It’s that weird false dawn of the NFL season, the OTAs and the minicamps. The Dallas Cowboys get their first look at the new additions to the roster, both new recruits and veterans. There are also many players who will be watched to see how well they recover from injury, or if they train at all, such as Tony Pollard and Terrence Steele. We won’t really learn anything of importance until the team gathers in Oxnard for training camp. For now, we only know most of the names (turmoil happens) and anticipate how this team will come together.
Here is a summary of the team by site group and how much trust we should have in them.
Midfielder – high confidence
Duck Prescott will have a greater impact on the team’s ultimate success than any other player. This is the nature of the NFL, where you either have a quarterback who can lead the team to victory on a regular basis, or you try to figure out how to win out of spite. Prescott is a polarizing personality for reasons that frankly elude me. He had a down year with a turnover in 2022, but the Cowboys still rank third in total points in the league, making arguments that he’s not that good baffling. Add in his high personality and toughness, and the team is doing well with him on the field.
She also has the advantage of having an experienced backup in Cooper Rush, who the team managed to go 4-1 despite an apparent downturn in performance, and that’s one room she should be fine with.
Running backwards – low confidence
The most important thing the team did here was in part with Ezekiel Elliott. Assuming it doesn’t come back with a much cheaper deal, that’s an opportunity to add by subtracting. While still very capable in short-hand situations, Elliott ate a lot of the load in the early downs when results weren’t always the best.
Pollard was more effective, but he was knocked out with an injury in the final game of the playoffs for Dallas. This is a bit worrying, but the team signaled their faith in his comeback by not dropping back until the late stages of Round 6. Deuce Vaughn was the feel-good story of everyone else NFL Draft, but whether or not his skills translate to the NFL remains to be determined. Other depths are Malik Davis, the oft-injured Rico Dowdle, and signed free agent Ronald Jones.
Tight end – medium confidence
This is a funny situation, as people still talk about Jake Ferguson and Peyton Hendershot being so good they didn’t have to worry about the job. But they used their second-round pick to grab Luke Schoonmaker. Ferguson and Hendershot are promising, but they are yet to be tested in their second season. And Schoonmaker may be a better version of Dalton Schultz, but that may not be so evident in his rookie season. However, this seems like one unit that should be at least serviceable.
Wide receiver – medium confidence
The addition of Brandin Cooks via trade alone makes this unit look better than it did at this point last season, even taking away from how inflated the expectations are for Jalen Tolbert. The fact that Gallup has completely stopped recovery is also cause for optimism.
Countering this is depth in position, in which no one is just jumping in that is ready to claim the WR4 job, or the other places, depending on how many cowboys he carries. The starting trio looks pretty good. But how long will they be able to stay in the field?
Offensive line – low confidence
I’ll be wearing a Negative Nancy label here. The team is counting on Steele to be ready to go for the season, and the current plan seems to be starting with Tyron Smith in the LT and Tyler Smith in the LG. Tyron should be a future Hall of Fame inductee, but he hasn’t been able to stay on the court for several years now, including missing most of 2022 after a camp injury. Plus, they should have done more to find a new entry-level LG this season. They drafted Asim Richards with a plan to move him up guard, but not until the fifth round.
Continuity is very important on the offensive line. It’s nice to have Zack Martin and Tyler Biadasz as starters, but contingency plans now have a lot of moving parts. The answer seems to be hope for the best.
Impulse pass – high confidence
Indeed, the highest of all. We’ll use functions here to get around the “Where’s Micah Parsons” disagreement about whether Daredevil EDGE is real or still a chess piece for Grandmaster Dan Quinn to move around the board. But he and DeMarcus Lawrence are very good in the beginning, and the depth with Dorance Armstrong, Sam Williams, and others feels excellent, too. It’s also interesting that they took on Villiami Fiocco in the fourth round, which shows the staff firmly believe you can’t get too many good pass players.
Run to defend – medium confidence
This is one who could quickly move into the high tier if Mazie Smith’s first-round pick is what we think is at all. With Jonathan Hankins also back in the fold, the team has real hope of being able to stand in the middle on running plays, and Osi Odighizuwa is just as good as the three techs that line them up. Neville Gallimore and Chauncey Goulston should provide needed depth there too.
Linebacker – Medium confidence
Leighton Vander Esch had what was probably his best year as a pro in 2022, coming back for another shot. Damone Clark seems to be enjoying a real upswing after his surprise return from surgery last year, and they’ve added a DeMarvion Overshown in the third round to bolster this group, with some indications he could be used as Jayron Kearse in a hybrid role. Midfielders aren’t as important as they used to be, so those factors in the feeling this will work.
Back corner – high confidence
The fact that Jordan Lewis is seen as a blob pretty much sums this up. With Trevon Diggs, commercial acquisition Stephon Gilmore, and last year’s rookie surprise DaRon Bland, they just need to get one more player’s deep stake out of their roster position, and let’s go! The trade in the early sixth round to get Eric Scott is also interesting, so it looks like that depth should work.
Security – Medium confidence
Kearse is very good. High school enforcer Donovan Wilson was re-signed. Hawker’s owner seems reliable if not outstanding, and Israel Mokwamo seems to be moving well to rounding up this group. However, it is not terribly deep, which causes the rating to drop slightly.
Specialists – medium confidence
Never forget this trio. Dallas is looking to start the season with a very good Bryan Anger, a dependable long snapper in Trent Sieg, and literally anyone who is down to earth is where they belong. This seems a little disrespectful to Tristan Vizcaino, who has only missed one field goal in his three years in the league.
Oh, wait, he only has five tries in that stretch? Oops.
Yes, it could be anyone by the time the season starts. Expect to see a lot of testing and a potential camp battle.
Training – high confidence
Let’s go. While Kellen Moore is gone after being scapegoated for the latter part of the 2022 season, I have confidence in Mike McCarthy, who has led this team to a 12-5 consecutive campaign. With Quinn handling defense, and Jon Vassell doing his duties with special teams, there are no expectations that would change much. If this team stays healthy, they must return to the playoffs to see if they can finally move past their quarter-century-old hump.
This is a snapshot of May. Something, maybe several things, will likely change once the games start counting. Tell us how you feel about the list. But always, play nice.