Shavon Revel Jr. #27 of the Dallas Cowboys will be a big challenge for new DC Christian Parker.
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Shavon Revel Jr. #27 of the Dallas Cowboys will be a big challenge for new DC Christian Parker.
Let’s face it, no matter what new Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker does from now until the season opens in September, no matter how many times he mentions Stoic philosophers or displays admirable confidence about his ability to do the job of coordinator, his success in this new endeavor of his will come down to his ability to fix Dallas’s secondary. Maybe, even specifically, rookie Shavon Revel.
Parker, who was introduced with a press conference at The Star on Thursday, was a secondary coach with the Eagles and Broncos, after all, and he comes to the Cowboys with a reputation for getting the most out of his cornerbacks and safeties. His work with the likes of Patrick Surtain, Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell are a big part of his resume.
The Cowboys rated as having the worst secondary in the NFL last season. They allowed 4,276 yards passing, which was 32nd in the NFL, and gave up 35 passing touchdowns, which was 31st. At Pro Football Focus, they were graded out with a 30.9 mark in coverage, which was dead last.
Shavon Revel Struggled Badly After Injury Return
OK, so Parker’s task with the Cowboys is clear. But the first thing to do will be to get some better players in the building–or, at least, figure out how to get more out of the players on hand. While Trevon Diggs is gone, DaRon Bland has star capability but was battered by injuries the past two years. Getting him back on track will be a matter for the doctors and the training staff.
But one player who clearly has Parker’s attention is third-round draft pick Shavon Revel, who missed the first 10 games of the season as he recovered from knee surgery during his senior year at East Carolina, then came back to play the final seven games. When he did play, Revel brought a deer-in-headlights aura to the field.
Revel allowed a whopping 126.1 quarterback rating when he was targeted last year. PFF rated him the No. 112 out of 112 corners in the league.
Shavon Revel Not a Lost Cause for the Cowboys
But Parker said he does not think Revel is a lost cause for the Cowboys.
Asked about repairing the secondary with the players on the roster, Parker said: “I definitely evaluated [Shavon] Revel last year in the draft process. I had one of his teammates at Denver in Ja’Quan McMillian at [East Carolina], so I had a little bit of intel there. But his ability to erase receivers in press coverage, he’s very aggressive in run support, and he has the long speed and athletic traits you want at the position.
“Obviously, coming off the injury, getting him healthy is a significant part of that and having the confidence to do so.”
Cowboys ‘Aligned’ on How to Rebuild 2026 Defense
Indeed, that’s been the stance of the Cowboys, too, from coach Brian Schottenheimer to owner Jerry Jones. One of the encouraging things to come out of the press conference to introduce Parker on Thursday was the frequency with which he used the word “alignment,” a sign that he is in lockstep with the rest of the staff–when to comes to teaching, to scheme, to Shavon Revel and other players.
Said Parker: “When we initially started this process, you could tell there was an aligned vision for what they wanted in the position, where we wanted to go forward. Obviously, a great deal of respect for, not only the organization but the players involved on the team, having been in the division and going against them at different times.
“The biggest thing was the alignment, you could feel from everybody in the building that there was a shared vision and people wanted to move forward in the right direction.”