It has been said for far too long that the Cowboys have one of the most talented rosters in the NFL. It’s especially been said by Jerry and Stephen. I’m not here to say that this team is not talented. We certainly have some talent.
But I’m of the opinion that talent should be measured by what it accomplishes for your team. Whatever level of talent we have had the last 5 years has translated into 1 wild card playoff win under two different coaching staffs. TALENT SHOULD BE MEASURED BY THE RESULTS IT GIVES. If all we get is an occasional divisional “title” is that great?
We fans love our team and our players. But sometimes we have to take off the fan glasses and see things as they really are.
To avoid having a super long post, here are just some examples on offense of overrated talent here:
- WR’S and TE’s one of the best groups in the NFL? Let’s tap the brakes.
- Amari Cooper- he’s certainly a talented receiver. And he’s paid like it. But the last 9 games of the season he avg about 45 yds per game. Why do we think paying Cooper all that money “is worth it”? What did it translate to? He’s good but he’s not consistent to pay him top dollar IMO.
- Cedee Lamb had a statistically good year last year, but his drops are nearly league leading. He gets lazy at times and had several lapses in focus in the playoff game against the niners that cost us dearly. He needs to improve a lot to be called “great”.
- Michael Gallup missed most of the season with an injury and was re-injured at the end of the season. I love Gallup, but he wasn’t there for most of the season. Probably gone anyway.
- Dalton Schultz- a good but not great TE who will probably command more in FA than we can pay. Blake Jarwin? Unless we’re playing the giants, he’s a spare.
- OL- too many TV people and PFF people act like this is a top 5 OL. It isn’t.
- Tyron Smith- the once greatest player on this team has turned into a constant injury waiting to happen. He’s missed a whopping 32 games the last 5 seasons, and hasn’t played a full season since 2015. We need to stop pretending this is working.
- Tyler Biadz- gets manhandled on a regular basis. Thankfully, Connor “Holding” Williams will be gone next year. But Biadz either needs more help if he’s going stay at C.
- La’El Collins- like Smith has missed a ton of games- some to injury some to his own stupidity. But he’s not been that great at RT. Maybe he could play LG again as he did back in 2016. But he either needs to get better or we say adios.
- Zack Martin is still great. But he alone doesn’t make this a great OL.
- RB and QB-
- Zeke Elliott- the highest paid RB in the league is killing the cap, barely producing any kind of reliable yardage and just looks old and slow. Tony Pollard should have had more snaps last year but the Jones family sees him as a family member not a football player on their team. He needs to be released.
- Dak- I’m not a Dak “hater”. I still think he’s capable of leading this team to a SB. Lots of QBs with less talent have already done it. But he’s never going to be a “carry the team on his back” kind of QB.
Bottom line Cowboys fans:
This offense’s talent is seriously overrated. We need to seriously upgrade the OL, shave some cap space off the WR and RB positions and draft some guys that can help immediately. Dak’s contract will be restructured.
Great post. I would be OK with Coopers mediocre numbers if it was opening up the game for other playmakers...but we do not have anybody that could take a 10 yard pass like Tyrek Hill did and take it to the house 60+ yards
Cee Dee Lamb is a 1st round pick....he should not need the "presence" of an Amari Cooper to "get off". He is not fast. His mythical legendary YAC is a reputation he earned against college kids...have not seen it at the pros. And he has a lot of drops. I would take Deebo Samules over him any day.
I think La'el Collins has the physical traits to be top 5 at his postion...just not the commitment, focus and discipline. I think I read him and Dak are pretty close of the field...well part of the money Dak is being paid is for him to get the best out of the players in the lockeroom...especiall the ones that are supposed to block for him. Tyron Smith is top 10...he has a 2 good years left...but people need to STOP acting like he is the best in the league. In fact, there has been all of this HOF talk...and sorry....I don't see it...HOF based on what?
The LG and C are so bad that it brings the entire foundation of this offense down. Especially against good teams. There is a reason people picked SF to win...and being soft up the middle on BOTH lines is why. And good coaches like Kyle Shanahann went to work exposing it over and over and over....
Zeke used to be top 3 in the NFL...he is beat up and is barely serviceable. His contract is what it is at this point. He should not carry the ball more than 15 times a game...especially if you want him to last the season and 3 or 4 games in the playoffs. Pollard is not enough either. The RB position needs to be re-thought in Dallas. With 17 games and lack of a 1st round bye...you have to think 3 RBs. And you cannot have 3 RBs if one of your RB is the highest paid in the NFL.
Dak is what he is. His ceiling is Russell Wilson. That is good enough to win IF....IF....you have good coaching (Pete Carroll)...good defense (Legion of Boom) and a solid running game (Marshawn Lynch). Mike McCarthy is NOTHING as a head coach if you ask me. Our defense is not close to being Legion of Boom (not nearly physical enough)....and Zeke is a shell of himself. If this is what we need to win with Dak...we are a LOT farther away than people think. Especially since it is clear we are going to run it back with MM. Piling up stats against the NFC East and other losing teams tricked us into thinking we were better than we were.
Postseason represents the best coaches and gameplans in the NFL. We don't have enough of either to win 4 consecutive games. Too undisciplined. Too soft. And a waste at head coach.
