This offseason for the Dallas Cowboys has drawn generally good reviews. They retained some key players like Donovan Wilson, added important pieces in Brandin Cooks and Stephon Gilmore, and made a huge shift in their draft strategy by taking nose Mazi Smith in the first round. Most importantly, players returning under contract were already one of the strongest groups in recent history. Although the team still has some potential concerns, starting with the offensive line, this roster looks pretty strong, especially in the NFC, which is the weakest conference right now. The team did not stand idly by with the coaching staff. After some questions about playing games last year, Mike McCarthy has taken the offense into his own hands. Optimism prevails.
Well, that’s true of the majority of teams this time of year. While there are certainly arguments to be made that the Cowboys have made themselves better, that’s only on paper at this point.
We discussed this overarching idea in a recent episode of Ryled Up on The Boys podcast. Be sure to subscribe to our network so you don’t miss out on any of our offers! Apple devices can sign up here And Spotify users can sign up here.
If you’ve ever been following this team, you know how preseason optimism can be smashed on the rocks of the regular season. While this team has a lot going for it, there seem to be a lot of rosy assumptions. There are some of those that we need to examine more closely, just to keep ourselves grounded.
The first is the offensive line, which is meticulously dissected. We’re holding our breath about it already. If the issues appear there, they probably won’t surprise anyone. The kicking job is also obviously up for grabs, but that’s common for maybe half the teams every year, so it’s not really a good fit here. This article is about things that are often assumed to go wrong – which covers the rest of the team more than you think. One thing we don’t have to mention is Dallas’ defensive end set, which is very good and remarkably deep. This is nothing to worry about.
But there are still a lot of things to consider. Most of these have been pointed out before, but here’s a look at the big picture.
Dakota is waiting
Duck Prescott Polarized. The national media makes things even worse for him, as controversial performances know full well that throwing shade at the Cowboys quarterback leads to big ratings. Unfortunately, the fact that the team didn’t make it out of the divisional round with him as a quarterback provides ample fuel for the fire. The assumption for many fans is that his problems with last season’s turnover should be rectifiable, which he and the coaches are on top of. His high interception rate last year has been explained by his having to risk unfavorable touchdown and distance situations to try to extend the drive.
Until now, he tended to come back from things like that. The concern is that they don’t go away forever. Offensive success this year depends more on Prescott’s performance than any other individual. If he’s not right, it’s going to be a long, long season.
Wide receiver mode
The Cowboys struggled to give Prescott enough quality receivers on the field, but a planned starting trio of CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks, and Michael Gallup seemed to solve that.
Well, this is a kind of savings. The Chef trade was well received, but he is a player at the back of his career. He had a sabbatical in 2022. The issue is that he’s been playing very ineffective players, but we have to be very careful about expecting him to bounce back to the 1,000-plus-yard receiver he’s been for most of his career. If he falters with Dallas, he’ll obviously reduce the position.
Michael Gallup also had a bad season last year. He was slowly recovering from his injury in late 2021, never getting to 100%. It is assumed he will bounce back, but that has yet to be proven on the field.
It may not go badly in this department for the Cowboys, but that’s still an assumption. If Gallup or Cooks have a bump, that’s a problem. If they both have issues, we’ll likely see the offense struggle with one good WR on the field.
The team is betting on how much Stephon Gilmour has in the tank, too
Stephen Gilmour has had a great career, but Dallas made him cheap because he also gets up there in his football years, and for a position like cornerback where speed is critical, that has to be watched closely. The assumption is that he’d be a great auteur with Trevon Diggs, but just like with Cooks, we’ll have to see how that turns out. With DaRon Bland and Jourdan Lewis also in the room, the depth here is better than the wide receiver, but there is still the potential for this to be disappointing.
How will Tony Pollard survive?
Unfortunately, the release of Ezekiel Elliot was necessary. Now Pollard is the return lead, and the only installed quantity in that group of sites. While he’s certainly shown he can be effective when he’s spelling Elliott, he’s still been a change of pace so far in his career. Now he’s expected to have more of those hard hits when the defense pressures him.
This means more wear and tear on his body. In a way, this is a cool but effective use of it. He’s playing a card, inflating his cost, though he’s certainly more cost-effective than Elliott’s. But the team has the option to move on from him next year, which might be the plan. Someone else will be the new RB2, and they’ll be pretty much tested to let the Cowboys get ahead and embrace the fact that running games don’t require special talent to be effective, as many teams have proven.
This is the long view. What is important is how the ground game works this year. This is a bit of an experiment, and given that coaches keep saying running the ball will be an integral part of attacking, we have to hope it turns out well.
The narrow end room is solid – isn’t it?
In what may herald Pollard’s plan, Dallas moved on from Dalton Schultz after playing to the mark last year. They were confident Jake Ferguson and Peyton Hendershot, and added Luke Schoonmaker in the second round of the draft. All is well.
Except that Ferguson and Hendershot have a total of 30 NFL goals between them and Schoonmaker is a rookie. This set has not been tested at all. The ceiling seems high, but we simply don’t know who Prescott’s new safety cap will be. Much depends on how McCarthy and Brian Schottenheimer use office. But these three must go up, otherwise problems will arise.
Will Mazie Smith be ready to take on the first job right away?
You’re the one who went “Who?” when his name was called, but he was quickly won over. He had All-Pro potential before he reached the end of his rookie contract.
But that may not be apparent when you’re out of the gate. Smith is an incredible physical specimen, but he’s never lined up against NFL offensive linemen. He’ll have a learning curve, and if it’s steep for him, it will take some time for him to get the impact the team needs. Dan Quinn and Eden Durdy are among the best in the business of coaching defensemen. We need them to do a great job outfitting Smith for trench warfare in the NFL. There’s a bit of insurance here in Jonathan Hankins, but he got injured last season. Expectations are very high for Smith, perhaps too high.
Will McCarthy remove offensive loopholes?
This rings right back to the first point raised, as we’re all tired of the first flop and seeing Prescott in bad situations for the distance, which probably had a lot to do with his league-leading interception total. While it seems strange to say that given that McCarthy led the team to the playoffs two years in a row for the first time since the 2006-2007 seasons, he also seemed to be feeling his seat warming. Doing play call missions was a logical move to control his destiny as much as possible, but we’ll have to see if he can recapture the magic he had during his best years in which he called plays for Green Bay Packers. He does this while trying to maintain the same amount of offense for the returning players.
If he doesn’t do much better than he was perceived to be doing by his former offensive coordinator, Kellen Moore, he will already be in the hot seat. The team has to get going this year, at least in the NFC conference game, to smooth things over for them. If he fails to do so, regardless of the reason, he may not terminate his five-year contract.
That’s a lot to worry about, and there are probably others. We just need to realize that nothing is foolproof in the NFL.