The NFL is TERRIFIED of what the Cowboys are about to do...

The best young defender the Cowboys have drafted in years is playing every single snap. And yet his own head coach just admitted that he's playing him in the wrong spot. Brian Schottenheimer last week said, quote, That's not the design for Caleb. We want Caleb down near the line of scrimmage. We want him around the ball. Because there's a team in this league that has already built what Dallas is trying to build. And when it works, it's a nightmare for every single offense in the NFL. Baltimore took a safety, moved him into the middle of the field, and turned him into a linebacker who covers like a corner. His name? Kyle Hamilton. By the end of this video, you'll see the exact role that could turn Caleb Downs into exactly that, the one number that proves Dallas needs it, and why Monday night in Philadelphia might be where it starts. Now real quick, before we get into today's video, if you want Cowboys breakdowns every single day like this, hit that subscribe button as we are trying to get this channel to the next milestone, 21,000, and every one of you counts. Let's get into it. First, let's be clear about what this isn't. The Cowboys aren't sitting Caleb Downs. In fact, he's on the field more than almost anyone else on the Cowboys' defense. 398 defensive snaps through six games. He hasn't come off the field for one defensive snap since week two. The problem, though, is where he is playing. Against Tampa Bay, PFF had him at free safety on all 72 of his snaps. Deep, 30 yards from the football. And it's not because they think that's the best spot for him. Dallas lost five safeties all at the same time. Jalen Thompson went down with a hamstring in Rio and is still on the IR. Somebody had to play back there, and the smartest guy in the room got the job. And look, he's been fine back there. That's where his natural position is. 43 tackles, a sack, two forced fumbles, and six games. But in coverage, quarterbacks completed nine of 10 throws against him for 71 yards and a touchdown through five games. Let's look at that again. When he's near the ball, he makes plays. When he's 30 yards away, he's just a guy. That's a waste of talent right there. And what's worse is his coordinator knows it, Christian Parker said this, quote, the more you can get him in the action that's not dictated by call, the better. Whether it's nickel, dime, whether you're cranking the safety down, that's where he's been training. Dime. Remember that word because that is exactly the point of this video. Now, before I show you what Baltimore does with Kyle Hamilton, a quick word from today's sponsor, Calshi. On Calshi, you're trading directly against other users, not the house like an additional sports book. You're buying yes or no contracts on the outcome of events across sports, politics, or even the weather. Now, for example, I'm trading on the Patriots to win in Thursday Night Football versus the Bears, and an $8 trade on the Patriots is going to get you over $100 in profit. If you're interested in trying out our presenting sponsor, Calshi, we've got a deal for you because if you use the link in the description or in the pinned comment of today's show, new users who sign up with the code DIGESTNFL and trade $25 will get an extra $55 instantly. Thank you to Calshi for sponsoring today's video. So back to Kyle Hamilton and what does Baltimore actually do with him? Well, he's listed as safety, but he barely plays like one. And here's the part people forget. Baltimore tried him deep too. Midway through 2024, they moved Hamilton back to free safety, then later moved him back toward the line of scrimmage because that's where he wrecks games. Sound kind of familiar? I now found a breakdown that lays it out. Hamilton plays about 48% of his snaps at hybrid linebacker, 31% in the slot, and only 18% as a traditional safety. And the most important number, 79 snaps. About 22% has the dime linebacker. Now, just as an explainer, dime means six defensive backs on the field. Normally, you'd have two linebackers in the middle in dime. One of them leaves, and a safety walks down to take his spot. Now, think about what that does to an offense. Before the snap, he's lined up in the box like a linebacker, and you can blitz him, or at the snap, he drops back. He's covering your tight end or your running back with a safety speed. And Baltimore leans on it. They've been in dime on 32.4% of their plays, the second-highest rate in the NFL. And we saw this in person. Week 3, Rio. Hamilton had two pass breakups and a tackle for loss against Dallas. And Baltimore won 34-31. This season, he's got 44 tackles, six tackles for loss, an interception, and four pass breakups in six games. PFF grades him an 86.8, fourth of 98 safeties. That's the blueprint we want for Caleb Downs. However, they're not the same player. Hamilton is 6'4", Downs is 6'. You're not putting Downs on the edge against the tackle. But the job in the middle of the field, that's built for him. So let's take a look at the numbers. How often has Dallas run dime this year? For the same breakdown, Baltimore, 120 plays. Dallas, 5. Just 5. And to be fair, that's part of the injuries. You can't run 6 defensive backs when you can barely find 4 healthy ones. But here's why it matters so much. Dallas has the worst pass defense in the NFL right now. 0.342 expected points allowed per dropback. 32nd out of 32. Baltimore, meanwhile, is 10th. And look at who's beating them. Throws to tight ends and running backs, the exact guys a dime linebacker covers. Dallas has allowed 53 catches on 65 targets for 423 yards. That's 31st in the league in EPA per target. Baltimore, with Hamilton as the dime linebacker, first. Not top 10, not top 5. First. And it's not like Dallas is getting home with pressure to cover for it. They blitz on 28% of dropbacks, 19th in the league. So the coverage behind it has to hold up. And right now, the middle of the field is wide open. So the one hole this defense has is the exact hole a Kyle Hamilton role fills. And Dallas has the guy for it playing 30 yards deep. And what's even more frustrating is that this continues to be a problem week in and week out, and we haven't seen any changes to this defense. So what does it look like when a Dallas secondary is healthy? Well, here's the vision, and it's honestly pretty simple. Early downs, Caleb plays nickel or rotates between deep and box safety. That's where he's been, and that's fine. And remember, Dallas went out and traded for Joey Porter Jr. That wasn't just about the corner spot. Every healthy corner they add is one more reason Downs doesn't have to babysit the deep middle anymore. Passing downs, it changes. Malik Hooker and Jalen Thompson deep, DaRon Bland and Joey Porter Jr. outside, Kobe Durant plays in the slot, and Caleb Downs walks down as the dime linebacker right next to DeMarvion Overshawn. Now, every player is doing what he's best at. Downs becomes a matchup weapon on tight ends and backs. Overshawn gets to play the weak side linebacker and run to the football. And the tweet makes a good point. It means you're not leaving rookie Jay Shawn Barham out there on passing downs where he's had a rough start. Oh, and if you saw DeMarvion Overshawn wearing the green dot and panicked, don't. The green dot just means he's the guy who's hearing the play call in his helmet. It doesn't mean he's going to play the middle. He can wear it. And while wearing it, Downs can handle the dime position. And the timing works. DallasCowboys.com says Overshawn is back Monday and would play Will Linebacker. Kobe Durant has missed four straight and with the hamstring and is trending toward returning on this upcoming Monday. Thompson is not far behind him. Now, at the end of the day, here's why the rest of the league should be nervous. Kyle Hamilton didn't become Kyle Hamilton as a rookie. Baltimore figured out where to put him and then he's taken over. Downs is already making plays from the wrong spot. Two forced fumbles and a sack as a rookie while covering the deep middle on a defense with five safeties hurt. Now put him 10 yards closer to the ball on downs where offenses throw to tight ends and backs against a league that has to guess every snap whether he's coming or whether he's dropping back. I mean, Schottenheimer said it himself. He's able to make a lot more plays when he's up around the line of scrimmage. The coach wants it. The coordinator trained him for it. The numbers say Dallas needs it more than any team in the league. All that's been missing is bodies, and the bodies are coming back. If this works, Dime stops being Dallas' biggest weakness and becomes the best thing about this defense, and Caleb Downs stops being a good rookie safety and starts being the guy offensive coordinators have to game plan around. Now, while I don't want to say that Caleb Downs is the next Kyle Hamilton because their body types are very different, the way they've been playing Caleb is a disservice to what he can do. However, I want to hear from you too. Should Dallas move Caleb Downs to the Dime the second the secondary is healthy, or do you think they should keep him at safety or put him at that nickelback slot? Tell me in the comments section. We'll have Cowboys versus Eagles on Monday Night Football live here on Cowboys Digest where you can watch Caleb Downs line up on third down and we'll talk about it the entire time. We'll see you next time here on the show and for now, peace out.