The Dallas Cowboys special teams play, or rather lack thereof in 2019, was a major contributing factor to the team missing the playoffs last season. New head coach Mike McCarthy has made improving special teams a priority as a result. The first thing McCarthy did was hire former Rams special teams guru John Fassel. That hire alone will make a world of difference. Coaching matters as was proven when the transition from Rich Bisaccia to Kieth O’Quinn proved to be a colossal failure. In addition to the coaching change, some new personal will bring a new energy to the Dallas Cowboys special teams unit for 2020.
It could be argued that Brett Maher was directly responsible for the Cowboys missing the playoffs last year. He missed numerous field goals in very close games and thus he was replaced midseason by Kai Forbath. Forbath performed well but the Cowboys decided to bring in former Ram and Fassel pupil Greg Zuerlien to replace him. “Greg the Leg” as he is referred to by fans, has been perfect all throughout training camp according Cowboys beat writers. An improvement in the kicking game may be the boost the Dallas Cowboys special teams needs to reverse their fortunes.
Punter Chris Jones has struggled the past two seasons battling injuries and frankly in my opinion by being hung out to dry by awful special teams play. Many Cowboy fans wanted to see him replaced this offseason but I happen to be in the minority that believe he is in line for a break out season. Chris Jones is quite the athlete and a former quarterback. With John Fassel’s reputation for being both creative and a risk taker, I imagine Chris Jones will be involved in some special teams trickery this season.
The return game is another area where the Cowboys fell flat last season. The addition of a couple of rookies who could contribute in that department such as CeeDee Lamb and Trevon Diggs should help. The Cowboys also have Tony Pollard, Cedrick Wilson, and Jourdan Lewis at their disposal. Maybe it was bad luck or bad coaching that led to the poor returns in the return game but I am optimistic that this year will be a stark improvement.
Finally, one area that gives me a sense of optimistic hope that the Dallas Cowboys special teams will improve in 2020 is personnel. Long time long snapper L.P. Ladouceur will return for yet another season but there will also be some new blood in the ranks. Rookie defensive back Reggie Robinson II is one first year player who I expect will make an immediate impact in that department. Mike McCarthy stressed the importance of building the roster with players that can contribute on special teams. The Cowboys lost key contributors such as Jamize Olawale, Justin March, C.J. Goodwin, and Jeff Heath. They will replace them with new additions such as Rico Dowdle, Daryl Worley, Sean McKeon and Luke Gifford. Continuity is normally a good thing but not when the 2019 Dallas Cowboys special teams ranked near the bottom of the league. The coaching changes combined with the personnel changes may be exactly what the doctor ordered to cure the woes of the Dallas Cowboys special teams.
*Photo by Chris Hunkeler https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode