Dorance

Armstrong

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport observed the incident, noting Williams “planted his left foot [and] grabbed immediately for the back of his left knee” before going down. The Cowboys’ defensive line lost multiple high-impact contributors from the 2023 unit, including EDGEs Dante Fowler Jr. (18.3 percent) and Dorance Armstrong (12.9 percent) who followed former defensive coordinator Dan Quinn to the Washington Commanders this offseason. Both players finished top four on the team in QB pressure rate. The Cowboys starting defensive lineup is chock-full of elite players but the pass-rush depth is evaporating.

Armstrong, with 16 sacks for the Dallas defense since the start of the 2022 season, joins former Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn — now Washington’s head coach. Armstrong could be a major help for a Commanders pass rush graded by PFF as the league’s seventh worst in 2023. Washington’s 16.8 percent pressure rate ranked 32nd last season and only six teams had fewer sacks than the Commanders. Armstrong should step in as a full time player after playing about half the snaps last season in Dallas.

We don’t know about the specifics of this deal for Armstrong, but the six-year vet has spent his entire career in Dallas and has totaled 16 sacks since 2022. While the sack totals aren’t elite, Armstrong has played on less than 50 percent of the Cowboys defensive snaps over the last two years and has had to compete with sack artist Micah Parsons. Armstrong’s familiarity with the defensive scheme run by head coach Dan Quinn and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. should make for a seamless transition to the Commanders.

That’s a decent amount of coin for a player with 7.5 career sacks, but five of them came last season and the Cowboys are severely undermanned at defensive end after losing Randy Gregory to the Broncos. They are betting on an ascending player who does not turn 25 until June to take another step forward in 2022. The money is definitely emblematic of some competition on the open market, so that can’t be only the Cowboys’ assessment. Expect Armstrong’s snaps to increase on last year’s 507.

Wideout Malik Turner will make his season debut after opening the year on injured reserve. He’ll likely be glued to a special teams role out the gates.

Armstrong (6’4/257) turned pro after three years as a Jayhawk, tallying 34 career tackles for loss and 15 sacks but slumping to 9 TFLs and 1.5 sacks as a 2017 junior following a monster sophomore campaign. Scouts attributed the downturn to a scheme change which asked Armstrong to set the edge more than attack. Although Armstrong ran slower than expected (4.87) in Indy, he shined in agility drills, confirming the twitched-up quickness Armstrong won with in the Big 12. A relentless edge player, Armstrong offers sneaky three-down potential as a talented run defender and pass rusher.