The Cowboys could certainly use some more pass rush help these days.
The Dallas Cowboys improved to 2-2 last week against the New York Giants, but it came with a cost. All-Pro Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence, the team’s best edge rushers, both went down with injuries. The former will likely be back after the bye week, but the latter may not see action again until the middle of November at the earliest. So, the counter these losses, the Cowboys signed K.J. Henry on Tuesday to help out with the depth behind rookie Marshawn Kneeland and Chauncey Golston, who will see an uptick in play, and veteran Carl Lawson, who was called up last week.
Henry was a fifth-round pick of the Washington Commanders in 2023. He was released in August and then landed on the practice squad of the Cincinnati Bengals last month, which is where the Cowboys got him from. This isn’t a signing that moved the needle, but Dallas needs bodies on the edge desperately. Speaking of bodies, and this is no disrespect to Henry, the Cowboys should still add one more to ensure some depth, and veteran Yannick Ngakoue would be a nice plug in.
Just like Henry was in Cincinnati, Ngakoue is now on the practice squad of the Baltimore Ravens as of September 24. Getting edge help via the practice squad is the route team owner Jerry Jones said the Cowboys were going to take when it came to adding help on the edge instead of making a trade or anything of that nature. Ngakoue is a former third-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2016. After eight sacks as a rookie, Ngakoue was named to the Pro Bowl in 2017 after he amassed 12 sacks and led the league in forced fumbles with six. He’s played in 123 games with 115 starts. Ngakoue has also been a very productive player as well with 69 sacks, 142 quarterback hits, and 21 forced fumbles. Also, the 2023 season was the first time Ngakoue didn’t log at least eight sacks.
Ngakoue has bounced around the league over the last half decade as he’s has stints with the Minnesota Vikings, Las Vegas Raiders, Indianapolis Colts, Chicago Bears, and he’s currently on his second run with the Ravens. However, at the moment, he could come in and have more of an impact that Henry strictly due to experience and the fact that he’s just a better option despite being 29 years old.
The loss of Parsons as an edge rusher and Lawrence as arguably the league’s best run defending edge will be missed no matter what. Ngakoue being added would be some good veteran insurance for the Cowboys and give them a proven guy in the rotation for the remainder of the season.