Where Did That Guy Come From? Stephen Bowen And The Defensive Line

Our player bio series continues after a brief hiatus for draft fun with a look at the personnel along the defensive line.  If you are unfamiliar with the series, here we look at the path taken by each of the players currently on Dallas' roster, in respect to their draft position and other players that Dallas had the opportunity to secure. We also take a look at their current contract situations.

We highlight one player from the group to start the post, and then cover all other players at the position(s). The series kicked off with Roy Williams and the wide receivers. We then moved on to the Andre Gurode and the interior offensive linemen, Doug Free with the tackle group, and Felix Jones with the running backs, and then Martellus Bennett and the tight ends. Now we'll move on to the defensive line. 

Name: Stephen Bowen

Position: Defensive End

DOB: 3.28.84

College: Hofstra

Height: 6'5"

Weight: 304 lbs.

Signed by the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent following the 2006 amateur draft, Bowen is viewed by some as the latest UDFA breakout the Cowboys have uncovered. He spent the first two months of his rookie season on the practice squad before being called up to the active roster on November 7th. Bowen's first career sack was of current backup QB Jon Kitna, in the final game of 2006 season against the Detroit Lions. The nephew of NBA defensive standout Bruce Bowen, Stephen originally started off as Chris Canty's backup, gaining additional snaps each consecutive season. 2010 was the second straight and third in four years he appeared in all 16 games, starting 9 to replace an injured Marcus Spears. If you look at the standard statistical measurements, Bowen's contributions don't initially indicate anything to get worked up over, but when you dig a little deeper there may be support for the optimism.

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Born in North Carolina, Bowen attended high school at Half Hollow Hills West High School in Dix, N.Y. There, Bowen starred in both football and basketball. You will in fact often see Bowen's name attached to charity basketball events featuring Cowboys players. Bowen was a two year starter at Hofstra University, he was a teammate of late-round standout Marques Colston of the Saints, and Steelers offensive lineman Willie Colon. Keyshawn Johnson and Bill Parcells favorite player-mascot - Wayne Chrebet - also attended the Hempstead, New York university.

The Cowboys extended a second-round tender to Stephen Bowen back in March. As a five-year veteran, Bowen is squarely caught in the cross-hairs of the current labor process. Whether the tender offers even stand, whether players are still bound to their original teams after four, five or six years, will both determine the size and originator of Bowen's next contract. The uncertainty is nothing new to Bowen, having signed five consecutive one-year contracts with the club. The Cowboys brass, however, seems very intent on Bowen as part of their long term plans at the position.

We've all heard the report of new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan walking into the coaches meeting singing the praises of Stephen Bowen after looking at him on tape. How could he be so high on a player that only amassed 22 total tackles and 1.5 sacks? Let's see.

We use advanced statistics in the same way we use standard measures. They don't tell the whole story that can be gleaned from the trained eye test, but they allow a look into those areas we don't normally focus on. One example would be watching the play of a 3-4 defensive end. Bowen is rarely going to amass large standard numbers, but he shines under the light of the advanced statistic.

Profootballfocus.com rates each game of a player, and then provides a cumulative season score. For a defensive player, individual games are a combination of that players run defense, pass rush, pass coverage and penalty scores. To ease comprehension, PFF color codes based on what they consider the level thresholds. A green score indicates an above average grade, white an average one, and red a below average. Stephen Bowen had an astounding nine games in the green. His overall season score of +15.0 ranked him third amongst all 3-4 defensive ends in the league for 2010. This was achieved first as a pass rush specialist, but when Marcus Spears went down with an injury, Bowen started the final nine games of the season and continued his stellar play. So much so that PFF decided to profile Bowen in it's secret superstar series earlier in the offseason.

Now this was all done within the confines of the Wade Phillips scheme. It is still yet to be said how a player with so much pass rush ability but a yet limited run stopping niche will thrive in Rob Ryan's multiple defensive looks. It's not that Bowen is a poor run defender, more so he seems to be nondescript in that realm. In 16 games, Bowen didn't register a single 'red' game. He also never had a single game in the green. In 2009, Bowen didn't register any red games either, but he did have two green games. In 2008, one red, no greens. Over the three year stretch, to amass one bad run defense game, two good ones and 45 average ones over 48 games including playoffs- saying that he is an average run defender seems a pretty safe bet.

So what does that mean for the upcoming season? It sure would be nice to have some interaction between the coach and budding superstar to help appease the hunger of a locked out fandom.