Kavon Frazier DB
Frazier was yet another product of the historically good 2016 Draft class. He emerged last season as the Dallas Cowboys best special teams player and received some opportunities at safety as well. Jeff Heath and Xavier Woods are projected by many to be the starters and I am certain the Cowboys will add another free agent safety at one point so there is not a lot of expectations surrounding Frazier at the moment. I happen to believe he will build upon a promising 2017 and emerge as a solid contributor if not a starter by season’s end. In my opinion Frazier would be a great fit as a box safety. He is a physical player that can really lay down the hammer and his coverage skills are improving. A former 6th round pick, he plays with a chip on his shoulder and certainly does not lack confidence. With another year of experience added to his resume and under the tutelage of new DB coach Kris Richard, Kavon Frazier could really make a name for himself in 2018.
Marquez White CB
The Dallas Cowboys have an abundant supply of young talented corners that are expected to take on a bigger role this season. Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis will look to build upon strong 2017 seasons. Anthony Brown is hoping that he will once again gain the confidence he enjoyed during the 2016 season when he shined playing with an experienced veteran secondary. Finally Byron Jones is making a much anticipated debut at cornerback which is the position he played primarily in college. One name that nobody is talking about is Marquez White who was drafted in the 6th round of the 2017 draft. White was having a strong camp last season but ultimately did not make the final roster after suffering a hamstring injury prior to the start of the season. The Cowboys kept him on the practice squad last year and he will have a chance to compete for a roster spot once again this year. If he is able to stay healthy and crack the 53 man roster he will undoubtedly get some opportunities to play. He may even be asked to take on a bigger role if the cornerbacks get bitten with the injury bug once again this year. White is an athletic former 2 sport athlete and he has long arms which could bode for well him under the eye of DB coach Kris Richard. At Florida State White showed flashes of the aggressive type of play that Coach Richard has preached about in terms of making life difficult for WR’s off the line of scrimmage. I am rooting for White to make the team this year and I am excited about what he can do if given an opportunity.
Blake Jarwin TE
The Tight End position is in turmoil following the surprising retirement of incumbent starter and future HOFer Jason Witten. It is unclear who will be starter at this point and the job is available for someone to inherit. Geoff Swaim is the next man in line on the Cowboys depth chart so he is expected to be the guy whose job it is to lose. Dalton Shultz was drafted by the Cowboys in the 4th round and there is a strong contingent of fans and experts that believe he will win the job. I for one am not confident that a rookie tight end will be able to take on that responsibility in his first season. Rico Gathers is by far the most intriguing name on the list of successors but the Cowboys have not shown enough willingness or creativity to utilize his skillset unless they can mold him into the type of tight end that they prefer in their system. Gathers will have to show vast improvements in his blocking and understanding of the game of football to remain in consideration and that may be a tall order for the former college basketball player. The last name on the list of suitors is Blake Jarwin, a guy that most Dallas Cowboys fans know very little about. Jarwin is an athletic, hybrid fullback/tight end and in college showed promise as both a blocker and route runner. The most significant fact surrounding Jarwin is that last season he was added to the roster from the practice squad for the sole reason of avoiding being poached by another team. A move like that by a team fighting for a playoff spot speaks volumes about how the coaching staff feels about him as a player. I am not convinced that any one of the tight ends on the roster will step into Witten’s role and dominate most of the snaps. I tend to believe that the tight end position will be handled by committee this season and Blake Jarwin will get some opportunities to show what he can do. I may not familiar with his body of work, but I am excited to see what Jarwin brings to the table and to learn why the Cowboys are so high on him.
Deonte Thompson WR
Massive changes have taken place at the WR position for the Dallas Cowboys and that has left fans wondering who will step up to be the new #1 guy in Dallas. Some believe that Allen Hurns will be the guy and others are looking to rookie 3rd round pick Michael Gallup but I believe that this season will be a group effort more than anything. I fully expect that this will be the 4th consecutive season that the Cowboys fail to produce a 1000 yard receiver and I am totally fine with that. This is a run first team and when it comes to the passing game, Prescott will spread the ball around and find the open guy. Having said that, I believe several different players are going to get involved and produce including an unproven veteran free agent named Deonte Thompson. Thompson is probably the fastest receiver on the team and he has the ability to separate. This will serve him well under new WR coach Sanjay Lal and with a QB like Dak Prescott. Prescott may not be the most accurate passer but he does make good decisions and will be patient and throw to the open guy more often than not. I don’t expect Thompson to have a monster year and I don’t expect him to outproduce the other WR’s on this team. I fully expect that his speed and ability to take the top off of a defense will allow him to make some big plays this season and he will probably have a couple of big time games as a result. My modest prediction is that Cowboy fans will remember the name Deonte Thompson by season’s end.
*Photo by | Dreamstime.com.LLC
All data and statistics obtained and verified from https://www.pro-football-reference.com/