2012 NFL Draft: Dallas Cowboys Will Target Defense in First Round

Upon looking closely at the Dallas Cowboys, it is rather apparent that one side of the ball is closer than the other to being a contending unit in the NFL.

In only two seasons under Jason Garrett, either as offensive coordinator or head coach, has Dallas finished outside the top 10 in the league in total offense.

Last season saw a ranking of 11th and  there was a comparable raking of 13th in 2008. The Cowboys would finish 2010 ranked seventh in total offense marking the only season Dallas has finished inside the top 10 in total offense without making the playoffs.

But let's look at the other two seasons in which Garrett has been involved.

In 2007 Dallas reached a mark of 13-3 in clinching the top seed in the NFC playoffs. The Cowboys offense, still including Terrell Owens at wide receiver, would finish third in total offense.

Two seasons later, the Cowboys would finish with the second-ranked offense en route to their second NFC East title in three seasons.

Unlike 2007, when the Cowboys failed to win a playoff game, the 2009 counterpart would win a playoff game before bowing out in embarrassing fashion to Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings in the divisional round.

What this tells us is that the Dallas offense is pretty good, at least overall. In seasons in which the club finishes in the top five the Cowboys are an easy playoff team.

This is not to say that the offense is Super Bowl-ready or anything like that. As I said before, this offense is pretty good with the weaknesses being the offensive line the past few seasons. The skill positions feature Pro Bowl talent in all directions.

The same cannot be said for the defense—which has really collapsed over the last two seasons. Last season's ranking of 14th in total defense kept the Cowboys out of the playoffs with a .500 mark.

The 2010 ranking of 23rd included a franchise record 3,906 yards in the air given up and a pass defense that ranked 26th.

Now, the defense finished just below 10th in total defense the first three seasons post-Bill Parcells and, therefore, we can conclude that this side of the ball has performed well but certainly not recently.

The last two seasons have sounded alarms throughout Valley Ranch and the corrections are already underway.

Looking ahead to the 2012 NFL Draft next month, there should not be much question as to which side of the ball gets the love in the first round.

Two years ago it was wide receiver Dez Bryant being chosen with the first pick and this was followed by last year's historic first for owner Jerry Jones—the selection of an offensive tackle in Tyron Smith with the first pick.

Keep in mind that in 2009 Dallas had no first round pick, so it's hard to believe that corner back Mike Jenkins was the last defensive player chosen in the first round by America's Team. Even at that, Jenkins was still the second pick with running back Felix Jones selected a few spots prior as Dallas had two first round picks that year.

The last time the Cowboys went balls-to-the-wall defense in the draft was 2005 and it's time to re-arm this side of the ball which has gotten weaker and weaker as of late.

Free agency might have stocked the shelves a bit more for 2012 with the addition of corner back Brandon Carr, inside linebacker Dan Conner and safety Brodney Pool.

So the secondary has gotten a boost along with the inside linebacker corps that is now overhauled following the departure of veterans Bradie James and Keith Brooking.

This only leaves the deep end for the Cowboys to address. Fortunately the upcoming draft is considered unusually deep—with defensive linemen and various pass-rusher types that teams will be snatching up as soon as the top two quarterbacks are gone following the top two picks.

You know the names as well as I do, and any number of defensive players could be plugged in to the Dallas rotation of defensive ends.

But since there is no reason to believe that Quinton Coples, Michael Brockers or Devon Still are necessarily better than Jay Ratliff, there is no urgency for any of those players while there's an out-of-position Pro Bowler already on the roster at nose guard.

There's also talk of the Cowboys coveting any number of outside pass rushers like Courtney Upshaw, Whitney Mercilus or Melvin Ingram. But with DeMarcus Ware and recently franchised Anthony Spencer already in place for next season at outside linebacker, this idea doesn't make as much sense as it did a month ago.

Dallas could certainly continue bolstering the secondary with a corner like Dre Kirkpatrick or a safety like Mark Barron. But with both of those positions having been filled in March by Carr and Pool, it would seem like the Cowboys would make a more sensible selection in the first round.

Then again, Dallas did select Bobby Carpenter, a linebacker of some kind not-so-affectionately named Peppermint Patty by my own brother.

And yes, Carpenter is long gone as the last first round selection by former head coach Bill Parcells.

This is why names like David DeCastro don't compute with me. Offensive guard is not a pick you make in the top half of the first round, unless the guy has the potential to play tackle, which he absolutely does not.

Further, DeCastro's size really doesn't knock my socks off despite how highly regarded he is. Even if he's a Hall of Fame player, I still don't take that position mid-way through the first round.

The last two seasons have made the Cowboys a little defensive. You can see this in Jones when he speaks. 

I do believe that Jones will do something about that soon.