With Matt Eberflus in town, Osa Odighizuwa becomes most important free agent for Cowboys

After several days of speculation, the Cowboys made it official on Tuesday and hired former Bears head coach Matt Eberflus to be the new defensive coordinator under Brian Schottenheimer. We broke down the scheme that Eberflus will be bringing to Dallas, which you can read here, but there is one main takeaway from this hiring.

The Cowboys must prioritize Osa Odighizuwa among all other soon-to-be free agents.

Eberflus, who spent seven seasons in Dallas and five of them working under Rod Marinelli, brings the same Tampa 2 scheme with him that he learned under the longtime Cowboys defensive coordinator. And just like Marinelli, Eberflus has always placed an enormous importance on the 3-technique defensive tackle spot.

When Eberflus was first hired in Chicago, he explained the reason for valuing the position so much:

“We call it the engine that makes everything go because in the running game, you can’t run at the three and you can’t run away from him, so it’s hard to really dictate where you’re going to run the ball, number one, and it creates a lot of free lanes for your linebackers to run through in the run game,” Eberflus explained Tuesday at Halas Hall.

“But in the pass game, a lot of times when you have two of them, you have a three-technique and you have a defensive end opposite of him, it’s hard to move your line that way. He creates a lot of one-on-ones, and he’s typically overmatched on a guard. Typically your best offensive linemen are on the outside and if you have your best player on the inside, that’s certainly an advantage for you.”

Eberflus landed the Bears job after four strong years as the Colts defensive coordinator. He arrived in Indianapolis saying the same things, and after two seasons of alternating between journeyman veterans in Denico Autry, Margus Hunt, and Grover Stewart at the 3-technique, the Colts went out and traded for budding star DeForest Buckner. An immediate fit in the role, Buckner earned first team All-Pro honors his first season in Indianapolis and led the team in sacks each of the next two years.

When Eberflus got to Chicago, the Bears’ first free agency signing was Larry Ogunjobi, offering him a three-year deal worth $40.5 million and securing a top-tier 3-technique for their new head coach. A couple days later, Ogunjobi failed his physical and the offer was automatically voided.

Chicago pivoted to Justin Jones, another journeyman veteran. While not a game-wrecking presence, Jones played well his first year in Chicago, finishing second on the team in both pressures and sacks. He took a step back in 2023, which led to second year pro Gervon Dexter assuming the starting role in 2024; Dexter finished second in pressures and tied for the team lead in sacks.

Given how good the defenses have been under Eberflus, both in Indianapolis and Chicago, it’s easy to understand why the 3-technique is so vital to this scheme. And in Dallas, he already has a player with potential to be dominant in Odighizuwa.

The UCLA product possesses the ideal frame for the spot and has primarily served in a similar role all four years in Dallas. He’s never had fewer than three sacks in a given year, and just posted a career high seven despite seeing more work than usual as a run-stuffer in Mike Zimmer’s scheme. In fact, Odighizuwa just set career bests in sacks, pressures, hits, hurries, and tackles.

He posted a 15.1% pass rush win rate, third best in the league this year among interior defenders. It marked the third straight year Odighizuwa had a double digit pass rush win rate and his second straight year ranking in the top 10 in the metric. His 2024 season was so good that Pro Football Focus labeled him as the team’s secret superstar.

Of course, Odighizuwa’s rookie contract is set to expire, but Eberflus is no doubt going to be pounding the table for the Cowboys to bring him back. He may have even had that conversation already, considering Stephen Jones recently described Odighizuwa as a “priority” for the team. As should be the case, given Odighizuwa’s tremendous play thus far and his ideal fit in the most important role of this new defense under Eberflus. If the Cowboys can’t bring Odighizuwa back, it will just create a gaping hole on the roster that needs to be filled some other way.