(Editor's Note: With the Dallas Cowboys heading into the April 25-26 NFL Draft with 11 picks, DallasCowboys.com's 12-part Draft Series will break down the Cowboys position by position, analyzing what they have at the particular position, what their needs are and just who might be available, along with including some interesting draft nuggets. Part 1 will feature defensive tackles.)

IRVING, Texas - As with just about any player the Cowboys pick later this month, a defensive tackle would be hard-pressed to crack the starting lineup.

It can't be considered a great position of need since the Cowboys only play one at a time in their 3-4 base defense. But that one person certainly has a huge bearing on how productive the linebackers play, needing the ability to hold up blockers so they can roam free. Given the physical toll offensive linemen put on nose tackles each snap, the Cowboys could use a player they feel comfortable starting in a pinch.

What They Have: Coming off his first Pro Bowl appearance, and just one season into the five-year contract extension he signed in 2007, Jay Ratliff isn't going anywhere. He'll continue to take the majority of snaps in the middle of the Cowboys' three-man line, and again be expected to provide the nice push on pass plays he did in 2008. The Cowboys defensive staff credited Ratliff with a team-high 31 quarterback hurries last year, along with 7.5 sacks and 83 tackles, numbers they would gladly accept again in 2009.

Behind Ratliff the position gets thin. Defensive tackle Junior Siavii is back with the team after being let go in the final cuts last summer. The 6-5, 320-pound 30-year-old impressed coaches with his play in training camp and the preseason, but the presence of Tank Johnson made him expendable. A second-round pick of Kansas City in 2004, Siavii hasn't played in the NFL the last three seasons, but coach Wade Phillips recently expressed confidence he and fellow veteran pickup Tim Anderson could spell Ratliff.

Anderson was a third-round pick for Buffalo in 2004, playing there for four seasons before spending 2007 in Atlanta. He was out of football in 2008, and only played a combined nine games between 2006 and 2007. Still, at 6-3, 325 pounds and just 28-years-old, he could be able to push for a roster spot.

What They Need: The Cowboys signed Johnson to a two-year deal just before the 2007 season and waited for him to serve an eight-game suspension before adding him to the lineup. He wasn't outstanding in his first year with the club, but didn't have a training camp or other practice with the team to fall back on, and expectations were higher for him in 2008. As the year went along though, Johnson never became the playmaker the Cowboys hoped they were getting. One coach said he routinely blew assignments and took offense to instruction in meetings, and the Cowboys did not even offer him an extension before he became a free agent in late February.

The Cowboys could use a defensive tackle who is the polar opposite of Johnson - one willing to maintain his gap responsibilities and keep blockers off the linebackers, and humble enough to realize he's not going to be a starter. Siavii and Anderson might be interesting guys to have for a look-see in camp, but when players go whole years at a time without playing it doesn't speak well for their NFL futures.

By adding a rookie defensive tackle with one of their first few picks, the Cowboys would ideally be bringing in a player worthy of 15-20 snaps a game. That would be plenty of rest for Ratliff, who's smallish for a nose tackle, thus begging questions about his ability to hold up against the run.

Who's Out There: Boston College offers two of the best interior defensive linemen in this class. Stumpy space-eater B.J. Raji is considered out of the Cowboys' reach, likely to go in the first half of round one, but his teammate Ron Brace could be there when the Cowboys go on the clock for the 51st overall pick. Brace (6-3, 330) isn't used to playing in a 3-4, but has all the requisite size for the job, and he and Raji were a formidable run-stopping duo for the Eagles in 2008.

The tricky part of drafting nose tackles is finding players with enough size, but who are more than mere blobs and have the ability to make plays on occasion. Players like LSU's Ricky Jean-Francois (6-3, 295), Georgia's Corey Irvin (6-3, 301) and Georgia Tech's Darryl Richard (6-3, 303) are likely mid-rounders who might traditionally be considered borderline 3-4 options. Phillips' scheme has made productive options out of smaller players before though, like Ratliff, a seventh-round pick out of Auburn in 2005. Missouri's Evander "Ziggy" Hood (6-3, 300) is in that mold as well, but he may be off the board before the Cowboys pick.

Some of the more prototypical nose tackles in the 2009 class include Dorell Scott, a 6-3, 312-pounder from Clemson, or Marlon Favorite (6-1, 314) from LSU. There are a few players from smaller schools the Cowboys could look at as well, like Chris Baker (6-2, 326) out of Hampton, Terrance Knighton (6-3, 321) of Temple or Stillman's Sammie Lee Hill (6-4, 329).

Draft Nuggets: USC defensive tackle Fili Moala (6-4, 305), viewed as a prospect for the middle rounds, is the cousin of Ravens defensive lineman Haloti Ngata . . . Raji missed the entire 2007 season because of academic troubles . . . First-round Ole Miss tackle Peria Jerry said he grew up a Cowboys fan and will root for the Cowboys . . . In high school Brace was a back-to-back Massachusetts state champion in the shot put . . . Baker was president of his high school's senior class . . . Hill and two teammates rescued a man from a burning building in August 2007.

Look Back: Following the loss of longtime starters Chad Hennings (retirement) and Leon Lett (free agency), the Cowboys addressed the position in the 2001 draft by picking three defensive tackles. First they grabbed Mississippi State's Willie Blade with a compensatory choice in the third round (93rd overall), then selected Southern Miss teammates Daleroy Stewart (171st overall) and John Nix (240th overall) in the sixth and seventh rounds, respectively. Blade was the only one to ever start for the Cowboys, and actually had a decent year under the watchful eye of Bill Parcells in 2003, but he was let go the next season. Nix had a nondescript two-year run with the team, while Stewart was either injured or deactivated for every game in 2001 and 2002. He played in 16 games for the Cowboys from 2003-04 before moving on to the Arena Football League with the Dallas Desperadoes from 2006-08.

Up Next: Defensive End

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