Last season was one of transition for the Dallas Cowboys. The preseason injury to quarterback Tony Romo handed the keys to the offense and the franchise over to rookie Dak Prescott and he flourished, earning rookie of the year honors.
The Cowboys finished 13-3 and were knocked from the playoffs, barely, in a 34-31 loss to the Green Bay Packers. Dallas is a popular preseason pick to make it to the Super Bowl from the NFC, but Owner Jerry Jones and head coach Jason Garrett lost a lot of talent on defense this season. Let’s see how they’ve put their team together heading into training camp.
Free Agents Kept
Jonathan Cooper, Offensive Guard
Kellen Moore, Quarterback
Terrance Williams, Wide Receiver
Free Agents/Players Gained
Nolan Carroll, Cornerback, formerly of the Philadelphia Eagles
Free Agents Lost
Brandon Carr, Cornerback, signed with the Baltimore Ravens
Barry Church, Safety, signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars
Morris Claiborne, Cornerback, signed with the New York Jets
Ryan Davis, Linebacker, signed with the Buffalo Bills
Lance Dunbar, Running Back, signed with the Los Angeles Rams
Ronald Leary, Offensive Guard, signed with the Denver Broncos
Terrell McClain, Defensive Tackle, signed with the Washington Redskins
J.J. Wilcox, Safety, signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Lenny Jones, Defensive End, still a free agent
Tony Romo, Quarterback, retired
2017 NFL Draft
Round 1: Taco Charlton, DE, Michigan
Round 2: Chidobe Auzie, Cornerback, Colorado
Round 3: Jourdan Lewis, Cornerback, Michigan
Round 4: Ryan Switzer, Wide Receiver, North Carolina
Round 6: Xavier Woods, Safety, Louisiana Tech
Round 6: Marquez White, Cornerback, Florida State
Round 7: Joey Ivie, Defensive Tackle, Florida
Round 7: Noah Brown, Wide Receiver, Ohio State
Round 7: Jordan Carrell, Defensive Tackle, Colorado
Proposed Offensive Starters
QB: Dak Prescott
RB: Ezekiel Elliott
WR: Dez Bryant
WR: Terrance Williams
WR: Cole Beasley
TE: Jason Witten
LT: Tyron Smith
RT: La’el Collins
LG: Chaz Green
RG: Zack Martin
C: Travis Fredrick
Offensive Outlook
The best offensive line in football will have a slightly different look this season. La’el Collins is expected to move out to right tackle while last year’s starting right tackle, Chaz Green, slides inside to guard. It’s still the same unit that blocked for one of the NFL’s best running game last season and No. 5 overall offense.
Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott took over the league last season and with another year under their belts, should be even better. Prescott completed 67.8 percent of his passes for 3,667 yards, 23 touchdowns and four picks as a rookie. All Elliott did was lead the NFL in rushing with 322 carries for 1,631 yards and 15 touchdowns to go with 32 catches and 363 yards with a touchdown.
The Cowboys have a solid receiver group. Dez Bryant is a star and Cole Beasley and Prescott developed a report last year that was Brady-Edelman-esque. Williams is an NFL receiver, but there’s room for improvement on his side and not a lot of quality depth. It’s why the Cowboys, when they weren’t stocking up on defensive players in draft, took wide receivers.
Proposed Defensive Starters
DE: Tyrone Crawford
DE: Demarcus Lawrence
DT: Cedric Thornton
DT: Maliek Collins
OLB: Damien Wilson
OLB: Sean Lee
MLB: Anthony Hitchens
CB: Nolan Carroll
CB: Anthony Brown
FS: Byron Jones
SS: Jeff heath
Defensive Outlook
The Cowboys defense was absolutely ravaged in free agency and the team could do little to stop it. All the quality depth here will be rookies, especially in the secondary. Anthony Brown and Byron Jones are the only returning starters from that group. Nolan Carroll was a good pick up in free agency and both he and Brown seem to be the outside starters, with Orlando Scandrick holding down the nickle slot for now. Heath played in every game last season, but as a reserve and special teamer.
Up front, the Cowboys took the biggest hit from the league as mutliple defensive lineman are dealing with suspensions early, losing David Irving for four games and Randy Gregory for the season. It’s why Dallas took Taco Charlton and don’t be surprised to see Charlton force his way into this starting line up early.
Linebacker is the one spot the Cowboys didn’t lose anybody. Sean Lee is still the leader on defense and one of the better outside linbackers in football. Anthony Hitchens and Damien Wilson are both quality starters, with Hitchens especially taking a leap in play last season.
Grade: C+
The Cowboys did the only thing they could do with their salary cap situation, draft rookies to replace departing starting talent. Obviously last season that worked and any re-grade for the 2015 Dallas off-season would be an A+. Maybe that will happen this year too. As it is, the Cowboys lost too much and are counting on too many young players to get better than a C+.
O/U wins: 9.5
Preseason Schedule
Hall of Fame Game: Arizona Cardinals
Week 1: at Los Angeles Rams
Week 2: Indianapolis Colts
Week 3: Oakland Raiders
Week 4: at Houston Texans
Regular Season Schedule
Week 1: New York Giants
Key game: The Giants were the only team to really beat the Cowboys in the regular season last year, getting a sweep. Though the Cowboys lost their final game, Elliott didn’t play at all and Prescott just a quarter. Mark Sanchez did the heavy lifting there. But the Giants got Dallas twice, for real, including Prescott’s first start. Taking out the Giants at home here could make an early statement for the defending NFC East champs.
Week 2: at Denver Broncos
Week 3: at Arizona Cardinals
Week 4: Los Angeles Rams
Week 5: Green Bay Packers
Key game: The Packers, thanks to some unearthly play from quarterback Aaron Rodgers, ended the Cowboys’ season in the divisional round of the playoffs. It just so happened it was right after Prescott delivered some heroics of his own, giving Dallas the lead with very little time (but too much time for Rodgers) left. This is a revenge game and the winner here might be in the driver’s seat for NFC home field advantage.
Week 6: BYE
Week 7: at San Francisco 49ers
Week 8: at Washington Redskins
Week 9: Kansas City Chiefs
Week 10: at Atlanta Falcons
Week 11: Philadelphia Eagles
Week 12: Los Angeles Chargers
Week 13: Washington Redskins
Week 14: at New York Giants
Week 15: at Oakland Raiders
Week 16: Seattle Seahawks
Week 17: at Philadelphia Eagles
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