CFZ Pre-season update - One game left before the season starts

[DanA]

My thoughts based on what I've seen and reports I've read:

Defense:

• The defense understands Dan Quinn's defense better than they did this time of year last season.
• We have a genuine DPOY candidate in Micah
• We really don't have a weakness in the starting lineup which has simply not been the case in past years. We probably lack a second-star player but we seem to get a really even contribution.
• Depth is just outstanding across the board. I've got no worries about anybody that will make the roster.
• I'm starting to wonder if Bohanna is a starter alongside Gallimore. It would be a huge surprise given last year's play by Osa but I haven't heard his name called much and Bohanna looks great.
• Sam Williams is a bit like Tolbert, the potential is there to see but there are some rookie mistakes that he needs to work through to reach his potential as a player. I think there might be some early lumps to work through, but the talent he's flashing says it'll be worth it in the long run.

Offense:

• Tolbert looks like a rookie at a time we need him to be more. As I said with Sam Williams, the talent is there but we're seeing rookie mistakes that make me worry he's being given too much too soon.
• Ferguson is sneaky good at releasing from blocks into a route. Good ST player, very good blocker for a rookie, but that ability to get the opposition to bite on him blocking before releasing into a route is gonna be real handy in the RedZone.
• Tyler Smith is a beast. He might pick up some penalties but I'm glad we took him with our first-round pick. He's exactly what the run game needed. It looks like running between the tackles behind Smith is a huge upgrade on Connor Williams and Zeke desperately needs that if he's going to play well enough to keep his spot on the roster.
• We might as well put out a training cone as a swing tackle. We ain't got one.
• Farniok might be better than Tyler Biadasz, doubt we'll see it in the regular season though.
• Noah Brown took the step up last season, he just couldn't beat out Cedric Wilson to see regular snaps because Wilson was damn good. We're seeing it now though and I'm expecting him to be a solid no.3 / no.4 on top of a really good special teams player. I hope we sign him long-term.
• Turpin is a keeper. He's what we hoped Lucky Whitehead would be but never really was. I hope he has a few packages on offense to compliment the special teams because his speed and elusiveness are special and we need to be creative while waiting for Gallup to get healthy.
• I got nothing to say about Dak, Zeke, and Pollard and don't want to hear it until we've had a chance to see. Anything that could be said has been said 1 million times now.

I'd love to hear where people agree/disagree or anything I might have missed.

 

[Diehardblues]

“ we really don’t have a weakness in our starting roster “

You’re not serious are you ?

 

[Diehardblues]

• some see the receiving/tight end corps as the biggest issue for the Cowboys heading into 2022. When it comes to major problems on the Cowboys roster, most look at the offensive line.

A line that used to be the best in the league is now filled with older, injury-prone veterans and young, inexperienced players who have yet to prove themselves. After losing two mainstays on the line this offseason (La’el Collins and Connor Williams), it’s hard to say the Cowboys have really done much to fill those gaps. If Tyron goes goes down who hasn’t played a full season since 2015 we can sound the alarms. And that’s before we have seen what Tyler brings. More concerns than answers without further evidence.

But the reality is that the wide receiver corps and tight end group can also be seen as weaknesses. The team lost two of their most targeted receivers from 2021 and one of the other favorites will be out for multiple games due to an ACL tear. That leaves Lamb as the only Cowboys receiver from last year who will start for the team this season. That’s a bit scary.

 

[cristglo]

“ we really don’t have a weakness in our starting roster “

You’re not serious are you ?

I think he meant on the defense

 

[Ranched]

• I got nothing to say about Dak, Zeke, and Pollard and don't want to hear it until we've had a chance to see. Anything that could be said has been said 1 million times now.

It's been 6 years for Elliott. How much more do we need to see that he went down hill since sighing on the dotted line?!

 

[cristglo]

OL is what has me the most worried though I do feel that Smith is an upgrade over Williams. Swing T is most worrisome. Everyone knows Tyron is going to miss some games hoping that the swing T will be addressed through final cut downs.
The kicker is still a mystery IMO I can say that it does look like Maher has improved some. Not sure if that is saying much though.
As far as WR I still have flashbacks of the year we went WR by committee. lol

 

[JoeKing]

“ we really don’t have a weakness in our starting roster “

You’re not serious are you ?

I'm buying!

 

[JoeKing]

OL is what has me the most worried though I do feel that Smith is an upgrade over Williams. Swing T is most worrisome. Everyone knows Tyron is going to miss some games hoping that the swing T will be addressed through final cut downs.
The kicker is still a mystery IMO I can say that it does look like Maher has improved some. Not sure if that is saying much though.
As far as WR I still have flashbacks of the year we went WR by committee. lol

Allowing your anxiety over this roster to control your thoughts is always a bad approach to the season. I'm not saying ignore your feelings, just temper them with some faith in our stars. I believe our OL will be better than most people give them credit for. Our young WRs will answer the bell and serve us well. Our running game has new life if you have been watching the padded practices. The RPO is back for Dak, Zeke is healthy and Turpin on that jet sweep is a real treat. Pollard is still here to push Zeke and relieve him when needed. Maher 2.00 seems like an improvement to me. It's all wait and see but I'm approaching this season with a glass-half-full attitude.

 

[Acceptablename]

If you meant no weakness in defense ok
OLine still needs help
RB soon needs upgrade

 

[DanA]

If you meant no weakness in defense ok
OLine still needs help
RB soon needs upgrade

Yeah. Defense only. Not that it can’t be better, it’s just that I like the options on defense at every position, all seem above average to me. Between betting on rookies and injury prone players there’s more holes than Swiss cheese on the offense.

 

[DanA]

It's been 6 years for Elliott. How much more do we need to see that he went down hill since sighing on the dotted line?!

Just the last act. I knew the story of the Titanic as well but didn’t feel the need to shout “he’s gonna die” half way through the movie in the cinema. Everybody knows.

 

[Hadenough]

My thoughts based on what I've seen and reports I've read:

Defense:

• The defense understands Dan Quinn's defense better than they did this time of year last season.
• We have a genuine DPOY candidate in Micah
• We really don't have a weakness in the starting lineup which has simply not been the case in past years. We probably lack a second-star player but we seem to get a really even contribution.
• Depth is just outstanding across the board. I've got no worries about anybody that will make the roster.
• I'm starting to wonder if Bohanna is a starter alongside Gallimore. It would be a huge surprise given last year's play by Osa but I haven't heard his name called much and Bohanna looks great.
• Sam Williams is a bit like Tolbert, the potential is there to see but there are some rookie mistakes that he needs to work through to reach his potential as a player. I think there might be some early lumps to work through, but the talent he's flashing says it'll be worth it in the long run.

Offense:

• Tolbert looks like a rookie at a time we need him to be more. As I said with Sam Williams, the talent is there but we're seeing rookie mistakes that make me worry he's being given too much too soon.
• Ferguson is sneaky good at releasing from blocks into a route. Good ST player, very good blocker for a rookie, but that ability to get the opposition to bite on him blocking before releasing into a route is gonna be real handy in the RedZone.
• Tyler Smith is a beast. He might pick up some penalties but I'm glad we took him with our first-round pick. He's exactly what the run game needed. It looks like running between the tackles behind Smith is a huge upgrade on Connor Williams and Zeke desperately needs that if he's going to play well enough to keep his spot on the roster.
• We might as well put out a training cone as a swing tackle. We ain't got one.
• Farniok might be better than Tyler Biadasz, doubt we'll see it in the regular season though.
• Noah Brown took the step up last season, he just couldn't beat out Cedric Wilson to see regular snaps because Wilson was damn good. We're seeing it now though and I'm expecting him to be a solid no.3 / no.4 on top of a really good special teams player. I hope we sign him long-term.
• Turpin is a keeper. He's what we hoped Lucky Whitehead would be but never really was. I hope he has a few packages on offense to compliment the special teams because his speed and elusiveness are special and we need to be creative while waiting for Gallup to get healthy.
• I got nothing to say about Dak, Zeke, and Pollard and don't want to hear it until we've had a chance to see. Anything that could be said has been said 1 million times now.

I'd love to hear where people agree/disagree or anything I might have missed.

Sounds good to me!

 

[JustChip]

• Tolbert looks like a rookie at a time we need him to be more.
  
  
• Noah Brown took the step up last season, he just couldn't beat out Cedric Wilson to see regular snaps because Wilson was damn good. We're seeing it now though and I'm expecting him to be a solid no.3 / no.4 on top of a really good special teams player. I hope we sign him long-term.

Tolbert failing to get both feet down for a TD shows he’s not ready for prime-time. I understand these guys have played their whole lives under only needing 1 foot down, but football instincts and situational awareness should’ve prevailed.

There is no reason to sign Noah Brown to a long-term deal, at least not unless it’s cheap, because he’s simply a complimentary player. Just keep casting the lure for the bottom 1/2 of the receiver core through the draft. Semi Fehoko is this year’s version of Noah Brown 3 years ago.

 

[beware_d-ware]

Trysten Hill is showing signs of life after everyone left him for dead. The weakest spot on this roster IMO is DT, and if Hill is ready to step up and contribute, we could definitely use it.

 

[CouchCoach]

Need to use your best Wolf Brand Chili voiceover for this.

"How long has it been since you were actually looking forward to seeing the Cowboys D take the field? Well, that's too long".

 

[Iago33]

My thoughts based on what I've seen and reports I've read:

Defense:

• The defense understands Dan Quinn's defense better than they did this time of year last season.
• We have a genuine DPOY candidate in Micah
• We really don't have a weakness in the starting lineup which has simply not been the case in past years. We probably lack a second-star player but we seem to get a really even contribution.
• Depth is just outstanding across the board. I've got no worries about anybody that will make the roster.
• I'm starting to wonder if Bohanna is a starter alongside Gallimore. It would be a huge surprise given last year's play by Osa but I haven't heard his name called much and Bohanna looks great.
• Sam Williams is a bit like Tolbert, the potential is there to see but there are some rookie mistakes that he needs to work through to reach his potential as a player. I think there might be some early lumps to work through, but the talent he's flashing says it'll be worth it in the long run.

Offense:

• Tolbert looks like a rookie at a time we need him to be more. As I said with Sam Williams, the talent is there but we're seeing rookie mistakes that make me worry he's being given too much too soon.
• Ferguson is sneaky good at releasing from blocks into a route. Good ST player, very good blocker for a rookie, but that ability to get the opposition to bite on him blocking before releasing into a route is gonna be real handy in the RedZone.
• Tyler Smith is a beast. He might pick up some penalties but I'm glad we took him with our first-round pick. He's exactly what the run game needed. It looks like running between the tackles behind Smith is a huge upgrade on Connor Williams and Zeke desperately needs that if he's going to play well enough to keep his spot on the roster.
• We might as well put out a training cone as a swing tackle. We ain't got one.
• Farniok might be better than Tyler Biadasz, doubt we'll see it in the regular season though.
• Noah Brown took the step up last season, he just couldn't beat out Cedric Wilson to see regular snaps because Wilson was damn good. We're seeing it now though and I'm expecting him to be a solid no.3 / no.4 on top of a really good special teams player. I hope we sign him long-term.
• Turpin is a keeper. He's what we hoped Lucky Whitehead would be but never really was. I hope he has a few packages on offense to compliment the special teams because his speed and elusiveness are special and we need to be creative while waiting for Gallup to get healthy.
• I got nothing to say about Dak, Zeke, and Pollard and don't want to hear it until we've had a chance to see. Anything that could be said has been said 1 million times now.

I'd love to hear where people agree/disagree or anything I might have missed.

Good post. The only real issue I have is the Williams/Tolbert comparison. Sam Williams is not ready because he has raw athleticism. The talent stands out even though he needs a lot of work on technique. Tolbert hasn’t stood out with his athleticism or in any other way. He might develop into a good NFL receiver, but they seem like very different prospects.

 

[Joe Realist]

7 - 10

 

[KJJ]

We haven’t seen any of our top players so it’s hard to tell what type of team we have until opening day. The preseason is all about young players battling for jobs and roster spots. You certainly can’t come to any conclusions off of what we’ve seen so far. Our starting lineup will look completely different than what we’ve seen in the first two preseason games. The Rams lost all their preseason games last year and went on to win the Super Bowl. We’ll find out where the Cowboys are on September 11.

 

[Big D]

offense: I'm worry about the line depth but we should be able to run the ball better than last yr. It'll bring the overall production #s down but we'll have more control over games.
defense: looks good on paper, we'll know for sure the first time a team dedicated to the run game shows up.
special teams: we're good at pr/kr kicker, not so much. I hope it doesn't come back to bite us.

 

[Jarntt]

It will be interesting to see when the lights come on if Gallimore splits his time between 1 tech and 3 tech on early downs like I think he will (obviously a 1 tech on passing downs). It will definitely impact the last DT spot on the 53 if they don't play him at both. Our best run defense looks like Bohanna at 1 tech and Gallimore at 3 tech right now. But Osa flashed last year the first month or so. If he takes a leap forward or just plays like that guy from the beginning of 2021 he is going to get a lot of snaps