The NFL media is still buzzing about the blockbuster trade involving Micah Parsons. What the Dallas Cowboys got in return was Kenny Clark, a respectable three-time Pro Bowler who's going to be four years older than Parsons in October, and two first-rounders. Simply put, the Cowboys got fleeced, and it will be interesting to see how they recover.
On the Doin' Alright podcast, Cowboys podcaster and film analyst Voch Lombardi asserted that the defensive tackle depth was so bleak that Solomon Thomas was going to be one of the main guys to stop the run, and how that was never going to be enough to field a successful defense.
"This defensive tackle room was so bad that we were excited about Solomon Thomas ... In real life, Solomon Thomas ain't all that, but he was much better than Mazi, he was much better than any young guys. I think Kenny Clark is so much better than Solomon Thomas, so much better than Mazi Smith. Jay Toia is a rookie, but he's 330 or something like that, but (Clark) is so much better than him."
Kenny Clark trade exposes Cowboys' brutal Solomon Thomas plan
Lombardi added that without Clark, the Cowboys fanbase truly felt off about the group of defensive tackles, and in reality, how Thomas was just another guy on the team.
Thomas has played in 110 games over his eight-year career. He's a serviceable backup three-technique, but Dallas planned to start him at the one-tech before Clark's arrival. That was begging to end in disaster. While chiseled like a greek god, the 256-pound Thomas isn't built like a traditional interior defensive lineman.
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A lot of the noise this summer revolved around Mazi Smith's lack of development. Brian Schottenheimer offered a confusing explanation for keeping Smith on the roster, even though he admitted there've been inconsistencies with the former first-round pick. Jay Toia hasn't showed up quite yet, but seventh-round rookies aren't expected to hit the ground running.
Of course, the Parsons trade still looks like an "F" on paper. That is nothing against Clark, who's going to be a giant help against the run. It just exposes the fact that the Cowboys were about to depend on Thomas in what was an awful room of DTs behind Osa Odighizuwa before the trade.
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