With the hiring of Christian Parker as defensive coordinator, the Cowboys are ushering in a new era defensively. With Parker’s arrival, the Cowboys are now transitioning from a 4-3 to a 3-4 base defense. We’ve already seen changes take place with the Cowboys trading away Osa Odighizuwa to the San Francisco 49ers. Odighizuwa, a penetrating defensive tackle, seemingly doesn’t fit in with Parker’s vision for the new defensive front and thus was traded away. That’s a major and telling example of pieces having to fit, which is very understandable. The change in defensive philosophy demands different tasks and roles out of your personnel, particularly in the front seven.
With the new change, Dallas will need to find players to fit the system. Edge rushers now need to be dynamic enough to rush the passer but also effective enough to play in space when asked to. Defensive tackles need to hold up at the point of attack and occupy blockers. All of that makes sense. However, what doesn’t is how the Cowboys are handling Marist Liufau.
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When Liufau was drafted in the third round in 2024, there was a lot to like about his game. He was big, he could play sideline to sideline, and he had the tenacity to take on blockers. Yet, in his first two seasons in the NFL, Liufau never separated himself from the other linebackers on the roster. As to why is anyone’s guess, but a good estimate could be the revolving door at defensive coordinator since Liufau joined the Cowboys. Mike Zimmer was the defensive coordinator in 2024, and for that time, Liufau had a respectable rookie campaign. He posted 50 combined tackles for 1.5 sacks and had four tackles for loss with only one missed tackle that year. Last season with Matt Eberflus at the helm, the defense was a disaster.
Amidst a dreadful defensive performance as a team, Liufau saw his playing time sharply decline to only playing 18% of the defensive snaps. Granted, Liufau took a big step backward in his second season, but everyone did. It’s very discouraging that Liufau didn’t get more playing time when you realize how poor the linebacker unit was, particularly for the Cowboys last season. Now in year three, Liufau has had three defensive coordinators in as many years and has been tasked with making the biggest change of his career thus far.
The Cowboys are now asking Liufau to change positions and play outside linebacker. On one end, it seems like the Cowboys are looking for a place to make Liufau most successful. On the other hand, it appears that the team doesn’t know what to do with him. Asking Liufau to have such a dynamic role, which would also include rushing the passer, seems like a lot to expect. He doesn’t have much experience as a pass rusher and will have to develop a repertoire of pass rush moves overnight to become a positive contributor. Liufau, being the team player that he is, is embracing the role and invested in making the very best of it, but the question is, why are they making the change in the first place?
It’s obvious that the Cowboys are looking for answers at inside linebacker, having pursued former Philadelphia Eagle Nakobe Dean, who passed on reuniting with Parker and signed with the Las Vegas Raiders. The Cowboys also have been rumored to be doing their due diligence on Patrick Queen. The Cowboys turning their nose up at the opportunity to give Liufau a chance to thrive in that role doesn’t add up.
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He could also be useful as an interior rusher on blitzes, as he has recorded a quarterback pressure on 12% of blitzes thus far. At one point, the team entrusted him with the green dot to relay the defensive calls, a sign of his football intelligence. Dallas changing course so dramatically on a player who they still have under contract through 2027 is puzzling. Who knows? They may reconsider after the draft, and once free agency dries up, Dallas does what seems more rational. A position change comes off less like the start of a new beginning and more like the beginning of the end for Liufau in Dallas.
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