byDallas Cowboys Mailbag,Nick Eatman&Patrik Walker

(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)

I was surprised to hear Brian Schottenheimer talk about building the team from the outside in, focusing on those players who are on the ends or edge. I've always heard championship teams are built from the inside out, focusing first on the offensive and defensive lines. Am I missing something? What do you think of this approach? Anthony Rodriguez/Phoenix, AZ

Patrik:Anyone who craved a young, innovative mind at head coach in Dallas is getting their wish with Brian Schottenheimer. Yes, the traditional approach is to throw as much meat up up front as possible and then building outward from there, but Schottenheimer has a vision for how he wants the Cowboys to look going forward and it's to "isolate" boundary and edge roles with the hopes of being more of an attack-first offense and defense (under Matt Eberflus, which is his staple style of scheming anyway). I personally subscribe to the traditionalist stance of doing the opposite but, let's be honest here, when you're three decades removed from your last championship, it becomes far past time to think outside of the box.

With a mostly new coaching staff, and in looking at what was done in free agency, and in soon seeing what will happen (or not happen) in this year's NFL Draft, the picture in Schottenheimer's mind will be far more clear for us all to see, but time won't truly tell until they step foot on the field for regular season games. So as far as what you might be missing here, I think it's simply the fact that we can't see all the pieces to the puzzle yet.

Nick:This could be a case of everyone wanting the same goal but using different terminology. I think if you're getting very specific, then yes, Schottenheimer would be correct in this and most NFL teams have this philosophy.

When you're thinking about the defense, which positions get drafted higher - edge rushers or defensive tackles? What about cornerbacks or safeties? It's always edge and corners - which would technically be on the outside.

And it's the same with offense. Your wide receivers and offensive tackles are on the outside and are viewed as more important than the "inside" guys.

Now the trump card on all of this is the quarterback. He's pretty much as "inside" as you can get and it usually starts with that. The Cowboys' decisions are all based off what they're doing with Dak, his play style, contract, etc.

I could see this argument going either way based off the quarterback. Personally, I think this team needs to focus on fixing the offensive line and the defensive line. Figure how to stop the run better and run the ball better. Whether that's adding players or the inside or outside, that should be the top priority.

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