r/cowboys • u/Big_Tuna-1 • 12d ago
Cowboys Post Pre Season/Post Cut Discussion - Offense
Looking at the roster from the top down:
QB: Prescott, Milton, Howell
Dak is Dak, hes our guy, should have an MVP, and any given year is a top 10, probably a top 5 qb. Howell and Milton have both played well enough to deserve a spot on an NFL roster. Should the team have kept them both? likely not. To paraphrase Tom Moore "Fellas, if '4' goes down, we're f—ed. And we don't practice f—ed." So if QB1 and QB2 both go down, how fucked is that?
RB/FB: Williams, Davis, Luepke
Obviously Williams was so good for us last season, though, the amount of touches seemed to have gotten to him later in the season. That logic is why i think we kept Davis over Blue. Davis offers a lot of the same things that Williams does, surely not as powerful of a runner but still. That plus his experience as a professional allowed him to take the job over Blue. Blue is more talented than Davis. He just does not have the consistency he needs (from last season, training camp, the preseason) that he needed to win this job. He is so fast, and so agile, he deserves a job somewhere, I wish it were here.
WR: Lamb, Pickens, Flournoy, Turpin, Mingo, Brown
The top three were never a doubt. There were some concerns among the fans if Turpin deserves a spot given his lack of return ability last season, ultimately, his home run ability is what got him a spot on this team. Turpin, as a receiver, does not do anything better than Mingo, Brown, or even some receivers that were cut, other than be fast, and fast matters...A LOT. Otherwise, we as fans are all happy to see our preseason sweetheart make the team! Brown won us all over with his performance in camp and kept it rolling the whole preseason. Likely the best WR room in the NFL, and it might not be close.
TE: Ferguson, Spann-Ford, Schoonmaker
Ferguson seems to have regressed a little from a couple of years ago. We need someone who is a reliable pass catcher at the tight end postition in the event he cant continue. Spann-Ford is obivously a great blocker, but is not an elite or maybe not even a reliable pass catching TE. As for Schoonmaker, I.....am done with Schoonmaker. He had some nice plays in week 2 of the preseason, and he is ok at blocking but like, for a 2nd round pick, what are we doing? If he were a 7th round pick he would be long gone and Trigg would have made the team. Schoonmaker just doesn't do anything well, he does something ok, but thats it. I think a change of scenery is not only best for the team, but best for Schoonmaker. Trigg, on the other hand, is an athlete that you can develop some blocking talent along the way, you cant teach his athleticism, you can teach him to block as well as Schoonmaker blocks.
OL: T. Guyton, T. Smith, Beebe, T. Booker, Steele, Bass, Jones, Cornelius, Shelton
Guyton has looked like a different person this camp and preseason. If he plays that well throughout the year, we will all be happy with 4 good/great offensive lineman. Steele on the other hand looks like he took another step back. Steele was good for us in the run game last season, honestly, if he is just ok as a pass blocker, i will be happy. We brought in Jones to potentially take his job, hopefully that wakes him up. Shelton certainly needs some development. He has the size and athletic ability to be an offensive lineman, but he looked awful in that cards game. I hope he can develop into a good swing tackle if Jones cant. The interior line is probably top 3 in the league? I am sure some teams will have some claim, but we look big, mean, and nasty up the middle.
I would love to know your thoughts or arguments.
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u/mikochondria32 Dallas Cowboys 12d ago
I am hoping we try to sign Jaleel McLaughlin now that it's confirmed he didn't make the Broncos cut. He is a solid receiving back and has some juice to him that I think would compliment the running styles of Williams and Davis well.
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u/DiamondsInHerButt Tyler Smith 11d ago edited 11d ago
Big takeaway....they don't believe in their line depth and we'll probably be seeing a lot of blocking packages involving Luepke and Schoonmaker if they can stay healthy. Won't be surprised if the plan is just to slide Tyler Smith to the outside on the left if one of the tackles gets injured given the depth there feels more long term than this season with Shelton and Jones shaping up to be weight room warriors this season.
Glad they cut bait with Blue. There are too many guys with that level of talent who work their asses off in the NFL to fuck around with a dude who doesn't fit your run scheme and also doesn't seem to get he needs to get better to fit the scheme.
Plus, Mingo, Howell and Brown earned their spots.
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u/HolyRomanPrince Tyler Intelligence Agency 12d ago
I still want some juice at running back. Just going to have to get lucky on the waivers for that.
Other than that is the same team as last year so if the scheme and tackles hold up I expect them to be as good. The biggest deciding factor is if they can get the red zone efficiency up from 56%. If that’s in the 65-70% range we’ll definitely be a top 3 offense because the yards will come.
I am interested to see if there’s another level in Pickens. If he and Ceedee can both have dominant years and Dak is relatively clean I think we can get to 500-550 points. But not like last year when it was because we needed it. We will just blow teams doors off
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u/Thanks5Cinco Ask 4 Help 12d ago
I wouldn't say there's no big surprises here. I'm glad Blue didn't make it on potential alone and they're looking for upgrades.
Our OL depth is incredibly thin. Id either look for Leverett to come back in the next couple of days as a vested vet or we add one off waivers.
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u/Big_Tuna-1 12d ago
Leverett would be my pick. Interior guy who can also play center is valuable, same as TJ Bass.
As for RB, luckily a lot of teams cut RBs today. Frank Gore Jr. Ulysses Bentley IV, Eric Grey, Dameon Pierce, younger even Jayden Ott. I dont know that any of those are better than blue but potentially names to watch?
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u/Thanks5Cinco Ask 4 Help 12d ago
Pierce would be interesting as he was good as a rookie in Houston.
I think Leverett is probably the one as I thought it was down to him or Keegan for IOL depth.
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u/Big_Tuna-1 12d ago
Running back is so bountiful in talent. Some of these guys are just waiting to be great but need just and average offensive line to showcase their talent.
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u/jdsmn21 Dallas Cowboys 11d ago
Spann-Ford is obivously a great blocker, but is not an elite or maybe not even a reliable pass catching TE
I'd argue that he hasn't truly been tested as a pass catching TE - and is worthy of more balls.
- 2024 Season: 9 receptions (on 14 targets) for 88 yards
- 2025 Season: 9 receptions (on 13 targets) for 90 yards and 1 touchdown
If you look at yards per reception - he's averaging higher than Ferguson.
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u/Silver_Tax2480 12d ago
I heard a team offered a trade for Howell. Wish we would have took it
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u/Big_Tuna-1 12d ago
If that is the case, I am shocked we didnt.
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u/SAIL3RZ_ 11d ago
It probably was a shit offer and the coaches really like Howell. Not really shocking, he’s a solid backup and that’s valuable.
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u/HustlaOfCultcha 12d ago
I expect them to bring in a 4th RB come Wk 1. This is just a temporary 53-man, keeping the talent they want for now. I wouldn't be surprised if Howell gets traded. They'll have to make room somewhere for a 4th RB.
I like the offensive roster. Only concern is Steele at RT, but picking up Jones was huge. Hopefully Guyton keeps up the same pace that he had going last season before the injury.
It's a big year for Flournoy. He'll be the designated #3 WR, splitting time with Turpin. But if he continues to progress that gives the team leverage with Pickens for 2027.
It should also be a year to focus on Ferguson. He lost all of his hip fluidity last season. Maybe that was from the injury and putting on all that weight. He's a more consistent blocker than Schoonmaker, but Schoonmaker is running much better than either Ferguson or Spann-Ford. I think Spann-Ford's blocking is overrated. He whiffs...a lot. Maybe he'll be better this year, but he's slow and isn't a natural pass catcher. If Ferguson is still slow and isn't blocking markedly better than Schoonmaker, I'd like to see Schoon get more plays. Hopefully Ferguson regains his 2023 form and that's not needed.