Dallas, TX
The Dallas Cowboys are almost a top 5 roster according to ESPN
For the most part opinions about the Dallas Cowboys are the same among people. It is generally agreed that this is a talented roster but that it likely has a ceiling on it that could have been risen with a bit more help over the course of the offseason. Perhaps the team will break through that ceiling and finally do the thing, but odds are stacked against them cause of, well, everything.
Sifting through the national media can be difficult in this sense because opinions get so farfetched and silly. Standard and normal conversations about this team are far and few between on that level because they create such attention with opinions at either end of the spectrum.
As we get closer and closer to training camp we are starting to see the waters calm a bit here, which is something that we talked about recently what with how PFF ranked the Cowboys roster as just inside of the top 10 at number 9.
Somebody has Dallas even higher than that.
ESPN ranked the Dallas Cowboys roster just outside of the top 5
Whether or not you believe the Cowboys should have been more proactive with one or another contract extensions is up to you. Whatever your degree of upset-ness in this regard, the lack of extensions do not change the makeup of the roster for the 2024 season.
The fine folks over at ESPN assessed each roster in the NFL looking ahead to the upcoming campaign specifically and apparently think quite highly of the Cowboys.
Dallas comes in at number 6, the third team in the NFC trailing the San Francisco 49ers (1) and Detroit Lions (5).
Biggest strength: Edge rusher. One of the league’s top defenders, Micah Parsons has led the position in pass rush win rate each of the last three seasons. In fact, since his arrival in 2021, Dallas sits first in pass rush wins (809) and fifth in sacks (3.0 behind first). DeMarcus Lawrence is now 32 years old but hasn’t lost a step — he posted one of the top tackle rates and pass rush win rates among edge rushers last season. Sam Williams returns as solid depth, and the team added Marshawn Kneeland in the second round of April’s draft. — Clay
Biggest weakness: Running back. This wasn’t a tough choice for a pretty good Dallas roster that very clearly decided to deprioritize running back this season. Out is Tony Pollard and in is soon-to-be 29-year-old Ezekiel Elliott as the lead back. Elliott is a franchise legend, but he’s no more than the football equivalent of an innings-eater at this point in his career. That was further evidenced last year in New England, when he posted his fourth straight season with below-average yards per carry and yards after the catch marks. Additionally, there’s not much to get excited about behind Elliott (Rico Dowdle, 179-pound Deuce Vaughn and Royce Freeman). — Clay
X factor for 2024: Rookie offensive linemen Tyler Guyton and Cooper Beebe. Assuming they start, they’ll play a critical role in protecting QB Dak Prescott. And it’s a bit of a scary proposition for a team with Super Bowl aspirations. Most rookie offensive linemen — even first-round picks — are below average in Year 1. Dallas needs its picks to overcome the odds. — Walder
Nonstarter to know: Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown. The Cowboys’ 2023 third-round pick didn’t see the field as a rookie because of a torn ACL from the preseason. He’s a patient linebacker with elite speed and strong (ex-safety) awareness in coverage. Don’t be surprised if he’s getting snaps ahead of Damone Clark by midseason. — Schatz
These are interesting categories to break the roster down into in terms of specific blurbs and each one obviously requires a bit of context.
Let’s get into them.
Biggest strength
ESPN listed Micah Parsons as the biggest strength of the Cowboys and that is very difficult to refute given what he has done through the first three years of his career.
It is worth mentioning that gone is defensive coordinator Dan Quinn who Parsons has praised repeatedly over the last thousand days. Will he remain the same player? Can new DC Mike Zimmer utilize him in the same way?
Biggest weakness
If Cowboys fans agreed on anything universally it seems like it would be this. The running back position is… unique, to say the least.
But if you have to have a weakness and obviously everybody does, is it not even mildly encouraging that it is a position that many people believe (for lack of a better term) doesn’t matter? To be clear running backs and the run game specifically do matter, but there are obviously circumstances beyond the position itself that matter a great deal relative to the overall cause. Being “weak” here feels like a rich person problem, so to speak, regarding the overall roster.
X factor for 2024
In a similar sort of vein, if we had to blindly trust the Dallas Cowboys on one thing, wouldn’t that one thing be offensive line evaluation?
The track record here is not just very good but sterling. History (the last decade and change) shows us that the Cowboys know how to find premium offensive linemen and turn them into all-world type of players. It is a risky thing to bet on but they know this game and almost have it rigged against the house.
A different sort of x-factor might be that Trevon Diggs and DeMarvion Overshown are both returning from serious injuries. The floor of the defense should theoretically improve there. Speaking of!
Nonstarter to know
I suppose that DeMarvion Overshown classifies here, but I think we all think that he will wind up starting the majority of games. Still though it is a fair choice.
Expanding the parameters a bit to what we will call “role player to know”, how about whatever tight end winds up surprising? Assuming that happens of course.
John Stephens Jr. could become a thing. We did see it in training camp and the preseason last year, after all. Hopefully the options here only continues to grow and we look back upon a massive list of contenders.
First Shift 🏒
For the past four regular seasons, the Stars have the best road record in the NHL.
Through 164 games, Dallas tops the league with a .655 points percentage away from home. It also leads in goals per game at 3.40 and in GAA at 2.70. That spans two different head coaches and several different players, but there is a culture that the team hopes to tap into Wednesday when the best-of-seven playoff series moves to Minnesota for Game 3.
“You have to be able to play on the road,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “Since my time here, our guys feel really comfortable.”
The Stars were tied for second in road points percentage this season at .683, so an actual improvement over their previous average. They were third in GAA at 2.73 and sixth in scoring at 3.41, so the league has improved. That said, the new coaching staff has also embraced a sound road strategy.
Like Pete DeBoer before him, Gulutzan doesn’t worry too much about matching lines – at home or on the road. The road matching can create some real gymnastics, as the home team gets second change. But the fact that a team chooses not to chase that part of the game.
“That’s why you program your guys to play in those situations and not yank them off every time something happens,” Gulutzan said. “That way they have the confidence to play in all of those situations.”
The Stars coach did make some tweaks after a disappointing team performance in Game 1. Arttu Hyry jumped in for Adam Erne and played center on a line with Jamie Benn and Sam Steel. The right-handed Hyry was a solid complement to lefties Steel and Benn. That allowed Hryckowian to move up to the top line in place of Steel. The left-handed Hryckowian is good balance to right-handed center Johnston.
Again, when you have those options, you are comfortable with whatever line is on the ice.
“I like our combinations right now,” Gulutzan said. “One of the things you worry about is the hands of your centermen, and on each line we have a righty and a lefty that are more than capable. Plus, all of the guys know their systems and their jobs, and they’ve been doing it all year.”
The Stars have had several injuries this season to key players, and that means everyone has played everywhere with everyone else. That’s big this time of year.
“I definitely think that helps,” said Colin Blackwell. “It just makes everything flow. If the coaches shuffle things up, you usually land with someone you have played with before.”
And that means playing on the road isn’t as difficult. The biggest challenge might be fact that Minnesota will be fired up by its home crowd and will be looking to make a point about grievances they perceived in Game 2.
“I don’t know if we need a bulletin board,” Gulutzan said when asked about the Wild making “bulletin board” statements Monday. “We’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing and grind this thing to where we need it to go.”
The Dumb Zone hosts analyze the record-breaking contract extension for Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey, critiquing the team’s media narrative regarding the negotiations and debating the kicker’s value in a “fourth-down revolution” era.
Johnston gave the Stars a 1-0 lead at 8:58 of the first period. His slap shot from above the right face-off circle deflected off Wild forward Danila Yurov and then bounced off the end boards and in off Wallstedt’s left arm.
“I’ve had a goal like that go in on me, too, that’s a tough bounce,” Oettinger said. “Like I said in Game 1, we got some bad bounces. We got a nice bounce there. We had one where I was behind the net, and the guy was shooting it in the net and our (defense) stopped it, so we got some good bounces. The way we played the last 40 minutes of the game, I think, didn’t give up much, had a ton of good chances offensively. The power play, we got looks and our (penalty kill) was great. If we kind of build off the game that we played the last 40 minutes, I think we should feel very good for the next few games.”
Faber tied it 1-1 at 11:33. He took a pass from Hughes, skated around Robertson in the left circle and cut to the slot, where his wrist shot ramped up and in off Oettinger.
Duchene put the Stars back up 2-1 with a power-play goal at 4:02 of the second period. Mikko Rantanen gained the offensive zone along the right boards and sent a backhand pass to Duchene, who snapped the puck between Wallstedt’s pads from in front.
Robertson made it 3-1 at 7:09 of the third period when he tipped Lundkvist’s wrist shot from the blue line past the right pad of Wallstedt.
“I think we got to do a better job, I mean, the odd-man’s, right? I thought we played a really good game. Probably their best game, you know, meaningful game. And, yeah, we didn’t get fazed by it. Was really good by us. Just got to be smarter in some areas, and we get to go back home and in front of our crowd,” Minnesota forward Marcus Foligno said. “They want (penalties). I mean, they’re looking to play 5-on-4. I mean, that’s their game. They can’t hang with us 5-on-5. We got to just be smarter, and myself included. But it’s a heated game out there. You’re gonna have emotional swings and learn from it. We got a split series.”
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