Blogging The Boys
Where do you think the Cowboys have upgraded on offense relative to last season?
The Dallas Cowboys are going through big changes this season. With a new coaching staff and new players, this team should look different this year. That’s a good thing considering they didn’t play well and finished with a losing record for the first time since 2020.
But how much different will they look? If we just examined the starters, what spots would you expect the Cowboys to be better? Worse? Or just stay the same? Today, we’ll run through the offense and project what to expect from each starter.
Dak Prescott was bad last season. Sure, he missed half the year with a torn hamstring, but even before that, he was not playing well. You’d have to go all the way back to 2017 to find a completion percentage and yards per attempt lower than last season. His 1.4 touchdown-to-interception ratio (1.4) was the worst of his career.
The good news is, what we saw last year wasn’t Dak. Or, at least, it hasn’t been. Prescott has produced some contrasting seasons over his career, and the weapons around him (or lack thereof) have played a big part. Last year, everything was a hot mess on offense. From the running game, lack of receiving threats, and terrible offensive play-calling from former head coach Mike McCarthy, it was one of Prescott’s least favorable situations.
All that’s changed now. The Cowboys have done a lot of work to make things as Dak-friendly as possible. The biggest challenge for Prescott will be to stay healthy, as he’s missed a good chunk of time in three of his last five seasons. If he can do that, we should see a much better version of Dak this season. If we don’t, then we have a legitimate problem.
Status: Big Improvement
We all want the Cowboys' rushing attack to be better, and there are reasons to believe it will, but from talent alone, there shouldn’t be much of a difference between Javonte Williams and Rico Dowdle. For fans of Dowdle, that’s not a bad thing, as last year’s lead back was a solid player. Williams should be able to provide a similar level of play, and he does offer a bit of upside as he is another year removed from his knee injury. If he returns to form, this could change to an improvement, but we won’t count those chickens just yet.
But the chickens we are counting are the big changes in the coaching staff. The additions of new offensive coordinator Klayton Adams and new offensive line coach Conor Riley are huge for the Cowboys. Those guys are two of the most respected offensive line coaches in football and have a strong track record of coaching up linemen and scheming up excellent rushing attacks. The team also got stronger along the interior offensive line, so similar to our reasoning with Dak, what...
