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Factoid

Interception-poor Cowboys

Secondary has hands like feet

The Cowboys have been in the market for a safety. They were apparently chasing after Earl Thomas for the better part of a year, though nothing happened with that one. They had Eric Berry in for a visit. And yesterday they signed former Viking George Iloka.

It's a step in the right direction. Iloka had a pair of 3-interception seasons for the Bengals before joining Minnesota last year. If he can bring some of that ability to the Cowboys, it will have been a worthwhile signing.

Dallas has to do something with their secondary, whose lack of opportunism has been a drag on their fantasy appeal for years. They haven't had a season with more than 10 interceptions in any of the last four seasons. They're one of two teams that can say that, and not surprisingly, those are the two teams who rank at the bottom of the league in total interceptions over that span.

TEAM INTERCEPTIONS, 2015-2018
Team15161718Tot
Kansas City2218161571
Carolina2417101364
Buffalo1712181663
Cincinnati2117111261
NY Giants1517131661
LA Chargers1118181360
Philadelphia1516191060
LA Rams1310181859
Miami131692159
Baltimore618221258
Denver1414101755
New England1213121855
Washington1113161555
Arizona191415755
Pittsburgh171316854
Minnesota1314141253
Indianapolis178131553
Chicago8882751
Houston1411111551
Seattle1411141251
Green Bay161711751
NY Jets188111350
New Orleans99201250
Atlanta151281550
Tampa Bay111713950
Oakland141651449
Jacksonville97211148
Tennessee1112121146
Cleveland111071745
Detroit91019745
Dallas8910936
San Francisco91010231

With those low interception totals, Dallas hasn't ranked higher than 17th in fantasy defense in any of those four seasons (1 point for sacks, 2 for takeaways, 6 for touchdowns). That's despite generally having an above-average pass rush.

Will Iloka help? Well, he couldn't hurt, although Thomas (28 career interceptions in 125 games) would have been a bigger help in that area. Won't be surprising if the Cowboys look to their secondary early in the NFL Draft.

--Andy Richardson

Fantasy Index