OXNARD, Calif. – With four more years in Dallas in front of him, Osa Odighizuwa enters his fifth training camp as the longest tenured Cowboys defensive tackle on the roster.
For the third straight year, Odighizuwa will have a new defensive coordinator as Matt Eberflus takes the reigns of the Cowboys defense. In the past, Eberflus has called the three-technique defensive tackle the engine of his defense, and Odighizuwa has already shown why he can be that.
"Osa's been great. I love his work ethic, I love the way he brings guys together," Eberflus said. "He's been working with the young guys, the young d-tackles that we have with Tommy [Akingbesote] and Jay [Toia], really doing a good job with Mazi, then having Solly in there has been wonderful as well."
Eberflus' defensive approach has an emphasis on the attack front, making his defensive line push up the field and get after the ball carrier. It's a similar approach to what Dan Quinn did when he was the Cowboys defensive coordinator, but at the same time it's very different.
"I feel like DQ's was a little bit more of a mix of going straightforward movement, a little bit of reads sometimes, it's a little bit more just different variations of things. Wearing many different hats with DQ's defense." Odighizuwa said.
How does Eberflus' approach help in run defense?
"Makes it a lot more simple for everyone involved." Odighizuwa said.
That's certainly a good thing, especially with how the Cowboys defense has struggled at times to stop the run in recent years. In free agency, the team added veteran Solomon Thomas to bring depth and experience in coaching style in the hopes that he can aid Odighizuwa and the rest of the defensive line in accomplishing that.
"Solly's a bit of a veteran when it comes to the attack front. He was with [Aaron] Whitecotton with the Jets, so he's been in a scheme similar to this before," Odighizuwa said. "I feel like he's doing a really good job, not too much adjusting because he's doing some things he's been asked to do before."
Not only is he bringing familiarity with Whitecotton and the scheme to his teammates, but he's also driving competition in the room and pushing Odighizuwa to be better as well.
"Just great having him as someone who's helping us lead and being able to look at him as an example," Odighizuwa said. "But you know, the competition is awesome as well, because he's a superior athlete, so just having him out here like a high athlete as well, someone that can push me and push the rest of the defensive tackles, it's awesome."
On the outside of the defensive line, Odighizuwa is excited about what the Cowboys have in the pass rushing department. He's not as excited as Sam Williams is, though, to be back on the field after missing last year with an ACL tear.
"Sam's bringing that energy every day, you know?" Odighizuwa said. "You can tell he's been itching to get back out here, so I love having him back out there, just having the energy and having him be able to help us too."
Rookie second round pick Donovan Ezeiruaku has caught the eye of onlookers during practice, and Odighizuwa is getting the same impression with a front row view.
"Eze's nice, I'm not gonna lie," Odighizuwa said with a big smile. "He's very athletic, got good strength to him too despite what you might about his size, he's very sneaky strong. I feel like he's a good addition, he's smart as well and very disciplined. I think he's someone who is going to be able to come in and help us a lot."
The Cowboys defensive front has shown good reps early on in practice against the run and getting after the quarterback, with Odighizuwa hoping to lead that charge into the regular season.
