JJT: Dallas Cowboys Defense Analysis

The Cowboys made a bevy of moves to reach the NFL-mandated deadline to cut their roster to 53 players. Here's my position-by-position analysis of the moves they made on the defensive side of the ball.

Defensive Line
Antwaun Woods started training camp fourth on the depth chart, but he kept making plays in practice and the preseason to earn a spot. Brian Price had a similar story, and they will both play nose guard in the Cowboys scheme. Each can be disruptive, a key for Rod Marinelli. DeMarcus Lawrence, Randy Gregory, Taco Charlton and Dorrance Armstrong, a fourth-round pick, will be good as pass-rushers. Charles Tapper, an oft-injured fourth-round pick from 2015, didn't make it. He's a practice squad contender.

Linebacker
This is one of the team's best units and Joe Thomas, who signed a two-year deal in the offseason, and first-round pick Leighton Vander Esch give the Cowboys depth they haven't had recently.

Defensive Back
Tyree Robinson, an undrafted free agent, beat out Jeron Johnson, who once played for Kris Richard in Seattle, for a safety spot. He'll get some playing time while Xavier Woods recovers from a strained hamstring. Chido Awuzie, Byron Jones, Jourdan Lewis and Anthony Brown give Dallas it's best quartet of cornerbacks in years based on their training camp performance.

Special Teams
The most shocking move the Cowboys' made involved cutting kicker Dan Bailey, the second-most accurate kicker in NFL history. Brett Maher may have excited the coaching staff with his 57-yard field goal in Saturday's 14-6 loss to Houston.

Maher also made a 41-yard goal against the Texans. He made four of five field goals in the preseason.

He's never made a regular-season field goal in an NFL game.