This past season, the Dallas Cowboys made the playoffs but failed to break their 23 year streak of not advancing past the divisional round of the playoffs. The last few times they made it this far, they followed that up by missing the playoffs the following season. Here are 5 Dallas Cowboys offseason moves that can potentially help them avoid repeating history and maybe even advance to the NFC championship game or beyond.
1. LOAD UP ON THE INTERIOR DL
The Dallas Cowboys front office have for too long ignored the need to bolster the defensive tackle position. They have refused to invest early round draft capitol or spend free agent dollars on a legitimate one technique, run stuffing defensive tackle. This year, as great as the defense performed (especially against the run) that weakness was exposed in the regular season loss against the Colts and the playoff loss to the Rams. The Dallas Cowboys simply could not stop the bleeding in those games where they were matched up against a dominant offensive line and a team that can run the ball down their throat. The Cowboys have some talented players in Antwaun Woods and Maliek Collins in place already. They should spend an early round draft pick on a Dexter Lawrence (Clemson) or Ed Alexander (LSU) and in addition sign an established run stopper in free agency as a rotational piece (Danny Shelton, Malcolm Brown, Johnathan Hankins). That would give them some much needed depth and the option to adjust their personnel more effectively if they are once again in a situation similar to the losses against the Colts and Rams. At the very least, they could pick their poison and make those teams beat them passing the football instead of helplessly getting pounded on in the ground game. The Dallas Cowboys brass has long believed that a 2 down player is not worth the price of a high draft pick or significant free agent money but if that player can help them create 3rd and long situations and get the defense off the field than perhaps they should reevaluate their thought process.
2. IMPROVE THE BACKFIELD DEPTH
Ezekiel Elliott is arguably the best running back in football but clearly he was overworked last season. Too often, he was taken out of games to catch his breath or was seen limping off the field. When Rod Smith took his place on the field there was a huge drop off in production. The Dallas Cowboys are in dire need of a complimentary running back who can lesson Zeke’s workload and at the same time provide a different look for the defense to consider. A scat back in the mold of Tarik Cohen of the Bears could add another dimension to the Dallas Cowboys offense. Cohen is an exceptional talent and the Cowboys can’t expect to get a player as dynamic as he but there could be several players available in the draft with similar skill sets that can be used in the same type of role. Also in the spirit of improving the backfield, the Cowboys could aim to upgrade the fullback position. Jamize Olawale, who replaced Keith Smith at FB, was unimpressive this past season both in the offense and on special teams.
3. UPGRADE SPECIAL TEAMS
Keeping with special teams, the Dallas Cowboys regressed significantly in that area in 2018. That could be explained by the loss of longtime special teams coach Rich Bisaccia or the departure of key contributors Ryan Switzer, Keith Smith and Kyle Wilbur in 2018. Either way, something must be done to bring this unit back to respectability. The Dallas Cowboys did hire Carlos Polk to replace Doug Colman as assistant special teams coach but the addition of a dynamic return man (or featuring Tavon Austin if he returns) along with a few personnel changes could significantly improve this unit. If a change is made in the kicking game, hopefully it will be a kicker that performs more consistently than Brett Maher did last year AND a kicker that is able to get touchbacks on kickoffs more often than he did.
4. IMPROVE CB DEPTH
Safety is an area that the Cowboys will look to improve on in 2019 but they should not ignore the need at the cornerback position. In the pass happy NFL of 2019 the familiar adage holds true “You can never have enough cornerbacks”. Last season, the Cowboys operated with only 4 legitimate corners in Byron Jones, Chidobe Awuzie, Anthony Brown and Jourdan Lewis. Luckily, those players remained healthy and played well but the Cowboys are thin behind those guys. In the 2019 NFL draft, the Dallas Cowboys will look not only to address this position for the future but to add depth for this upcoming season. Whether this is done in the draft alone or in free agency as well, the Cowboys will look to find tall, lengthy corners that possess the traits that Kris Richard values. Hopefully, they can continue the recent trend of getting great value in the later rounds of the draft and not have to invest significant resources to find key contributors.
5. GET A LEGITIMATE BLOCKING TE
The Dallas Cowboys were blindsided by the retirement of Jason Witten last season and for the first time in 14 years, tight end emerged as a weakness. Blake Jarwin and Dalton Shultz started to emerge later in the year as reliable options in the passing game but both were overmatched at times as blockers. Those two young players will continue to develop to improve in that area, but for a team that relies so heavily on the run, adding a pure blocking tight end would be a crucial move. Then there is the Rico Gathers conundrum. Dallas Cowboys fans were hoping that when the Rico made the 53 man roster, he would be used primarily in the passing game as a red zone weapon. That was not the case, instead Gathers was used primarily as a blocking tight end. Kellen Moore is now the acting Offensive Coordinator so hope remains that the Cowboys will find a way to involve Rico Gathers more in such a way. If that were to happen, I would be fully on board but I remain sceptical. If the Dallas Cowboys can’t find a way to use him effectively they should move on from him entirely and go the route of seeking a pure blocking tight end.
These 5 areas of improvement will go a long way to helping the Dallas Cowboys build upon their 2018 playoff appearance. By no means are these the only Dallas Cowboys offseason moves that they need to make in order to take the next step. The First order of business is getting All-Pro defensive end Demarcus Lawrence under contract. Stay tuned for the continuation of this article “5 moves the Dallas Cowboys should NOT make for 2019”.
*Photo by Kieth Allison https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode