Clowney led the Cowboys with 8.5 sacks last season, as Dallas was tied for 24th with just 35 games.
Over the past four seasons, Parsons produced at least 12 sacks per season and led the Cowboys in sacks in each campaign. In 2020, Lawrence was the team captain.
In 2026, a cast that will likely be led by Rashan Gary, Donovan Ezeiruaku, rookie first baseman Malachi Lawrence, James Houston and Sam Williams looks to improve on those numbers while using a it-takes-a-village approach.
“I really think it’s more of a unit,” Schottenheimer said. “And that’s what we’re excited about with the depth we feel we have.”
On paper, Gary would be the hopeful leader. He was a 2024 Pro Bowler with the Green Bay Packers and is a 2019 first-round pick acquired in a trade this offseason. However, he has never reached double-digit sacks in a season, and his individual performance last year with the Packers was oddly emblematic of the Cowboys’ team performance.
Gary had 7.5 sacks in 2025, but none after Week 8. That, of course, includes the last three games of the season, which were after Parsons’ injury. Thus, he struggled a lot without Parsons, just like Dallas did.
Malachi Lawrence was a surprise pick at 23rd overall. Houston, who had eight sacks as a rookie with the Detroit Lions in 2022, hasn’t totaled that many in three seasons, though he did have 5.5 last year for the Boys. Williams was only suspended last season for 17 games after missing all of 2024 with an injury. And Ezeiruaku, a 2025 player, collected just two sacks in 17 games as a rookie.
The potential is great, but the production is lacking and a star absent.
With Christian Parker joining the fray as defensive coordinator, though, a pass rusher with a proven track record is offered. For the past two seasons, Parker was a defensive assistant for the arch-rival Philadelphia Eagles, who won NFC East titles and Super Bowl LIX during that time. Philly achieved that success in part by using a defense where passes came from everywhere. Neither of the last two Eagles squads had a pass rush of more than eight sacks, but pressure was and still is wins.
The end result for Dallas in 2026 was a 7-9-1 record with much of the blame at the feet of a defense that ranked 31st in points allowed.
Making up for those lackluster numbers will be additions, including from the pass rush.