- QB:
- Dak gets a B+. Would have been an A but had some bad stretches at the worst times. Had one of the best QB statistical years in Cowboys history. (Even though most stats are overrated) He showed great improvement and I think he’s overly criticized by too many fans here.
- Cooper Rush- Incomplete.
- RB:
- Jamize Olawale- D. What is his function? is he still running that deep route we saw in Chicago? LOL.
- WR:
- Amari Cooper- B. Much like Zeke, Cooper was great except when he wasn’t, which came at the worst time this year. I’m actually against signing him to a big contract. I can’t find a recent SB winner with a top 3 paid WR price tag.
- Michael Gallup- A. He had a great year. Emerged as a legit ProBowl type player with 1k season. Big time player now.
- Randall Cobb- B+. Had over 800 yards as the 3rd option which was very good. Getting a little older but I say keep him.
- Tavon Austin: C. Not used much. Still explosive but often injured. I wouldn’t bring him back.
- OL:
- Tyron Smith: B-. The back, knee and other injuries are piling up on what used to be the best LT in football. He’s still good, but no longer great. Too many penalties.
- Connor Williams: D. One of the bigger disappointments this year. Needs to rebound from injury to prove something.
- Travis Frederick: B-. I chalk this year up to his rebound from his recovery from the illness. I expect him to be better next year.
- Zack Martin: A. The most consistently outstanding player on the team, period. All Pro, maybe HOFer.
- La’el Collins: A-. Had a very good year. His most consistent year so far and he still has upside.
- Tight End
- Jason Witten: B-. He needs to retire for good. I say that because I love JW. But he’s definitely not the future.
- Blake Jarwin: B+. He can be a passing game playmaker. Not a great blocker but needs more PT to develop.
- Dalton Schultz: C-. Known as “the blocking TE” since he only caught one pass. Needs to improve a lot or he should be gone.
Thoughts on Offense and STs in 2020
- We should still have some firepower on offense.
- I would NOT sign Cooper. He’s super talented but IMO WRs don’t need to soak up huge cap space.
I see a lot of grading on a curve.
I have to give Dak an A-. He played to a level I didn't think he could reach. Exceeded expectations.
Think about how different we'd be feeling about Dak, and the team, if he had been healthy against the Eagles. Think about if he had had a contract, and wasn't understandably worried about ripping up his shoulder going into free agency. The most reasonable interpretation of his inaccuracy in the Eagles game is that he was hurt. In each game on either side, 125+ QB rating, 40+ points. Looking back, should we not have played Rush? Another coaching failure. One that likely cost us a playoff home game for a team that looked kind of hot in 2/3 of its last games. The silver lining is it also cost Garrett his job.
I'm in less of a hurry about Tyron. Makes second team Pro Bowl, not an alternate. He looked basically healthy. I think he turned the corner with his back. It's something he'll we watching, but unlike 2017-2018, it wasn't obviously limiting his play on the field.
I'd give Williams at least a C+. Improved from last year. Not a noticeable problem. Better than Schultz and Witten.
Olawale. He was open on that deep pass against Chicago. The play worked just as it should have as far as he was concerned. Olawale was just a coaching failure. We brought back a guy we barely used in 2018 to a surprisingly high contract, and then barely used him again. Either we weren't using a guy who had more, or we completely misjudged him when we brought him back. I want to hear the story on Olawale. There must be a reason they didn't use him.
On the WRs and TEs:
Much like the team, you left out Devin Smith. We took a flyer on a consensus second round pick who just might finally be healthy, he was, and he played like a 2nd round pick on a new team in the preseason. He looked like our fourth best. In his limited regular-season play time, Dak had a 137 qb rating when throwing to him. And yet he wasn't even active for much of the season. And don't tell me it's because he didn't do special teams. His draft profile touts him as one of the best gunners in the nation. This is another story I want to hear, although I have my doubts I'll get it given that the mothership kept radio silence on Smith for all but a week in preseason.
One key is looking at half year splits. Second half of the season, Cobb got great, Witten got awful. Cobb's QB rating when thrown to was in the 120s. Witten's collapsed from the 120s in the first 8 to something awful in the last 8, where his ypt was less than 5. 5! That's a joke.
Witten has got to go. Schultz needs to compete for play time with some developmental guys, and should be gone unless he makes a huge jump. We should bring in a lot of TEs. One true blocker. And train Knight and/or Williams as short yardage blocking TEs.
On the offense as a whole:
I don't see Jerry letting Cooper walk. I'm doubtful about paying big bucks to WRs too, but that was baked into the cake the moment we traded a 1st for him.
Cooper and Dak get tagged, if nothing else. The only people we "lose" on offense are dead weight. Witten. WAddition by subtraction.
I like it a lot if we keep Cobb and Cooper. We should go 3-4 wide as a matter of course given our personnel. No FB, and nothing but Jarwin at TE. 2 of Jarwin/Cobb/Smith/Pollard rotate in depending on the matchups. Pollard is the bigger, stronger version of the rb/wr threat Austin was supposed to be. McCarthy makes it extra likely we go 3-4 wide more often.
The oline only improves. Fredbeard gets healthy. Williams likely continues to improve, and McGovern takes LG if he can top that. That's a great oline. Smith/Fredbeard/Martin/Collins could all make the Pro Bowl.
Zeke doesn't miss camp. Pollard puts on some muscle and improves his route running.
Franchise QB. Great oline. Great RBs. Great WRs. So many playmakers. No dead weight. Looks like a *great* offense to me, with McCarthy likely to push us in the direction we should have gone this year.