We wouldn't be going back to that, because time marches on.
Last year, the wholesale changes on offense in the offseason should have been expected to induce some floundering early in the season. WRs different. TEs different. Interior oline different, with a backup and a rookie, and losing an All Pro.
Other things changed when Cooper came along. Alexander out. Colombo in. Most people think that improved the oline.
All the changes together with Cooper increased our offensive output 2 whole points a game. Should Cooper get credit for the whole entire 2 points? Maybe just one point? Is that worth 17mil a year?
And did you know we were actually outscored in the final 9 games of the regular season? We got a lot of wins, but not a single one was more than a 1score game.
This year, our JV TEs are a little closer to varsity now. Witten is back. Fredbeard is back. Which is huge. And we lost no one on the oline, unlike last year, where we lost 2. And this year, Linehan is out. I don't know what Boy Genius II will give us, but I've been Anyone But Linehan since early in the season. It's not just that we played poorly on offense, but the scheme just blew.
Like you, I think this makes more sense with Lawrence. He has performance red flags - 5 sacks in the last 14 games. He has injury flags. He costs more, and he's older. I really hope we cash him in. For whatever we can get.
Cooper is good. I like him. If I'm going to spend big money on a WR, Cooper is a good one to spend on . But I don't like spending big money on WRs. For me, Cooper is a strategic cap issue. I don't think you build a championship team by making a WR one of your most costly players. Do you?
This is a fair discussion, and you are right that there should be improvement in the offense over the first part of last year because of more than just Cooper.
I do, however, think the scoring numbers you mention are misleading, because there aren’t that many games in an NFL season, and obviously are fewer when breaking down to parts of seasons, so the numbers can be skewed by individual games, and may not take consistency into account. For example, the numbers before Cooper came are skewed by one game the Cowboys won 40-7, but that game was not representative of that part of the season. Similarly, the numbers during the successful second part of the season - after Cooper came - are skewed by a 0-23 loss, which was not representative of that part of the season.
I’m interested more in consistency. For example, the Cowboys scored 27+ 6 times last year - once before Cooper, and 5 times after Cooper arrived. Dak had over 200 yards passing 11 times - 3 times before Cooper, and 8 times after Cooper arrived. Dak’s QB ratings were also consistently better after Cooper arrived.
Granted, Cooper can’t take all the credit, but I think it made a big difference in a lot of ways, including team confidence, and Dak’s confidence, to have that receiver that everyone believed in. He wasnt an inexperienced rookie like Gallup, or a well past his prime player like Hurns, or a career underachiever like Austin, or a one dimensional player like Beasley. He gave the receiving group its Zeke Elliott. That boosts everyone’s confidence.
Dak hasn’t had that Drew Pearson/Michael Irvin/Jason Witten player to pair with, have supreme confidence in and build a chemistry with the way past Cowboy QBs have. Cooper is the first, best chance for that.
