32 Days/ 32 Teams : Dallas cowboys

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This season sucked. Thanks for stopping by.

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... Wait you actually want me to break down the season?? I guess I, u/CarsonTinyPPWentz will give it my best shot. ( I will attempt to not write a novel for every subsection, but this is the first blog/ paper I have tasked myself with writing in over 5 years, so please bear with me).

Following a 2019 season that once again started with us foolishly hoping our team was finally some semblance of complete, only for us to be brought back to reality by mid-season, Our front office realized standing pat, and having another quiet off-season simply wouldn't be enough this time. The offseason / free agency period for the 2020 season brought many changes to the team, along with the following highlights (Which I will also give my own inputs on) :

Jason Garrett's contract not extended:

Following a tenure of almost 10 years serving as our headcoach, Garrett finally lost the locker room, leaving Jerry Jones and company no choice but to head In a different direction.

We had quite a few highs during Garrett's time as the HC, but we were never able to go all the way, or even go to the championship game, for a variety of reasons. Although his time with the giants has shown his offence may not have a place in NFL anymore, I do believe he can help to provide consistency for a young qb, and the part he played in having a 4th round qb grow into our franchise qb should not be understated / forgotten.

Mike McCarthy signs a 5 year deal to be the new HC for the cowboys:

Though some saw this move as us just being compliant and going after more of the same thing, The front offence made it clear they thought we had the talent on the roster to compete for a superbowl now, and they went after the HC candidate who had a resume that boosted a SB victory, and the growth and development of a mvp/ future hall of famer

Prior to Dak's injury, Our offence showed that there wasn't any lead that our offence couldn't catch up to ( While there also wasn't any lead that our defence could hold). Our starting qb was on pace to through for over 6600 yards 4.5 games in, despite some slow showings to start our early games ( That could be attributed to the lack of a true NFL offseason this go around). While the end result wasn't what we had in mind, our teams record ,despite all of our hardships, of ( 6-10 ) still gives me hope for Mccarthy's future with us.

Mike Nolan hired to replace Rob Marinara

Following years of a rather bland tampa 2 scheme, we decided in a completely different direction bring on Mike Nolan with his excellent linebacker pedigree from the saints to revamp our defence with a brand new multiple front scheme ( in a virtual offseason)

Clearly there was no way we could be an even worse defence ( spoiler we were).

Byron Jones not signed.

It is common for users to comment that we choose Zeke over Byron when it came to contracts, but through the season the writing was on the wall that we would let him test the market, rather then resign him ( With the unspoken truth being that there was no way the Front Office would pay a cb with poor ball skills 15+ million a year, which side note, he met his career int total with the cowboys, in 1 year with the dolphins lol).

Jones went from bust, to success story for the team, following a move back to corner from safety with Kris Ricards hiring in 2018. Jones was an excellent leader for our team, and as the 2020/2021 season would show, a player nearly impossible to replace.

Jason Witten signed by the raiders.**

In another showing that we weren't going to keep trying the same old plans, we moved on, from witten, with the intent being that blake jarwin would be the tight end of the future, with us signing him to a 3 year extension.

Robert Quinn signed by the Bears

In a low risk move made to help our pass rush rotation, We traded a 6th round pick to the dolphins for defensive end Robert Quinn. This turned to be one of the best free agency moves for the team from the last decade, with quinn exploding on to the scene and racking up 11.5 sacks in 14 games ( His most productive season since 2013. Following the season we decided to move on and recoup a 4th round comp pick, with him signing a massive 5 year, 70 million $ deal.

DE Aldon smith, Dt Gerald mccoy, DT Donatari Poe, DE Everson Griffen all signed to deals by the cowboys.

In a rare off-season, Jerry and co decided to open up the cowboys pocketbook and try to fill some of the bigger holes with some veteran signings. Ultimately only Aldon was able to be a contributor for the team, But it was a refreshing approach for our front office.

Rank: A+

Following these changes to the team, We also had the following additions through the draft:

Round 1 Pick # 17, Wr Cee-Dee Lamb

In shocking twist, the cowboys no.6 ranked prospect fell to them, leaving them no choice but to take the best player available in Cee-Dee Lamb ( Despite the teams holes on defence). Despite some rookie missteps, Lamb was every bit the electric player he was advertised to be, finishing 2nd on the team in receiving yards with 935, and tied for second in tds with 5 ( all while playing with 4 different qbs). The future is bright with our reciving core, and CD looks to be the next elite receiver to wear 88 for the cowboys.

Round 2 Pick # 51, Cb Trevon Diggs

With a draft showing considerable favor to the cowboys needs, Trevon Diggs fell right into our laps, even after being a possible selection with our #17 overall pick. Trevon was a raw toolsy athlete, and was thrown right into the fire from day 1 thanks to some injuries. With an up and down season there is still much room for growth, but any rookie who can also tie the team in Interceptions, in only 12 games, Is a great piece to have on a growing defense

Rank: B+

Round 3 Pick # 82, DT Neville Longbottom Gallimore

In a move to help add some youth to the dline, We drafted DT Neville Gallimore. Simalliar to Diggs, Gallimore was seen as a prospect who needed time to develop, but he was also thrown into the fire fairly early on, again thanks to injuries and cuts. Neville for the most part held is ground later on in the season, Including a great performance against the steelers, and he still has plenty of room to grow.

Rank: B

Round 4 pick # 123, Cb/S Reggie Robbinson

Reggie was the "pet cat" of a fair amount of draft analysts, but he didnt play any meaningful snaps for us during the season.

Rank C+

Round 4 pick # 146, C Tyler Biadasz

Seeing a potential starting center, the cowboys traded back into the 4th to snag Wisconsin Center Tyler Biadasz. Seen as a Good runblocker, and developing passblocker, Tyler was able to play meaningful snaps due to injuries this year, and should have a strong case in the battle to be our future starting center.

Rank B+

Round 5 pick # 179, DE Bradley Anae

Bradley was a very productive college player, with limited athleticism. Buried down our depth charts, Anae wasnt able to play any meaningful snaps.

Rank C

Round 7 pick # pick 231 Ben " Give me your coochie " Dinucci

With the clear steal of the draft, the cowboys drafted future hall of famer Ben dinucci. Unfortunately I cannot make this post nsfw, so I won't share his glorious highlights from this season.

Rank A++

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To wrap things up, I will share our future needs heading into the draft, based on the roster positions, ( The season/ game reviews will be posted in the comments, with thanks and credit due to u/doggo816 for the writeup).

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QB: The position is solidified, with us finally having dak signed to a long term deal, And potential hall of famers garret gilbert and ben dinucci to back him up ( Although we could use a vet backup like bortles in all seriousness).

Rb: We had a down season from zeke, but Zeke and pollard provide us an electric duo.

WR: This is a contract year for Gallup, So drafting a midround wide receiver wouldn't be a bad idea.

TE: Jarwin is signed longterm, and schultz broke out this year ( But someone like tommy tremble could help replace blake bell).

Ot/OG/C

Both our tackles have an injury history, connor williams in on his last year, and we only have one center. Drafting a 2nd-3rd round tackle, and a late round guard/center would be ideal

Edge: Lawrence and gregory makeup a solid duo, but depth is lacking. On a poor defence, any meaningful contributer would be a big addition.

DT: Unfortunately this is a poor dt class, for a defence that needs young bodies, but depth is always a plus.

Linebacker: Jaylon and Lve both have had injury/ and or consistency issues, So a solid contributor could be argued as a need for as high as our 1st round pick.

CB: We need atleast 1 more starter, and drafting 2 cbs could prove to be a wise choice.

S: A position we have long neglected, we need young depth at the very least.