A Cowboys win is no longer universally accepted as a good thing among Dallas Cowboys fans. That would depend if said fans associate themselves with Team Tank or Team Hope. Half of Cowboys nation is cheering for their team to win out and against all odds make a playoff run. The other half believes this team is so bad that it has no chance and therefore would be better off losing out, securing the highest draft pick possible, and living to fight another day. The Cowboys win against the Bengals on Sunday was a firm blow against the latter collection of fans.
I myself am not typically a proponent of Team Tank but I do understand that the 2021 draft presents a unique opportunity. The general consensus among those in the draft community is that there are several high end QB prospects such as Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, Zach Wilson, and Trey Lance. With quarterback being the most sought after position, there is a unique opportunity to collect a large bounty of draft picks in a trade back from a team desperate for a quarterback. Furthermore, those same members of the draft community universally agree that there is also a deficit of elite tier talent at other positions at the top of the draft. Without a premiere generational pass rusher like Chase Young, or a shutdown cornerback such as Jalen Ramsey; With the absence of a dominant interior lineman the quality of a Derrick Brown, and no game changing safety such as Jamal Adams or Minkah Fitzpatrick, there is not a single player most Dallas Cowboys fans can really get excited about in the top 10 picks of the 2021 draft. Instead, there is a collection of very talented players with various question marks. The most concerning aspect of the 2021 draft is the amount of top prospects who have opted out of playing football in 2020 so the draft evaluation process is as muddy as ever. That is why members of Team Tank are hoping to trade back and secure as many additional draft picks as possible.
The Dallas Cowboys are more than one or two players away from improving this team, especially on defense. A strong draft class and a successful free agent pool are necessary ingredients to turn this team around in 2021. Did the Dallas Cowboys win on Sunday do more harm than good for the long term health of this franchise? I don’t think it was as catastrophic as hard core members of Team Tank make it out to be. The trade back scenario in the draft may just be a pipe dream. The first 2 picks, which most believe are going to be used to select Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields to the Jets and Jaguars respectively, are completely out of reach. While the other QB prospects are sure to generate some interest from other teams it is far less likely the Cowboys will be able to secure a Kings ransom for those guys anyway. That is without factoring in the global pandemic that has caused turmoil in our everyday lives and has had an equal impact on professional and college sports. Last year the 2020 draft was clearly impacted because teams had far less access to players than they normally do during the lead up to the draft and subsequently far less information than they are usually privy to. As a result, there was very little trade activity in last years draft. This year, not only will there be limited access, but there are all of those players who have not played football in an entire year. I imagine teams would be more reluctant to risk trading away picks with far less certainty about their prospects.
So what happens now that the dream of picking in the top 3 is all but dead? Even with the Cowboys win on Sunday, the teams current projected draft position of top 5 has remained unchanged. It has been a difficult year for Dallas Cowboys fans and many believe that the worst case scenario would be for the team to miss the playoffs AND miss out on a top 5 draft pick. For those fans I offer this consolation. As previously mentioned, the potential to trade back for a massive haul of draft picks is highly unlikely. Like it or not, the Cowboys will be trotting out most of the same players next year and likely most of the same coaching staff. If the team continues to get pummelled by the competition week after week it is damaging to the confidence and culture of the current core players. What is the point of drafting a bunch of young players if they are going to be brought in to play with a bunch of losers who have nothing to build on from the previous season? Every Cowboys win from here on out is an injection of confidence and positive energy that will hopefully carry over into next season. That is true no matter how bad the competition is or however lucky the circumstances. So whether it is a miracle onside kick or a butt fumble return for a defensive touchdown, celebrate every Dallas Cowboys win like it is their last. Let’s face it, the win against the Bengals could very well be the last one we get to celebrate in 2020.
*Photo by Joe Glorioso All-Pro Reelshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/legalcode