My first post in here this season….so a few thoughts:
Guyton is starting look like another nailed draft pick by Will McClay on the offensive line. He’s gonna slot right in at LT I think based on his dominant play this month so far. Many were skeptical and I was trending that way going into camp, but I told myself to stop doubting the Cowboys on O-line picks.
We can criticize the Cowboys with their protracted free agency fiasco the last decade, but they have been incredible drafting…esp on the O-line. There’s a chance this Oline is better than last year if Beebe can actually play center. But even if he can’t, the Oline should be very good if Guyton looks anything like he has in August so far. We’ll see how he looks once the games get real though.
As for the rest of the team, losing Gilmore will suck but they gain Trevon Diggs back and the LB core will hopefully be better with Overshown. The Dline depth has been the biggest concern amongst most diehard DAL fans but they just surprisingly made two proactive moves on that front by signing Carl Lawson and trading for Jordan Phillips. Very unlike them to be proactive like that in summer. Up the middle has been the Achilles heel of the Cowboys in recent years. Mazi needs to have a good second year and show he was worth the draft pick. For all the questions about Dak in the playoffs, at least some of that heat should be directed toward the Cowboys’ interior defense. They’ve been piss poor in every single Cowboys playoff loss under Dak’s watch with the exception of the 2022 Divisional loss to the 49ers (played in Jan 2023). We’ll see if they can step up this year.
I’m not that worried about the offense if they’re healthy. The RB room sucks but this offense should still be exceptionally efficient. Im also not quite as low on the RBs as others. If Dowdle can play the pre-2023 Pollard role at even 80%, I actually really like Zeke as a short yardage/goalline back and on pass protection and that tandem should be fine in a pass-heavy fast-paced offense. Aside from the RB, even if they do suck, I’m expecting great things from Ferguson at TE this year and I think Cooks opposite CeeDee could be in line for a huge year now that he’s been in the offense for a season. Tolbert is the wildcard. Everyone is saying this dude is taking a monster leap in camp this year but the real test will be when the season starts. If he could become a dangerous WR3, then the offense could be filthy good.
There is some downside risk though. If Guyton has some growing pains, then that could pose some issues. We’ll have to keep an eye on center play as well. It was weak last year so the bar is fairly low for this year’s C to clear, but Beebe has had some snapping issues. Hoffman would be the center if Beebe can’t and it seems like Hoffman is slightly ahead right now to start. But Beebe has more upside if he can snap the ball well.
There’s also a chance the contract stuff could become a distraction but I’m putting that at low probability. At the end of the day, Dak has been QB on this team for 8 seasons going on 9, and 4 of those have been with CeeDee. Those two guys are pros, they will play well if they are healthy IMHO. CeeDee deal will get done anyway before the season starts. As much as I loath some of McCarthy’s weaknesses, I don’t think this being a contract season really will be a negative. He’s already been all-in since before last season when everyone assumed he was going to be fired if they didn’t advance deeper into the playoffs. But he actually survived that playoff loss largely in part to how dominant the offense performed when he basically took over it and forced Kellen Moore out after 2022. He figured if 2023 was going to be his last season, he was going to go out swinging doing the offense his way…and it worked so well it bought him 2024. Another reason I’m not worried about the offense is ironically Mike McCarthy…I think a second year now under him will continue to benefit Dak and the offense. I still have my legit critiques of him, but the offense was a total pleasant surprise. Nobody expected him to outperform Kellen Moore’s version like that.
I think barring major injuries, the Cowboys are a clear playoff team in the NFC. Whether that’s another division title or not depends on how improved the Eagles are. I don’t have strong opinions either way on the Eagles, I haven’t followed them super closely this offseason. Just enough to know they are better than last year on paper.
Of course, maybe the Cowboys fall apart and this assessment looks silly…that wouldn’t surprise me too much. But I think the bigger questions with this group is can they finally catch a playoff run rather than if they will make the playoffs at all.
