Donovan Wilson Getting Some Nice Press
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Donovan Wilson’s versatility for Cowboys is earning NFL’s respect one week at a time
The 2019 sixth-round pick has helped solidify a safety position that was once a pressure point for the Dallas front office. (Dallas Morning News)
Dallas Cowboys safety Malik Hooker (28) and safety Donovan Wilson (6) combined to make a third down stop of the Indianapolis Colts during the second half at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, December 4, 2022.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)
By Calvin Watkins
6:00 AM on Dec 10, 2022
FRISCO — The hard-hitting style of Cowboys safety Donovan Wilson was developed when he was playing Pop Warner football in Shreveport, La.
Wilson was just a kid, not the 6-foot, 200-pound leading tackler for the Cowboys that he is now. Yet Wilson, a man with many nicknames, got his first one thanks to those formative years in Shreveport based on his style of play: He was called Manic.
“I feel like they installed that in us early,” he said of his youth football coaches.
The team was called the Express, and Wilson, wearing No. 50, played defensive end.
He has since moved on to safety, becoming one of the top players at his position in the NFL.
Not only is Wilson leading the Cowboys in tackles (85), but he’s tied for the NFL lead with four sacks among defensive backs with Chargers safety Derwin James.
If Wilson records a sack in Sunday’s game against the Texans, he ties former Cowboys safety Bill Bates for the most sacks by a defensive back in a season in franchise history.
It’s Wilson’s ability to rush the passer through rush lanes in the middle of the defensive line or off the edge that allows defensive coordinator Dan Quinn to have versatility. He’s also one of the Cowboys’ better open-field tacklers.
“Black is a different breed,” defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence said of Wilson, calling him by another nickname. “That’s something you can’t coach, especially the safety position coming downhill and setting guys on fire like he do. We call him Black for a reason.”
So it’s because when he hits you the opponent gets knocked out? Is it because he’s so quick you can’t see him?
“I don’t know about a blur,” Lawrence said. “But the way he shoots his gaps and make his plays, yeah, I’m glad you’re on my team. Oh yeah.”
One player who found out quickly about the benefit of having Wilson on the same side is rookie tight end Peyton Hendershot. During the first Organized Team Activity in the spring, Wilson and Hendershot almost got into a fight. They were doing one-on-one drills and Wilson wasn’t backing down. Nor was Hendershot.
“I didn’t know who Dono was until my first two weeks here, and me and him were in OTAs and we kinda got after it,” Hendershot said. “We almost fought in practice. That was my first thing with Dono. OK, he’s a smaller guy, he still stands his ground and gets dirty with it. I didn’t know who he was. Now I know.”
The two continued their battles throughout the summer especially when the Cowboys got to Denver for a joint practice in August.
“I remember that,” Wilson said. “It was good work between us, a lot of respect.”
Hendershot isn’t the only tight end on the team who has noticed Wilson. “You don’t see smaller DBs laying the boom like that,” tight end Jake Ferguson said. “I know we don’t go against him or [do] game-planning against him, but I do know when you do go against a guy like that it changes the way you catch the ball and your demeanor after your catch. You’re catching that ball, you’re putting two hands on it and tucking it away, you’re not swinging it around. Your head is on a swivel for No. 6.
“When you play guys like that it ups it up a little bit more, and you know, especially as a tight end, guys are not going to hit you up high but Dono will.”
The respect Wilson receives at The Star will be tested in free agency. Wilson becomes an unrestricted free agent next spring, and for a 2019 sixth-round pick, the man who’s held nicknames ranging from Manic, Dono, DonoBlack and Black, he expects to cash in.
“Honestly I take it one game at a time,” he said. “I don’t try and take no big picture [looks]. I take it step by step and complete my process.”
He’s part of a safety trio, Jayron Kearse and Malik Hooker being the others, that’s solidified the position. For years, finding quality safeties was a pressure point on the Cowboys’ front office, as they sought quality help.
With the versatility of the safeties, there is no worrying about that position, particularly with Wilson, who plays strong safety. “Shoot, I love the way he plays,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “You talk about a magnet for the football, loves contact, his intensity. I mean, he’s as good as a ball-hawker, particularly extractor that I’ve been around; the way he separates offensive perimeter players away from the football. So, he’s the same guy every day. That’s something I’m just a huge fan of.”
