Trading Osa Odighizuwa feels like a mistake for Cowboys

"New defensive coordinator Christian Parker comes from a scheme that makes heavy use of the penny front, which uses five-man fronts to overwhelm and confuse offensive lines. With the trio of defensive tackles - Odighizuwa, Williams, and Kenny Clark - the Cowboys had the perfect interior for that package."

"Even in four man fronts, Odighizuwa has shown the positional flexibility in the past to still be an every down player. In four man base packages, Odighizuwa would have been an ideal big EDGE on the strong side, the type of player Vic Fangio has used - with the Eagles and other organizations - to help protect his nickel, freeing them up to fill against the run."

"Odighizuwa has also been a consistently good player. Since coming into the league, he's had three different defensive coordinators in five seasons and never finished with fewer than three sacks or 38 pressures. Each of the last two years, both of which saw Odighizuwa learning a new scheme, he finished top five among interior defenders in pressures."

The Dallas Cowboys traded away defensive tackles Osa Odighizuwa and Solomon Thomas. Solomon Thomas's trade made strategic sense given his limited playing time at 37.85% of defensive snaps, which declined after the Quinnen Williams acquisition. Odighizuwa's departure was more surprising, as he was expected to be a starter and key contributor. New defensive coordinator Christian Parker employs a penny front scheme using five-man fronts. Odighizuwa, alongside Williams and Kenny Clark, formed an ideal interior trio for this package. Odighizuwa demonstrated positional flexibility in four-man fronts as a strong-side EDGE or in nickel packages. Throughout his career, Odighizuwa maintained consistent production across three different coordinators, never recording fewer than three sacks or 38 pressures annually, finishing top-five in interior defender pressures the past two seasons.

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