Film room: Breaking down safety Malik Hooker, how he could fit in Cowboys’ defense - The Dallas Morning News

bontereng.blogspot.com

What’s better than one safety coming off a season-ending Achilles injury?

Apparently, the Dallas Cowboys front office believes the answer is “two,” as the Dallas Morning News’ own Michael Gehlken reported that the team is “prepared to sign” free agent safety Malik Hooker — who missed most of last season after tearing his Achilles, just like current starting free safety Damontae Kazee. Coach Mike McCarthy further confirmed the Cowboys’ interest in Hooker on Sunday.

Obvious snark aside, it’s quite difficult to take umbrage with signing Hooker, as it presents low risk yet high-upside potential for the Cowboys franchise.

Hooker has dealt with a litany of injuries thus far in his short NFL career, and you’d be idiotic to not question how much those injuries have taken their toll on Hooker’s body, athleticism and mindset. Since 2016, Hooker has had a double sports hernia, torn labrum, torn ACL, torn MCL and a torn meniscus in addition to the torn Achilles that ended his season last year.

If those injuries have, in fact, taken their toll, making Hooker look like a shell of his former self, then the Cowboys can just part ways with the former 15th overall pick before the season and be no worse for wear. However, if Hooker is fully recovered from his torn Achilles and has retained the top-flight athleticism that made him a top pick, then this has a chance to pay off in a big way for the Cowboys.

It’s easy to see why defensive coordinator Dan Quinn would want to give Hooker a shot, as the former Colts safety fits the mold of the single-high safety that’s commonplace in Quinn’s Cover 1 (man coverage with a deep safety roaming the middle) and Cover 3 (three-deep zone coverage) heavy scheme. This is a very important position because the entire scheme is predicated on funneling the receivers toward the free safety (as long as the receiver is inside the “divider”), as the free safety is free to roam and provide help to any targets over the deep middle.

When healthy Hooker has been one of the best deep safeties in coverage, showing excellent range and ball skills to go with improving processing ability. During his healthiest season (2018), Hooker had the second-best forced incompletion rate, per Pro Football Focus (PFF). Hooker’s range enables him to widen his sphere of influence on deep passes. Instead of just locking down the deep space between the hashes, Hooker’s speed and anticipation enabled him to affect downfield passes as wide as the numbers, which is a huge benefit to the defense scheme-wise.

In addition, Hooker has displayed top-notch ball skills both in college and the pros, which would be a welcome change to Dallas’ secondary in recent years. I think Xavier Woods got too much flack during his time as Dallas’ starting free safety previously, but even I was frustrated with how many turnover opportunities Woods allowed to slip out of his grasp. Hooker shouldn’t have that same problem, making sure to make the offenses pay when presenting him with turnover opportunities.

The problem is that Hooker’s durability issues have prevented him from building any momentum in the development process, which has led to some stagnation in recent seasons and questions as to whether he’ll ever become that elite safety he was on track to become.

It’s also important to note that even if Hooker returns to his previous form, there are still areas that need improvement. Notably, Hooker isn’t the most impactful run defender, which you can live with from a free safety since they’re not typically a part of the run fit, and has had some issues in the tackling department as well.

In addition, Hooker’s presence provides the Cowboys with a potential Plan B at free safety if Damontae Kazee doesn’t quite look up to the task coming off his own torn Achilles, or gets injured at some point during the season.

One interesting subplot to Hooker signing with the Cowboys is special teams. Hooker has never been a prolific special-teamer thus far in his NFL career, and if he can’t beat out Kazee straight up for the free safety gig, it may be difficult to justify Hooker’s spot on the 53-man roster if he can’t figure out a way to make an impact on special teams.

No matter how you slice it, however, signing Hooker makes all the sense in the world. He’s a big-time talent and a perfect scheme fit who will sign for minimal money. It’s honestly surprising that another team hadn’t gambled on Hooker yet, but fans should be happy that the Cowboys did.

Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

Adblock test (Why?)

"fit" - Google News
July 26, 2021 at 09:00PM
https://ift.tt/3zDvrFu

Film room: Breaking down safety Malik Hooker, how he could fit in Cowboys’ defense - The Dallas Morning News
"fit" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2SpPnsd
https://ift.tt/3aP4lys

Bagikan Berita Ini