Dallas Cowboys fans and owner Jerry Jones want to see second-year linebacker Jaylon Smith play so bad they can’t stand it. The sideline-to-sideline linebacker was simply incredible to watch at Notre Dame before suffering a terrible leg injury in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl, which dropped him to the Cowboys in round two of the 2016 draft.
I think Charles Tapper is a player that is coming off a red-shirt rookie year who can also have an impact.
The former Oklahoma Sooners defensive end was drafted in the fourth round, ahead of 2016 NFL Rookie of the Year quarterback Dak Prescott. Tapper missed his rookie season due to a back issue that is most commonly called a "pars defect," a stress fracture in his L5 vertebra. Tapper attempted to return in September, but he wasn’t able to, and the defensive end landed on injured reserve.
He's recovered and said he is ready to play. Cowboys scouting guru Will McClay recently told dallascowboys.com Tapper is a player to be excited about.
"If he was in this year's draft, based on the measurable based on all the things people look at, he would have been considered in one of the top pass rushers," McClay said.
Dallas took Taco Charlton in this year's first round of the draft. I’m looking at Charlton and Tapper as players who can bring some pass rush this fall. If they can combine for 10 sacks I think the club will be thrilled.
McClay had more to say about Tapper.
"He's extremely explosive. Long arms. He ran a 4.5-something in the 40 at 270 pounds, and he's been around, and he knows what Rod (Marinelli) wants," McClay said.
