Your biggest reason for optimism

[BlindFaith]

I don’t see top 10 potential but i sure hope so. That would be a pleasant surprise.

I think Q and Gary will have breakout years.

Downs, Thompson are chess pieces that CP will use to cause confusion.

I think Revel takes a huge step and Bland is healthy and back to near All Pro form. Add in Durant and the corners should be solid with good depth.

Winters, Overshown and Barham should be solid.

Wild cards are Eze and Lawrence. Eze should be improved. Lawrence should focus on being that third down pass rushing juice.

CP will generate pressure from confusion. We may not have any single league leader in any category, but we will have many guys involved and making an impact. Could even change from game to game.

They may start out a little slow, but once they get it rolling, offenses will struggle against them.

 

[ArtClink]

Jerry Jones is almost 84 and a heavy drinker.

You’re right. No team is perfect. Every team has roster holes. It’s just that some are bigger than others.

There are about 6-8 teams that have really good rosters and have a realistic chance to win the SB. IMO Dallas is not one of them.

I think we are a much better team for sure and I think we have a good shot to make the playoffs. Beyond that I have serious doubts. Hope I’m wrong.

The offense should be good unless Dak gets hurts. The defense can only be improved, but we need a great defense to have any chance of a deep playoff run. I like the moves we made in the offseason, but it's much more than acquiring new talent. It is also about your depth and backups. These are the players that will see playing time too and the elite teams (i.e., they actually make deep playoff runs) have higher quality backups because their organization gets great bang-for-the-buck players. Do we have enough quality backups to get us into the playoffs and beyond? We know injuries will occur and the "next man up" in Dallas can be scary.

 

[BlindFaith]

3-4 rooks would have to be able to play immediately at a decent level to vault us into top 10.

Nah. If every guy on defense plays up to their potential, we can see top 10.

Q - top 3 DT
Clark - Top 6 NT
Ogo - 20ish DT
Winters - top 15 LB
Overshown - 10-15 LB
Gary - top 10 OLB
Combo of EZE and Lawrence - 15ish
Revel - 1st round pick potential
Bland - top 10 if healthy
Thompson - Could be top 5 in this defense
Downs - Will vye for RDPoY

Thats your starters. Add in CP and a new defensive scheme and I certainly see top 10 potential.

 

[DuncanIso]

This guy should have destroyed ANY optimism that any Cowboys fan might have......

It does make it tough.

His way or highway.

Jerry basically destroyed the defense.

 

[DallasEast]

This guy should have destroyed ANY optimism that any Cowboys fan might have......

 

[Rockport]

Pickens and Lamb
Williams and Blue
Almost all new players on defense
New DC and entire defensive coaching staff
Aubrey
Dak

 

[gtb1943]

Nah. If every guy on defense plays up to their potential, we can see top 10.

Q - top 3 DT
Clark - Top 6 NT
Ogo - 20ish DT
Winters - top 15 LB
Overshown - 10-15 LB
Gary - top 10 OLB
Combo of EZE and Lawrence - 15ish
Revel - 1st round pick potential
Bland - top 10 if healthy
Thompson - Could be top 5 in this defense
Downs - Will vye for RDPoY

Thats your starters. Add in CP and a new defensive scheme and I certainly see top 10 potential.

your screen name is well chosen
virtually every single evaluation there is too high

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

I'm more optimistic than I have been in a few years but that's not really saying much. Making the playoffs would be a huge accomplishment and a step in the right direction. SB is way beyond my expectations.

The reason for my optimism is what seems to be a strategic shift in team building with an emphasis on the middle. DT, LB and S. We're better up the middle on paper but we're not quite there yet.

Some seasoning and a couple more players and we might be on to something.

This x 1000. The middle of the defense has been PROPERLY addressed

 

[DarkVader33]

Yeah, the tackles are a question….but, they were a similar question last year and we still had a top O….so I have faith that even with some minor injury, they can still be a upper echelon O…hopefully lol. Yeah, Dak, I just don’t know what to think….we have seen him perform like a stud and be a top QB in the reg season, but some games he just stinks (happens to all QB occasionally, but he does it in the playoffs too much)…not sure if it’s just an occasional bad game, or it’s psych and he will get a mental block in bigger playoff games.

I’ve always said his biggest issue is consistency, which appears to be what you described. Besides his own warts, he and the rest of the team had been let down by coaching IMO. Coaches on other teams do it as well, but come playoff time they get too cute and don’t do what was working during the season. Some of that is due to facing better Ds as well.

 

[DarkVader33]

That still doesn't provide proof that Jerry stepped aside. Let's take the Parker hire, for example. Maybe Jerry thought he was pulling something by luring him away from Philly. He wasn't their defensive coordinator. So who knows why that decision was really made.

I'm only arguing that no one knows 100%, including Stallone Bro, that Jerry is letting anyone make decisions. Bro said "just about everybody believes this", which isn't true. Aside from you and Bro almost no one believes it, so where's the proof Jerry is stepping back and allowing that to happen?

After what Dallas fans have endured the past 30 years are you really going to put that much trust so quickly in that guy? You would be a fool to do so.

You make some valid points. However, it has seemed different this year. Just look at the draft videos, Jerry didn’t seem to be involved too much. I’m also not convinced yet as I want to see going forward if Jerry still sticks his nose into things or not. I’m going to wait and see what happens next.

 

[NotForLong]

Just prior to the start of training camp, I wanted to talk about the general feeling of optimism for this upcoming season (or not if you’re feeling pessimistic).

I honestly feel more optimistic about this team than I have in several years.

I think they’re really capable of competing for a Championship this year.
My own biggest reason for being optimistic is mainly the defense.

In Year One under Schottenheimer, the Cowboys offense was playoff caliber. It wasn’t perfect, but it was right there among the best. And all starters are returning, so I feel good about that side of the ball.

But the 2025 defense was an absolute disaster. And there’s nowhere to go but up. And I feel they’ve improved a great deal in personnel.

But I’m most impressed with the coaching staff they’ve been able to put together.

Consider the pedigree of these coaches:

• Christian Parker - he’s coached several of the best defensive backs in the entire league. In 2025, his Eagles secondary ranked 8th in passing defense (189.8 ypg) and 5th in scoring defense (19.1 ppg) and allowed the fewest passing touchdowns in the league.
• Derrick Ansley - In 2025, his Packers pass defense ranked 11th in the NFL, giving up 194.1 yards per game.
• Marcus Dixon - In 2025, the Vikings defensive unit ranked 2nd in passing yards allowed (158.5 ypg). Dixon has had a significant impact on both the defensive linemen as well as the linebackers in his defense.
• Brandon "BT" Jordan - served as a pass rush specialist for the Denver Broncos, where he helped coach a unit that ranked 1st in the NFL in total sacks.

The proven track record of this staff is what gives the most confidence going into this season.

everything you said. 100% this . . . Then I think of Dak and I come crashing back to reality. My optimism is tempered. It will be fun for the 17 weeks of the regular season . . . then playoffs and it is one and done

I am optimistic that the defense will not be the escape goat but they are not at the level to carry us for the 3 game gauntlet it would take to won a championship

If Dak in some way gets a clue this year I will be pleasantly surprised

 

[BlindFaith]

your screen name is well chosen
virtually every single evaluation there is too high

We shall see

 

[Stash]

everything you said. 100% this . . . Then I think of Dak and I come crashing back to reality. My optimism is tempered. It will be fun for the 17 weeks of the regular season . . . then playoffs and it is one and done

I am optimistic that the defense will not be the escape goat but they are not at the level to carry us for the 3 game gauntlet it would take to won a championship

If Dak in some way gets a clue this year I will be pleasantly surprised

I think the two games where he really struggled against the 49ers defense really taints the overall view of his playoff performances.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/P/PresDa01/gamelog/post/

He’s played quite well in other playoff games.