FRISCO, Texas -- It seems fashionable to bash Dallas Cowboys rookie defensive end Taco Charlton, who is still looking for his first career sack after six games.
The Cowboys should have taken T.J. Watt, who was four sacks for the Pittsburgh Steelers, instead of Charlton. They should have picked a different player at a different position. Anybody but Charlton.
In last Sunday’s win against the San Francisco 49ers, Charlton played a season-high 37 snaps after playing just eight in their previous game against the Green Bay Packers. The Cowboys opted to keep Charlton active over Damontre Moore and Benson Mayowa.
Charlton did not record a sack, but he had two quarterback pressures and a pass breakup, according to the coaches’ breakdown.
“He needs to play more,” coach Jason Garrett said. “But he fought well, he competed well, he was around the ball. Made his presence known a little bit at the line of scrimmage knocking the ball down. So he’s getting there. He’s going about it the right way in practice. It’s a good opportunity for him to play a lot of snaps in that game. He’ll grow from that experience.”
Charlton is aware of the talk about him, but he said is driven more by his expectations.
“My last year in college had 10 sacks in 10 games, so I’m used to a sack or two a game,” said Charlton, who actually had 10 sacks in 11 games last season at Michigan. “Going a game without a sack is kind of weird. I’m trying to go back to the drawing board. I’m working hard in practice, watching film, doing things I can do and see what I can do to make things happen. I got close a couple of times. Just got to get there.”
Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli said Charlton is going through what almost every young pass rusher goes through early in a career.
“He’s getting to the edge, but you’ve got to finish,” Marinelli said. “You’ve got to be able to finish. You’ve got to be able to come off your blocks and you’ve got to execute. At the end of the day, it’s a game of execution. So we just keep working with him. For some of these guys, their rush is everything and what they’re doing isn’t working, so you try to do too much and you’re looking around instead of just getting back down and getting to the spot. A guy like DeMarcus Lawrence over the years, you keep working with these guys and they start rolling.”
Lawrence, Tyrone Crawford and David Irving had sacks against the 49ers. Crawford had a message for Charlton after the game.
“This week I got close but I wasn’t able to get one,” Charlton said. “Hopefully next week. Ty said right after the game, ‘All right next week you’re getting your first one.’ Like I said, I’m going to keep working and eventually it’ll come. It’s going to come, and they’re going to come in bunches. They’ll come in bunches.”