A successful season will probably depend on role players

DallasDomination

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It’s going to come down to the same thing every year-

Dak
Zeke
Wrs
Defense

rookies

Coaching

and Jerry getting in the way
 

Redball Express

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We all know who the star players are here, and we know their importance to our success- Dak, Zeke, Cooper, Ty Smith, Zack Martin, D-Law, Jaylon Smith, etc. Stars are an obvious necessary ingredient for any any team to have success on the field.

But the purpose of this thread is to look at the importance of our role players- guys that are starters or have significant playing time but aren’t considered “stars”. It’s the role players that often get teams over the hump. If these guys have good seasons, it greatly increases our chances of getting where we want to go.

Here are the guys (and positions)- these role players’ performances may hold the keys to our success this year:
  • Whoever plays C and LG- will it be Joe Looney or Tyler Biadez, or maybe Connor McGovern at C? . Will Connor Williams finally get it together at LG? Or will someone else step up?
  • Who will step up in the slot receiver role? Will Cedee Lamb be everything we hope for? Will he become a star by year’s end? Will Michael Gallup continue his rise?
  • Will FA signings D-Poe and Gerald McCoy actually become the run stoppers and interior force we signed them to be? If these guys pan out, our D has a chance for instant improvement. If not, we will be challenged to stop people.
  • Will 2018 stud rookie LB LVE return to 2018 form or continue to be an injury problem? If he’s as good as he was in 2018, the defense will be so much better.
  • Will the S position performance improve or stay the same? With the band-aid addition of Ha Ha, I don’t see a major upgrade, but hopefully I’m wrong.
  • Will Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis finally be as good as we hoped when drafted in 2017? This is probably their last chance to prove themselves. If either or both can be consistently good, the defense has a real chance to be decent.
So here’s my short list of key role players for us this year. If most of them have really good years, so will the Cowboys:
  • Connor Williams (And/or Connor Mac, Tyler Biadaz or Joe Looney)
  • Cedee Lamb and Michael Gallup
  • Gerald McCoy and D-Poe
  • LVE
  • Ha Ha CD or some other S
  • Awuzie and Lewis
I’m sure I left some guys out. Who are the role players we must have step up this year?
Unfortunately our team becuz of its salary choices to over pay the stars..

depth has to be way down the line.

Been that way since FA started.

What bugs me about this topic is that for once in the last 25 years..

we have budgeted all our cap again towards resigning the stars and again..

depth and play of the depth are going out the window again.

Whatever happens with Dak..

our money is going to Dak's ever increasing contract.

Yes and others as we all know.

But your topic does not exist in it's own little category.

It's part of the out of balance way of assigning where and how assets are to be used.

Your post wants to single out each player for a thumbs up or down.

I see it as more or less systemic.

Change the way the team spends constantly on offense..

spend more on the defense..

spend more on STs..

have more for depth positions..

change the team to a more balanced and consistently balanced team.

It's just way out of whack the way it is and helps explain why we have not won in 25 years.

The 90s teams were never like this. And we had Wannstead, Davis as coaches, Jimster was a defensive coach..etc.

We departed from that after 1996 and have never gotten back there.

So your topic envisions some things.

Just not enough.
 
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Whirlwin

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We all know who the star players are here, and we know their importance to our success- Dak, Zeke, Cooper, Ty Smith, Zack Martin, D-Law, Jaylon Smith, etc. Stars are an obvious necessary ingredient for any any team to have success on the field.

But the purpose of this thread is to look at the importance of our role players- guys that are starters or have significant playing time but aren’t considered “stars”. It’s the role players that often get teams over the hump. If these guys have good seasons, it greatly increases our chances of getting where we want to go.

Here are the guys (and positions)- these role players’ performances may hold the keys to our success this year:
  • Whoever plays C and LG- will it be Joe Looney or Tyler Biadez, or maybe Connor McGovern at C? . Will Connor Williams finally get it together at LG? Or will someone else step up?
  • Who will step up in the slot receiver role? Will Cedee Lamb be everything we hope for? Will he become a star by year’s end? Will Michael Gallup continue his rise?
  • Will FA signings D-Poe and Gerald McCoy actually become the run stoppers and interior force we signed them to be? If these guys pan out, our D has a chance for instant improvement. If not, we will be challenged to stop people.
  • Will 2018 stud rookie LB LVE return to 2018 form or continue to be an injury problem? If he’s as good as he was in 2018, the defense will be so much better.
  • Will the S position performance improve or stay the same? With the band-aid addition of Ha Ha, I don’t see a major upgrade, but hopefully I’m wrong.
  • Will Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis finally be as good as we hoped when drafted in 2017? This is probably their last chance to prove themselves. If either or both can be consistently good, the defense has a real chance to be decent.
So here’s my short list of key role players for us this year. If most of them have really good years, so will the Cowboys:
  • Connor Williams (And/or Connor Mac, Tyler Biadaz or Joe Looney)
  • Cedee Lamb and Michael Gallup
  • Gerald McCoy and D-Poe
  • LVE
  • Ha Ha CD or some other S
  • Awuzie and Lewis
I’m sure I left some guys out. Who are the role players we must have step up this year?
Special teams. I think we are the worst in the league last season. I think we traveled an extra 20+30 yards every single drive. It’s hard starting in your own 20 you can’t open up the offense . Takes individuals on special teams. I think it’s the only part of the game where you can see that
 

CouchCoach

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Special teams. I think we are the worst in the league last season. I think we traveled an extra 20+30 yards every single drive. It’s hard starting in your own 20 you can’t open up the offense . Takes individuals on special teams. I think it’s the only part of the game where you can see that
That is also one of the reasons that the Cowboys were #1 in offensive yardage.
 

Whirlwin

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I think we are a special-teams Play maker away from having a great season
 

Bobhaze

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Special teams. I think we are the worst in the league last season. I think we traveled an extra 20+30 yards every single drive. It’s hard starting in your own 20 you can’t open up the offense . Takes individuals on special teams. I think it’s the only part of the game where you can see that
You are so right. STs were bad in all areas.
  • We had no one who could return punts well enough to improve our field position.
  • Our punter had the worst year of his career which helped the opponents have better field position.
  • Our kicker for most of last year missed more easy FG attempts than any other K in the league.
  • Our punt and kickoff coverage teams were also terrible.
It was a perfect storm of ST nightmares last year. If we even get a little better in all phases, we may win an extra game or two.
 
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kskboys

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Couple more role players: Joe Thomas, Noah Brown. Joe played great when called upon to start. Noah is an excellent blocker and STer.

Funny thing is, we've had several excellent role players who were thrust into starting positions that should not have been. Jeff Heath leads the charge, but also Crawford and formerly Nick Hadyn.
 

Bobhaze

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Couple more role players: Joe Thomas, Noah Brown. Joe played great when called upon to start. Noah is an excellent blocker and STer.

Funny thing is, we've had several excellent role players who were thrust into starting positions that should not have been. Jeff Heath leads the charge, but also Crawford and formerly Nick Hadyn.
Great point. When role players are being counted on to do more than their role, they get exposed.

Reminds me of former fan favorite and great role player Bill Bates. He was a great STs player and played a role in certain defensive situations. But he was not an every down player. When he played too much outside his role, his limitations were exposed.

All great teams have role players that have an important but limited function to help the team win. Here’s hoping all our “role players” get to play within their limitations and make key contributions to a successful season.
 

kskboys

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Great point. When role players are being counted on to do more than their role, they get exposed.

Reminds me of former fan favorite and great role player Bill Bates. He was a great STs player and played a role in certain defensive situations. But he was not an every down player. When he played too much outside his role, his limitations were exposed.

All great teams have role players that have an important but limited function to help the team win. Here’s hoping all our “role players” get to play within their limitations and make key contributions to a successful season.
Woods also should've been more of a role player type, and it appears we may have a roster full of DE's who are role players, though I do have hopes for the rook.
 
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