interesting case, because he doesn’t really have a defined position. He can play defensive end, he can play defensive tackle and, for obvious reasons, defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli is just fine with that. Marinelli said recently that he’d consider rotating him between the inside and the outside in 2014.

Crawford, for his part, is just glad to be back on the field.

“It feels good. I feel blessed to be back at almost 100 percent, running and being with the guys working out,” Crawford said. ... I feel like we’re going to surprise a lot of people with what we do this year. As a D-line, we have a lot of talent--a lot of talent people don’t know about.”

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