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The original was posted on /r/nfl by /u/Excellent-Brothel-72 on 2025-02-27 19:59:39+00:00.
32 Teams/ 32 Teams - Dallas Cowboys
Team: Dallas Cowboys
Division: NFC EAST Record: 7-10 Playoffs: I miss the 90s
General Season Review
Coming off of 3 straight seasons at 12-5, the Cowboys looked locked and loaded as contenders. The NFL power rankings had the Cowboys sat at 10th ready to duel Philidelphia for the Division. The Cowboys had a Head-scratching tumultuous offseason in which they lost DC Dan Quinn to the Commanders and seemed to lose far more talent than they gained. Jerry Jones ultimately sat on his hands too long and the cowboys didn’t enter the season as well as they could’ve.
In what was known to be a pivotal 5 game stretch to open the season the Cowboys lost big week 2 home to New Orleans: a game in which they let up 44 points and dropped a game that many had given to them when the schedule released. After finishing this stretch 3-2, Dallas hit a 5-game losing with a season ending injury to QB Dak Prescott in the Middle. Cooper Rush started 9 games for Dallas in what quickly turned into an arduous season for Cowboys fans
The Cowboys’ Season ended at 7-10, a record that doesn’t seem so bad in comparison to the 3-7 record that America’s Team was faced with after week 11. The number doesn’t seem so bad when you look at some of the games lost: vs BAL, DET, HOU, CIN, WAS and 2X PHI. Statistically, the Cowboys offensive were okay in a vacuum; 4092 passing yards from Dak, Rush and Wk18 Trey Lance; Rico Dowdle finished with 1079 rushing yards thanks to a string of performances that left cowboys fans once again questioning their coaches as to why he had not been a clear cut RB1 ahead of Ezekiel Elliott (4.6 vs 3.1 YPC); A (near) 1200 yard reciever in CeeDee Lamb in a season cut short by a shoulder injury. Offensive issues stemmed mostly from the lack of a rushing attack in the early season (68 total Rushing yards in the blowout loss to the Saints and 51 a week later in the Ravens loss.)
All in Off-season Acquisitions
| Draft |
|---|
-Round 1, Pick 29 OT Tyler Guyton- Oklahoma
Cowboys fans got tired of hearing ‘Holding. Offense Number 60’ and rightfully so- he finished the campaign with the second most penalties in the league at 14 and by allowing 26 pressures, he didn’t really make up for it by being exceptional. Saying that, he plays a difficult position on a less than perfect and faced some fearsome rushes. A year of experience and a full offseason at The Star will do him good and all hope is not lost
-Round 2, Pick 56 DE Marshawn Kneeland- W. Michigan
After being named ‘best rookie’ in Cowboy’s training camp Kneeland was… present. mostly. He played in 11 games- missing 6 due to injury. In those 11, he made 14 tackles. He had 0 sacks and 0 ints but ESPN credits him with 3 stuffs (TFLs on rushing plays). He did recover a fumble and earned enough playing time that its not impossible to see him being a contributor in the future
-Round 3, Pick 73 OG Cooper Beebe- Kansas State
Beebe was a mid round pick who we made play a different position than he was used to in a starting role and he was average. Maybe ever so slightly below but it’s difficult to see that as a negative considering the circumstances. 3 penalties and 3 sacks allowed show that he wasn’t a noticeable liability on the line (although part of this may’ve been the relief of not hearing #60 come through the referee’s mic). Again, a year’s experience playing the role at a professional level should help him develop and a proper offseason of training as a C should also help.
-Round 3, Pick 87 LB Marist Liufau- Notre Dame
Liufau didn’t start until after Overshown’s injury, by which time the Cowboy’s defense had dissolved. With that in mind, Liufau impressed: stepping up and providing a similar skillset to the Cowboys’ LB core. He’s credit with 1.5 sacks and 2 FFs. He made an impression and bought a little bit of hope by bringing an intensity that some were scared the defense would lack in Overshown’s absence.
-Round 4, Pick 124
This is Trey Lance. Him and Jonathan will come up later when 4th round picks are discussed.
-Round 5, Pick 159
Traded to the Chiefs for their 2023 6th round selection (CB Eric Scott)
-Round 5, Pick 174 CB Caelen Carson- Wake Forest
This is the last rookie where I’m going to tell you anything more than their ESPN stats’ page. Sorry. If anyone wants to discuss Nathan Thomas in depth DM me. More pressingly, Caelen Carson: Carson flashed- which is a great thing to say about a 5th round pick. He spent time covering Amari Cooper in Week 1 @CLE and seemed confident. There are drawbacks, PFF has him rated well below average and he has the hands of defender- he dropped multiple ‘could be picks’ but as a late round rookie he had a promising few games before ending up on IR after just 6 games. I’m excited to see Carson back next season with an offseason under Al Harris.
-Round 6, Pick 216 WR Ryan Flournoy- Southeast Missouri State
10 REC, 14 TGTS, 102 YDS, 0 TDS, 1 FUM
-Round 7, Pick 233 OT Nathan Thomas- Louisiana
-Round 7, Pick 244 DT Justin Rogers- Auburn
Free Agency
| Acquisitons |
|---|
-RB Derrick Henry
-RB Saquon Barkley
-RB Josh Jacobs
-RB Joe Mixon
-RB Aaron Jones
-RB Ezekiel Elliott $3M/1 New England
-RB Royce Freeman $1.25M/1 Los Angeles (Rams)
-LB Eric Kendricks $3M/1 Los Angeles (Chargers)
Well this hurts to look at. But it’s important to compare our acquisitions (or lack of) with our departures.
| Departures |
|---|
- RB Tony Pollard CONTRACT Tennessee
- WR Michael Gallup retired
- TE Sean McKeon CONTRACT Detroit
- OT Tyron Smith CONTRACT New York (Jets)
- C Tyler Biadasz CONTRACT Washington
- DE Dorance Armstrong CONTRACT Washington
- DE Dante Fowler CONTRACT Washington
- DT Neville Gallimore CONTRACT Miami
- DT Johnathan Hankins CONTRACT Seattle
- LB Leighton Vander Esch Retired
- CB Stephon Gilmore Minnesota
- CB Noah Igbinoghene Washington
- S Jayron Kearse Free Agency
Well that didn’t help.
Cowboys’ fans were left shocked at the complete lack of movement from the front office after having been promised an ‘All-in’ offseason. After two straight 1000 yard seasons, Tony Pollard walked away from Dallas, signing a ~$22M/3y with Tennessee. To give (a little) credit to the Cowboys front office, they were reported to have offered a similar contract but Pollard was drawn back to Tennessee, and this year’s free agency had a deep running back class. With the money saved, the Cowboys signed drumroll please none of the top free agent running backs. This decision got even more mind boggling later when they selected none in the draft. The Cowboys eventually did finish the season with a 1000 yard rusher in Rico Dowdle, but the road there was tough to watch and they watched Saquon Barkley sign with a division rival (Philidelphia) and fuel a dominant offense; the 27 year old ran for 2,005 yards on 5.8 YPC. If the Cowboys had been priced out, it’s easier to imagine the fans being more understanding but Derrick Henry reported that Jerry Jones never even called him- a frustrating thing to hear for a team that would’ve very much benefitted from a more consistent rushing attack.
As upsetting as it is watching players retire, the cowboys did little to replace Michael Gallup. While Gallup was beginning to fall down the depth chart even before his retirement, the Cowboys didn’t make much an effort to solidify the Recieving Core (spending a 6th round pick on Flournoy) and entered the season knowing that the WR3 slot would be a competition/rotation between Kavonte Turpin, Jalen Tolbert and Jalen Brooks with Jake Ferguson and Brandin Cooks as the 2nd options behind Lamb. It’s tough to say exactly how much of a role this played but Dak struggled in the 8 games he played: his CMP% down ~5% and his RTG down nearly 20 points. The Cowboys’ offense may have had deeper issues, but it’s an easy arguement that a more consistent WR2/3 to compliment Cooks and a more consistent running game would’ve helped the passing game and the offense as whole. Leighton Vander Esch was replaced much more easily: Dallas bought in interior LB Eric Kendricks on a one year deal and Kendricks stepped into the Field General role. Dallas also had Overshown returning, a 2023 3rd round pick who didn’t play due to injury the prior season.
CD AND DAK CONTRACT HERE
| Mid-Season Trade |
|---|
The cowboys traded a 2025 4th round pick to the panthers in exchange for wideout Johnathan Mingo and a 2025 seventh rounder. This was an ‘in-the-middle’ type of move that left a lot of Cowboys fans understandably puzzled- Mingo hadn’t done anything of note in his (now) 2 year NFL career; in fact he had hardly established himself as an NFL caliber player having accumulated only 585 yards across 32 total games. This trade was dismissed by many as an excuse for Jerry Jones to have another headline because of how difficult it was to justify from a football perspective, Mingo had shown neither the win-now talent to be an asset to help the cowboys compete or the potential to warrant a sacrifice of a real asset in a fourth round pick. Even more frustrating for fans, he finished the season playing 8 games in Dallas with only 5 receptions on 16 targets for 46 yards. This will be the …
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