Good or bad, 2025 will go down as the year of franchise-changing trades for the Dallas Cowboys. Not since the days of Herschel Walker have the Cowboys so clearly altered their franchise trajectory by gambling big on controversial roster moves.

In the 11th hour, just before the 2025 NFL trade deadline, the Cowboys finalized a deal that would send Mazi Smith and a pair of high-pedigree draft picks to the New York Jets for star defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. It would mark the second DT the Cowboys have traded for this season and resulted in a roster consisting of three highly paid and well-regarded interior options. It’s a hilarious situation to be in since Dallas has historically struggled to field starting level talent on their interior defensive line and now they’re suddenly swimming in talent.

Now, after years of wandering in the desert, the Dallas Cowboys suddenly find themselves in the land of milk and honey. Their sudden DT riches give them more starting players than starting positions available. The only problem is as things stand in their current 4-3 scheme, only two interior positions exist. That’s why the addition of Williams begs for schematic adjustments on defense.

A return to an odd man front?

The terms odd-man and even-man front most simply speaks to the number of players on the line of scrimmage. At present date, the Cowboys run out of an even man front using two traditional DTs and two defensive ends. Known to most as a base 4-3, this defense is something Cowboys fans are well acquainted with. Sometimes one of the edge rushers is standing in a 2-point stance and sometimes he’s down in a 3-point stance — an unimportant distinction, really — all that matters is who’s on the line of scrimmage.

In an odd man front, defenses deploy three or five players to the line of scrimmage. Oftentimes the assignments are different for the interior lineman in a 3-4 than they are in a 4-3. They’re different in a way that fits the Cowboys’ current DT-rich roster.

Not all 3-4 defenses are alike, just like not all 4-3 defenses are alike. Bill Parcells typically played with a reactionary 2-gap 3-4 system in Dallas while Wade Philips preferred a 1-gap penetrating 3-4 defense. Different systems lean different ways but the shared constant is the size and strength required to play as one of the down three linemen.

For over a decade the Cowboys didn’t have those traits on their roster, so it was even man front or bust. But with Kenny Clark, Osa Odighizuwa and Williams, the Cowboys are perfectly equipped. Even without a true nose tackle on the roster, Dallas could very easily field a high-end front with all three posted in starting positions.

It’s a better edge for the Cowboys

Filling the Micah Parsons hole was always going to be an impossible task. Parsons, traded before the season, is a generational pass rusher who routinely creates something out of nothing. The Cowboys saw a significant falloff in sack production with him gone and have been scrambling to overcome. Even though Dallas has been happy with their collection of talent at DE, no one has been able to fill the shoes left by the All-Pro. So why not change the shoe entirely?

In an odd-man front, the Cowboys deploy two edge players to post up outside the interior three. To most Cowboys fans, this should spark memories of yesteryear, when DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer manned the edge. They were peak Dallas defensive years and something that now suddenly fits the Cowboys personnel once again.

Dallas’ edge players, namely Donovan Ezeiruaku and James Houston, are tailormade for edge roles in an odd man front. Both of these pass-rushers are smaller in size, more explosive in their movement and more flexible in their physical abilities than a traditional 4-3 DE and would be well served playing out of a more dynamic 3-4 edge role.

By changing the technique (aka lining up wide) they can dictate matchups and angles as pass rushers. A few more coverage responsibilities may be required but mostly in the form of shallow zones. It would put Dallas’ two best pure pass rushers in position to succeed and also play to the strengths of the Cowboys’ sudden riches at DT.

It’s not that drastic

People throw around 3-4 and 4-3 like they’re massive shifts is design and responsibility but the reality is they can be as similar or as dissimilar as the coach and scheme wants them to be. Assignments are what’s important and an odd man shift could be met with a slow transition in those assignments.

It’s also worth mentioning again, in many odd man fronts, the interior three can be every bit the playmakers those edge players are. J.J. Watt famously played an interior three player in Phillips’ scheme, and he built a Hall of Fame career out of it. Odighizuwa could play just as much 1-gap and see just as many opportunities as he’s getting now as a 3-tech DT in Dallas’ 4-3.

It’s all just something to consider in the bye week as the Cowboys try to adapt to their new personnel. It’s an ideal way to get their top defensive linemen on the field together and it doesn’t mess with coverage assignments too much to make it happen.

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