This is the Cowboys team that bothered me, not because these players could not play, but the what-ifs. All these players could play and some were great. A few of these guys, I thought, would be the long-term answer. That’s why this list is frustrating.
I don’t want this to be just another injury list. Some of these what-ifs are about workload, bad defense, availability, and one moment changing a career.
Tony Romo is the quarterback of my what-if team.
Romo threw for 34,183 yards and 248 touchdowns as a Cowboy. This wasn’t just some cute undrafted player story. This is a franchise-altering quarterback story.
The what-if isn’t whether I think Tony Romo was good enough. The what0if is what happens if Dallas gives him a better defense.
If you want to get right down to it, the 2013 Denver game is the whole argument. Romo threw for 506 yards and five touchdowns, and the Cowboys still lost 51-48. That’s not a normal quarterback workload, but a quarterback being asked to be perfect because the defense couldn’t survive.
The 2013 defense allowed 6,645 yards. I would say this was the most broken unit in Cowboys history, but 2025 topped them. Anyway, Romo had too many years when he had to cover up too much for the entire team.
Dallas made him carry more than he should’ve had to carry on his own.
Marion Barber’s workload wasn’t just about the touches, it was about the kind of touches he got.
Barber had 1,156 carries, 4,780 rushing yards, and 53 rushing touchdowns with Dallas. I’ll be the first to say, those are good numbers, but they don’t fully explain the punishment Barber went through to get them.
Marion Barber was the hammer, goal line, short yardage, fourth quarter dirty yards, punishing football. That was his style and it made him great.
This type of football also shortened his career.
In 2007, he made the Pro Bowl without starting a game. This should tell you exactly what he was used for as a Cowboy. He was the closer, and the tone-setter.
But it makes you think what if his body didn’t have to pay so much for that role?
I love Dez Bryant on this team because his peak was unlike most other receivers.
From 2012 to 2014, Dez scored 41 touchdowns in dominating fashion. Most of his touchdowns and catches in general were back shoulder, contested, and red zone targets.
He would win even when everyone else knew the ball was coming his way.
I think that would take a toll on a player.
Dez Bryant finished his career with 537 catches, 7,506 yards, and 75 touchdowns. Crazy production, but the ending came too fast.
The foot injury, the lower body issues, and most importantly, the relationship got messy.
The what-if in this isn’t about rather Dez was good enough. He was.
The what-if is...
