Can the Cowboys Get After the QB? Todd Grantham’s Defenses Have Put on the Pressure

Quarterbacks used to fear OSU. If the Cowboys are to rebound from an 0-9 conference slump in 2024, they’ll need to at least make some of them nervous.

With Todd Grantham now coordinating their defensive efforts and a revamped roster, the Cowboys could be in a position to take that swagger back on the edge. But the Cowboys haven’t been able to really get after the QB since Jim Knowles’ departure.

OSU led the country in sacks per game in 2021 (56 total) and led the Big 12, holding teams to a passer rating of just 119.8. Since then, the Cowboys have put up sack totals of 26 (T64th), 27 (T63rd) and 25 (T64th), respectively, over the last three years and teams have posted a passer rating of 149 each of the last two. The Pokes went from one of the nation’s top passing defenses to dead last in the Big 12 for two years running. Teams put up nearly 36 points and gained 500 yards per game on the Pokes in 2025, both league-worst marks.

It didn’t help that former sack leader Collin Oliver went down for the season in Week 2 last year, an injury that stretched the Cowboys’ already thin depth on the edge. Mike Gundy addressed that during OSU’s media day this past weekend.

“We did a lot of things last year that weren’t very good,” said Gundy addressing OSU’s tackling. “At one point, we lost one of the best defensive players on the team [Oliver], and that hurt our tackling. For example, we had Obi [Ezeigbo] playing last year, 70-something plays a game at 231 pounds. We brought him in to back up Collin Oliver and play 20 plays a game. At 231 pounds, he gave us everything he had, but he wasn’t strong enough, or big enough or physical enough to play 70-something plays a game, but he had to the last three-fourths of the season.”

Eziegbo (three sacks last season) is now out of eligibility, as is Xavier Ross (2.5). Jeff Roberson (three) transferred to Minnesota. Oliver is a Green Bay Packer, and safety Kendal Daniels, who led the Cowboys with 5.5 sacks, is playing his final season in Norman. So, the Cowboys’ returning sack leaders are Jaleel Johnson and Iman Oates, who each had two last season. Gundy would like the two homegrown DEs to take the next step. They’re both healthy now and seem up to the challenge.

The coaching staff hit the portal to address some of that turnover with additions like Kyran Duhon, who ranked second in Conference USA with seven sacks as a freshman last year, and Malik Charles, who led West Georgia with seven sacks as a sophomore. The Cowboys also added Wendell Gregory who appeared in two games and retained his redshirt at South Carolina.

Making the QB Play Bad

Grantham has said that his defense will be an aggressive one. Shortly after his hire, Grantham explained how making the quarterback’s life harder can make the Cowboys’ lives easier.

“At the end of the day, how do you affect the quarterback and make him play bad? I mean, if the quarterback doesn’t play very good, your chances of winning are not very good,” Grantham said. “So if we can eliminate the run, force him to throw it, and then when you get into, OK, making the quarterback play bad, what is that? Well, obviously, pressure. You can pressure. It can be post-snap disguise, meaning, hey, we’re showing one thing, and at the snap of the ball, it’s going to be something else.”

At his last two DC stops in college, Grantham’s teams have shown the ability to put passers down. The last five seasons he donned the headset, his teams ranked, at worst, T30th in sacks.

2021 (Florida): 37 sacks | T30th
2020 (Florida): 35 sacks | T7th
2019 (Florida):  49 sacks | 5th
2018 (Mississippi State): 37 sacks | T19th
2017 (Mississippi State) 36 sacks | T21st

“Hitting the quarterback for sure cause we’re sending blitzes all the time,” said Johnson about the new-look defense. “You ain’t going to know where they’re coming from.”

Sacks numbers and passer ratings are just a couple pieces of the bigger puzzle that the Cowboys are trying to put together. They need to figure out how to stop the run and force turnovers, and they need to eliminate some of the huge gashing plays they gave up in 2024. But with Grantham at the helm, and some reinforcements on the edge, the Cowboys at least have a path to get after those QBs and, at least in early August, they seem confident that they can get them on the turf.