We are back and 'Off to Oxnard, 2021'

DATELINE: Seat 29F of flight to Santa Barbara. It is time to dust off the laptop, let the sunburn heal a bit and finally get to work. It has been 204 days since the Cowboys were last involved in a real live football game in Week 17 against the Giants at MetLife Stadium. That game was the final frustrating chapter in a thoroughly frustrating 2020 season that involved propped-up expectations of success and the thud of incredible underachievement.

https://theathletic.com/2730402/2021/07/26/sturms-state-of-the-cowboys-we-are-back-and-off-to-oxnard-2021/

The Morning After: One final 53-man roster projection before Cowboys make final cuts

https://theathletic.com/1171808/2019/08/30/the-morning-after-one-final-53-man-roster-projection-before-cowboys-make-final-cuts/

Monday Morning After: Cowboys’ strong ST play, and how it could dictate roster decisions

https://theathletic.com/1146472/2019/08/26/monday-morning-after-cowboys-strong-st-play-and-how-it-could-dictate-roster-decisions/

Which coverages do the Cowboys use, and when? We tracked every 2018 snap

https://theathletic.com/1155030/2019/08/23/which-coverages-do-the-cowboys-use-and-when-we-tracked-every-2018-snap/

Monday Morning After: Analyzing Tony Pollard’s breakout night in Hawaii

https://theathletic.com/1146137/2019/08/19/monday-morning-after-analyzing-tony-pollards-breakout-night-in-hawaii/

Cowboys Riffing with Bob and Jon: Distractions, running backs and Taco’s future

https://theathletic.com/1141501/2019/08/16/cowboys-riffing-with-bob-and-jon-distractions-running-backs-and-tacos-future/

Sturm: The Cowboys’ biggest enemy in 2019 could easily be facing them in the mirror

https://theathletic.com/1137468/2019/08/14/sturm-the-cowboys-biggest-enemy-in-facing-2019-could-easily-be-in-the-mirror/

Monday Morning After: Sorting out Cowboys skill-position battles after the preseason opener

https://theathletic.com/1132330/2019/08/12/monday-morning-after-sorting-out-cowboys-skill-position-battles-after-the-preseason-opener/

Weekend Cowboys Riffing – Sports Sturm’s training camp notebook

https://theathletic.com/1127907/2019/08/09/weekend-cowboys-riffing-sports-sturms-training-camp-notebook/

Free safety Xavier Woods is breaking out right on schedule for Cowboys defense

https://theathletic.com/1120318/2019/08/08/free-safety-xavier-woods-is-breaking-out-right-on-schedule-for-cowboys-defense/

Off to Oxnard, 2019: Sports Sturm’s State of the Cowboys

https://theathletic.com/1103261/2019/07/29/off-to-oxnard-2019-sports-sturms-state-of-the-cowboys/

Weekend Cowboys Riffing – how many jobs are actually available?

https://theathletic.com/456142/2018/08/03/weekend-cowboys-riffing-how-many-jobs-are-actually-available/

Off to Oxnard: Dallas Cowboys 2018 training camp opens

https://theathletic.com/445262/2018/07/25/off-to-oxnard-dallas-cowboys-2018-training-camp-opens/

Special Teams Determine Roster Spots

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2017/08/09/sturm-special-teams-answers-camp-roster-questions-every-year

/Staff Photographer

Dallas Cowboys special teams coach Rich Bisaccia directs practice during the morning walkthrough at Dallas Cowboys training camp in Oxnard, California on July 23, 2013. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)

By Bob Sturm, Special contributor Contact Bob Sturmon Twitter:@SportsSturm

We are now in the middle of NFL training camps and, as we speak, teams are meeting about which players they can keep around when they are forced to make roster decisions. Unfortunately, most fans don't know where to look, because when they are trying to figure out who are the fourth and fifth wide receivers, or the sixth-best linebacker, or the fourth-best safety, they are looking in the wrong place.

 

It is reasonable to think that you keep wide receivers for their ability to catch the ball. And it is equally reasonable to believe that if we are going to keep one more edge rusher, it is because we think he can ultimately develop into a guy who may collect a few sacks. It is reasonable, but it is also seldom true.

The truth is that this league doesn't have time to develop players very often. They can hide a few practice-squad projects for a short amount of time, but even those can get picked off by the competition without much notice. So, the NFL quickly becomes a place where we think about the week at hand -- because if we lose too many games this season, none of us will be around to worry about our projects.

So, you have to offer the league something right now. In almost every case, to get a chance to show what you can be, you had better be able to help us now. How? Special teams.

I write about this every August and consider it the most important thing to determine roster spots for the Cowboys, or any team. If you want to know who is going to make the team, once we get by the top 25-30 players on the roster who are making all the money, you simply have to consider the following chart. This is a chart I have been keeping for six seasons now, and it offers valuable information about how often the Cowboys (or any team, really) use their special teams:

As you can see, there are eight times your special teams are needed. Field goals, extra points, punts and kickoffs are four. The other four are when your opponents do those things. Of those eight groupings, you will use them roughly 28 times a game. So, in a sport where your offense and defense each average between 60-65 snaps per game, we should not forget that around 20 percent of all snaps in an NFL game come on special teams.  

This is not interesting to many fans, because odds are that their favorite players are so good they are not asked to do anything on special teams. It is also uninteresting to fans because it almost never affects their fantasy football team and seldom affects the outcome of their real football team's games.

But if you spend a week at Cowboys training camp, you will find out that "real" football obsesses over special teams. Every few days, they dedicate entire practice or walk-through sessions to special teams. They spend countless hours in meetings in preparation for the importance of dealing with between two or three dozen moments in a game when nearly none of the millionaires are on the field, but games often swing. Imagine that in other sports! Imagine scenarios when games are won and lost while none of the top 20 earners are on the field. It happens all the time in this sport. Almost all special teams players (save for a star kicker, or perhaps a star return man) are at, or slightly above, the league minimum. Almost all  special teams players have little service time in the NFL and are on their first contracts. Almost all of them are pretty anonymous to most fan bases.

But there they are, covering kicks and returning punts. The last 15-20 names on the roster, and the special teams coach is left to make darn sure that they may not win the game -- but for his very own job security, they had better not lose the game, either.

So let's imagine Rich Bisaccia's job on a week-to-week basis. He has to make sure these coverage and return teams are full of competent and talented players who can do their jobs. We all know that, but who are his choices? Well, once you start going down the list of 46 active bodies, you will find that it is not a very big list:

So that was your roster card from Thanksgiving Day of last year. As you can see, I put a red line through all the players who are either off-limits, not dressed, or not candidates to do any sort of coverage or return work. Some of them, of course, can at least be part of the field-goal units (most of the O-line does that), but when it comes to sprinting down the field and trying to collide at high speeds, the teams are smart enough to protect their most valuable assets from this work.

Other body types just don't work. You don't want 300-pounders trying to cover punts (or 180-pounders, usually). Not great fits. So in the end, you have roughly 20 players to handle those four most important units on your special teams that will each be asked to take the field between 4-6 times per game. Punt cover, punt return, kick cover and kick return.

And that is the point to this entire August blog entry -- as you are trying to figure out the roster cuts, it is made much easier if you pay close attention during the next 2-3 preseason games to see who is covering kicks and punts (especially in the first half). This will be Bisaccia's testing of the players -- especially all the young ones -- and if you see anyone who was drafted between rounds 4-7, or undrafted altogether, then you can expect that their best way to make the team is by being excellent at special teams.

Especially the following positions: Running backs, fullbacks, tight ends, wide receivers, linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties. If you are a big enough stud starter at some of those spots, they won't risk you on special teams. Everyone else stays. And as long as I have covered these lists, safeties, even if they are starters, are still on special teams. Why? Because they are your best tacklers in the open field and you will need them to do that on a few kicks and punts each year.

When you go down the roster, you should look at each "non-starter" with the question, "Can this guy help me on special teams?" If not, he had better be a pretty special player -- or a backup quarterback. With 46-man rosters on gameday, we can't have too many passengers.

Grab a legal pad and jot down the numbers on the screen on punts and kickoffs. Each unit will be different, but they will generally have the same guys to choose from (since Bisaccia only gets about 20 names to work with).

Last season, these were the players who played the most on special teams (and their snap counts): Jeff Heath (345), Damien Wilson (340), Kyle Wilber (322), Andrew Gachkar (308), Byron Jones (227), Keith Smith (188), Gavin Escobar (160), Anthony Brown (159), J.J. Wilcox (127), Leon McFadden (124), Lucky Whitehead (114), Anthony Hitchens (111), Jack Crawford (102) and Kavon Frazier (101). Of those 14 players, five are gone. So, you could argue that there are five major special teams jobs up for grabs after the departures of Gachkar, Escobar, Wilcox, Whitehead and Crawford.

Just something to think about as they put their roster together. Rich has a very difficult job because he gets the table scraps and then must get his guys to perform. Also, in mid-game, when someone gets hurt (or several do), he has to adjust on the fly with the leftovers.

But more than anything, this demonstrates why there is no such thing as a bench-warmer in the NFL. Everyone who is active on gameday is going to have to contribute to the cause somehow. One of the many reasons, in my opinion, that this game is so great.

Morning After - Arizona Preseason Game 1 - Rico Gathers Edition

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2017/08/04/sturm-morning-time-take-rico-gathers-seriously

Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer

Dallas Cowboys tight end Rico Gathers (80) celebrates after scoring a touchdown with Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Andy Jones (81) in a game against the Arizona Cardinals during the first quarter of play of the Hall of Fame Game at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio on Thursday, August 3, 2017. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)

By Bob Sturm, Special contributor Contact Bob Sturmon Twitter:@SportsSturm

The Morning After

Last night, the NFL season was launched in all its preseason glory. The Cowboys basically moved their Blue-White scrimmage to Canton, Ohio, to take on what amounts to the Arizona Cardinals, and emerged with a 20-18 win in the Hall of Fame Game. Very little that can happen on Aug. 3 should be labeled as "memorable" or "earth-shaking," but there were definitely a few items we can discuss this morning in a smaller-than-regular-season-sized "Morning After" column.

 

The key to the rare fifth preseason game is similar to the fourth. Do not expose any players to injury if you can avoid it. With that in mind, the Cowboys and Cardinals wisely kept pretty much any and all starters far away from this game. That doesn't mean some players of significance who needed to play a little didn't get out there, because La'el Collins and Byron Jones did just that. But, for the most part, the Cowboys were able to survive this game with all sorts of healthy scratches. As the daily news wire shows, massive injuries in the NFL happen and key players on large salaries are lost for the entire season. You simply hope the bad news is going to avoid your team.

But that doesn't mean there aren't a few talking points, so let's run through those:

-- One key to being a proper media guy is to remain cynical in the face of fans' optimism about every player who shows a flash of ability, or starts to build some chatter around the facility with regards to his position in the organization and the depth chart. I do think, though, given his moments last night, I should begin to adjust my position on Rico Gathers a bit. You should forgive someone for thinking that we have seen some "basketball guys" play tight end who may have not played college football. We have also seen some guys who did not play high school football. But have we ever seen anyone skip high school AND college football, and then do something noteworthy in the NFL? Antonio Gates is used as the template for Rico Gathers and he was an exceptional high school football player before skipping college. Jimmy Graham at least played a little bit in college. But Gathers had not played since eighth grade, when he was 13 years old. The idea that he would then become an NFL regular seems extremely far-fetched.

Yet, watching him last night would simply verify some of the flashes at camp and chatter from insiders. When he caught that wonderful touchdown throw from Kellen Moore by outsizing and outpowering the poor defensive back who was trying to deal with him, it became obvious that I need to drop some cynicism on his future and hop on the wagon that indicates the Cowboys may have something here. Furthermore, I don't see his blocking as a massive issue, though when we talk about "matchup problem" tight ends in this league, blocking is often such a low priority, anyway. Gathers may have a chance to be that "Joker" tight end who is really an issue in the red zone, where you need a linebacker on him so he doesn't win just on size, but also a defensive back because he runs past your bigger defenders. In other words, in adding Gathers and Ryan Switzer, it sure looks like the Cowboys are going to be an even more difficult team to match up with when they choose to spread out the defense and isolate the weak links. Am I sure Gathers can make the team? No. Because the numbers crunch is a real thing. But now, he has graduated, in my mind, from a "long-shot project" to a guy who is in range of the final 53. Another showing or two like that, and they will need to make room and strongly consider carrying four tight ends again. I am not close to suggesting he is able to replace Jason Witten (I have heard some of you throw that around), but he is now properly on the radar for the 2017 team photo. He was very, very impressive in many regards last night.

-- Next, let's talk about early impressions of Taco Charlton. The first impression I have is that in watching Charles Tapper and Charlton, and considering them in the same bin of "promising youngsters" who are roughly 18 months apart in age, I would say Tapper appears to be a more polished player at the moment. Neither seems ready to generate pressures and sacks on a regular basis at the NFL level yet, but I think they have two very usable pieces who are going to come in handy while they have so many defensive ends with suspension issues. Charlton is going to need some time, and as I discussed during the draft season, he was never that prototypical "edge" guy who we have been looking for at Michigan under Jim Harbaugh. Frankly, he looked like a 3-4 defensive end 5-technique to me then, and he still sort of looks like a less-lethal version of David Irving during camp. But he is here, and now it is up to Rod Marinelli to give him a role that he can be good at. He seems eager to figure things out, but his pass-rush moves have not been an issue for any counterparts so far. He switches to a spin quickly when his get-off is stopped and he just isn't that quick at this level to make it work. We shall see, but of the two, I think I am more likely to get Tapper snaps early. But, again, we have over a month of preseason games to go. Let's keep following this story. I just remain pretty sure that Charlton is not the 8-10 sacks guy early in his career you are looking for from a first-rounder after two weeks of camp.

-- Brice Butler showed some real ability last night, too. The Cowboys were prepared to lose Terrance Williams and Brice Butler last March, and the market was kind enough to the team (not so much the players, that is) that they didn't lose either. That allowed them to keep both around and have some real injury cover for the wide receiver position which, to be honest, is one of the best reasons to be bullish on the Cowboys this year. They are pretty fortified at the offensive skill positions, should a reasonable injury hit. Butler is certainly not a kid anymore, but at 27, he looks like a fine depth guy at wide receiver who has a real deep component to run past corners and spring a big play on occasion.

-- Finally, I can't wait to really study Collins settling in at right tackle. This is a new spot for him and will take a lot of time, and he will be given lots of snaps in preseason. He has great ability, but most see his best fit being at guard. The problem, of course, is that they need a tackle right now and he is the best candidate to achieve at least a reasonable facsimile of Doug Free's performance. Free was no Tyron Smith, so we shouldn't expect Collins to be that, either. But the Cowboys have so much confidence in him figuring it out that they have "burned the bridges" by giving him a deal that suggests he already has proven he can do it. Playing tackle in the NFL means dealing with amazingly quick speed rushers who make a big man demonstrate elite foot quickness, so we won't truly know until Von Miller is standing over him, but I think there is reason to believe he will be OK. But Doug Free, the target of many fans for many years, may be one who is appreciated more this season than he had been for years as part of the "don't know what you got until its gone" theory.

There were certainly others who we can discuss, and will, as the days count down until their game next Saturday against the Rams at the LA Coliseum, but that will do for now. No major injuries in Canton, so induct Jerry Jones and get back to Oxnard, Calif.

Projecting the Dallas Cowboys' roster

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2017/07/31/sturm-cowboys-roster-projections-head-canton

By Bob Sturm, Special contributor Contact Bob Sturmon Twitter:@SportsSturm

Amazingly, as we hit the final day of July, we've also arrived at our very first "game week" of the Cowboys' season. Now, I should confess that this feels really weird and premature. Not only is the game a week before all other games in the NFL, but in its unquestioned wisdom, the league actually took a game that is early enough as it is and moved it three nights earlier than usual, from a Sunday night festivity to Thursday night.  

 

It's probably 10 days and maybe two full weeks before it needs to be played. But, I am sure they have their reasons and it isn't going to change. The arrangements have been made, and the plane will leave Oxnard, Calif., for Canton, Ohio, on Wednesday.

That means on some level -- likely a far lower level than you would prefer -- we can start to see some live action between the Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals. These two teams will actually meet again, in a game of pretty great consequence, on Sept. 25 (Week 3) in Arizona, the Cowboys' lone Monday Night appearance this season. But, that night and Thursday night won't have much else in common, as surely both teams will be trying to hide their top 25-30 players from the game, and injuries, as much as possible in the preseason opener.

So, this seems like a fine spot to cover some ground about roster construction and how we approach the preseason games with regards to building a team, and knowing when a job is really in jeopardy vs. details that won't amount to too much in six weeks time. The above team picture of the first version of a Cowboys roster will serve as a reminder of what is at stake for all of the men who are on the field every day here in Oxnard.

There are 90 players in camps for all NFL teams. You should know that this is the very first year when the league has no cutdown before cutdown day. Sept. 2 will be the only date for cuts and it should be amazing, as nearly 1,200 players will be released on the exact same day throughout the league. Then, teams will have 24 hours to submit their waiver claims of other teams' cuts and by Sept. 4, we will have an idea who is where.

Now, this thrill is lessened by the realities of these roster competitions. We have a hard time admitting this reality, but there aren't 90 guys who have a chance to make the Cowboys' roster in camp right now. Or 80. Or 70. Depending on who you ask, there may not even be 65. There are probably between 60-65 players who have even a slight chance to make the final 53. Contracts and investments make almost all of the decisions, and therefore teams are simply going to rely on those prior decisions in almost all cases on who to keep and who to expose/cut free to the rest of the football world.

That doesn't mean there's nothing at stake. There are plenty of players competing to make the practice squad or make themselves appealing to the rest of the league by putting good preseason tape out there, but I do think it is important to note that the Cowboys' front office could narrow down the roster to about 60 names right now. They don't need six weeks to do it. Heck, they don't even need six weeks to prepare their team for battle, but we do it because of tradition and because it is something we just do as football people. But, they could cut training camp in half and you would likely not see much difference by Week 1 in how the teams look or prepare themselves. The athletes are in top condition year-round now, so the only thing a longer camp seems to accomplish is expose athletes to injury more and collect consumer dollars with exhibition games at regular-season prices.

So, below, you will find your current Cowboys roster on my pre-folded Cowboys roster sheet:

So, as you watch the preseason games from your locations around the country (or world), you can begin to make alterations as we go. Like I said, you could probably start to cut guys right now and get down to 60-65 yourself. I liked Rudy, too, but there just aren't more than a couple of stories of guys making the team from out of nowhere like we want to believe. And those who do are almost always special teams guys, third-string quarterbacks, or someone they are scared to cut and slide through to the practice squad. Sometimes this happens, but most of the time, players who sneak onto the roster have no real role on the offense or defense in-season.

Now, take a look at this chart:

This will really help you on your path to figuring out who is going to be in the mix and who else will fall victim to the numbers game. As you can plainly see, we can really find the annual trends on how many players are carried from each grouping each year. Obviously, 2007 data won't be terribly useful -- league trends, scheme changes and different decision makers -- but 2014-16 data should be closely observed.

Once you know this team generally goes 25 offense, 25 defense and three specialists, you can start to jot on your legal pad the list of players who "have no chance of not making the final 53 barring a massive injury," players "who are legitimately on the bubble," and, finally, players "who have almost no chance of making the team." That final category is harshly named, but the truth is sometimes harsh, and I believe it is OK to write frankly in this space about what we know to be true.

Now, you can take a look at how the 25 and 25 broke down when the rosters were settled last season:

The offense has eight players gone from last year and must replace them -- including one starter in Doug Free (and another starter in Ron Leary, who was not that when camp broke last season). Clearly, they have some fine internal solutions, and between Leary and Free, they will have a couple of spots for the O-line's depth chart to change. Jonathan Cooper has one of those spots in his sights. The other has quite a few potential names.

Ryan Switzer replaces Lucky Whitehead, James Hanna returns, Rico Gathers has a real chance to step in for Gavin Escobar, Kellen Moore and Darren McFadden step back into their spots after injuries kept them out of the final 53 last season, and beyond that, there may be one or two other spots on the entire offense. There just aren't any vacancies, unless the team decides to go lighter on fullbacks (who really weren't fullbacks as much as they were special teams pillars) or move on from Chaz Green (which seems possible, but unlikely at this juncture).

To the defense:

We also have eight names to replace on defense.

So, this is a bit confusing because DeMarcus Lawrence wasn't listed last year (suspension) and David Irving and Damontre Moore won't be listed this year (suspensions), but Irving will definitely make the team and Moore very possibly will. Stephen Paea is in for Terrell McClain, Taco Charlton will be there, of course, and I expect Joey Ivie is very likely to make the team up front. Charles Tapper is back in from his injury, too.

I assume Justin Durant is merely Jaylon Smith insurance and there is a spot for a special teams ace to replace Andrew Gachkar. Damien Wilson is another suspension possibility (sigh) and everything else in the front seven seems pretty locked down.

Now, the secondary. Out go five players -- Brandon Carr, Morris Claiborne, J.J. Wilcox and Barry Church, along with fringe special teams guy Dax Swanson from last year.

In comes Chidobe Awuzie, Jourdan Lewis and Xavier Woods from the draft. Nolan Carroll has been signed and is going to start. That likely leaves one of Robert Blanton, Leon McFadden, sixth-round pick Marquez White and a few others to grab the final spot.

All of these projections go out the window if there is a big injury, but as you can see, otherwise, there just aren't any jobs available. Everyone else is hoping for a practice squad spot or some unforeseen opportunity that may spring up.

It is so hard to make an NFL roster, and even harder to do so for a team that won 13 games last year and has a young roster.

But hopefully this write-up gives you an idea of what we are looking at before the five preseason games introduce us to a handful of players who perform well and work their way onto the radar. We have seen countless players do this and still get cut in the end, but once in a while, they break all the way through to the other side of Labor Day with the big team.

Good luck to them, because they are going to need it.

The Morning After - Off To Oxnard, 2017

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2017/07/24/morning-next-cowboys-journey-hill-begins

Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer

Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones answers questions as Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett listens during a press conference in Oxnard, California on Sunday, July 23, 2017. Dallas Cowboys training camp begins on Monday. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)

By Bob Sturm, Special contributor Contact Bob Sturmon Twitter:@SportsSturm

After a long summer of no football and no writing from yours truly, this start to a new week also represents the start to a new season for the Dallas Cowboys.  That means it is time for me to jump back onto this laptop and provide some thoughts as I begin my 20th season covering this storied franchise, live from the tennis courts under the bright California sun.

 

The overall mood Sunday when Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones, and Jason Garrett were paraded in front of the huge group of media was that what you would expect.  They were coming off a 13-3 season with a young team that would seem to have its best football in front of it.  They lost in the playoffs to Green Bay, but it doesn't take complex mental gymnastics to convince yourself that the Cowboys were the better team and were simply undone by a singular performance that would be difficult to duplicate.  They certainly don't need to feel like they can't compete with the best teams in the NFC.  Needless to say, there is optimism for 2017.  

To keep with a tradition that began years ago, however, let's go over the inventory of those first 19 seasons -- since 1998 -- that also started with varied optimism-filled openings of Cowboys camps where everyone was full of smiles and belief that maybe this could be the year:  

Nineteen seasons, just eight (42%) resulted in playoff football on any level. You realize just five (26%) have been NFC East divisional titles. From there, in ten playoff games over 19 years,  two (11%) of those special years -- 2009 vs Philadelphia and 2014 vs Detroit -- did the team do so much as win a wild-card playoff game. And at no point in those 19 previous seasons have they even secured a spot in the final four (0%), let alone a Super Bowl (0%).

There is no doubt that had I started this job a few years earlier, we could dress up those numbers, but the fact remains that for two complete decades this franchise has run up the hill quite a few times without actually reaching the top.  That is perhaps why optimism from the brass of this franchise is generally met with cynicism from the public who just want you to show them the results.

Perhaps, that is why Sunday in the annual "State of the Cowboys" address, we did not spend very much time on where this franchise is headed following its big 2016.  Or, more likely, the media wasn't too interested in talking about whether the No. 1 seed can be secured again because the off-field reputation of the Cowboys for getting in as much or more trouble as pretty much anyone in the entire industry continues to march on.  

Perhaps you are plenty aware of the fact that since the Cowboys have last played football, they have suffered yet another Randy Gregory suspension and a David Irving suspension.  Added to that are news items that include Nolan Carroll DWI charges, a bizarre Damien Wilson aggravated assault arrest that seems likely to result in a league suspension, and a few notable Ezekiel Elliott news items that may also come with yet another Cowboys suspension on the horizon.  

The media wanted to ask questions about these topics that they knew would go nowhere.  The Cowboys wanted to filibuster about these questions in the ways they have become experts in answering without saying much.  Jones, Jones, and Garrett took turns reminding us that nobody is perfect (true) and that all teams have problems (true) and that the offseason is a difficult time because the players are free with plenty of time on their hands (true).  They did not seem too worried with their suspension totals outpacing the rest of the league on a pretty annual basis, nor did they seem too interested in any pointed comments directed at the offenders.  

There was normal talk about being a team of great character and built on the foundation of seeking the right types of players from the head coach, but there was also the understood arrangement where he does not have total control of his roster.  Those sitting next to him on the podium seem to have a different idea of how they build a 53-man roster.  And to be fair, a 29-19 record over the last 3 years (even with the disastrous 4-12 in 2015 factored in) seems to indicate they are doing a fine job building that roster.  

So, that is the one side of the story.  The story of how the Cowboys are willing to assume character risks without apology and to always point you back to Charles Haley and Michael Irvin (as they did yet again Sunday) for proof that they have a strong and successful basis for this logic as it pertains to Super Bowl victories. 

And then, there is the other side of the story.  The part about how I believe they are poised to take another step forward and seem to me to have as good a chance to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl as any team in the running.  Sure, they have flaws.  So does every good team in the NFC.  I like the strategy to populate this questionable defense with plenty of young, high-end talent.  I think it might come up well for them, especially with this repeatable and sustainable machine they have assembled on offense.  At least, that is what I think right now on July 24th.  

Every season, we demonstrate with amazing clarity that nobody knows anything.  Not the media, not the fans, and no, not the people who run these teams, either.  The best example to how this all works is just marching things back 12 months.    

Here is a passage from the training camp-starting column I wrote from last year:

The team is still as tied to the health of Tony Romo as they have ever been. Now, I will grant anyone the truth that Romo is a hot button issue that nobody can agree on until it is too late. I will also grant anyone the premise that I have been on the side of massive concern since the Cowboys had to play the 2013 final game (win and you win the division and go to the playoffs) against the Eagles without him. That was the game that started the back surgeries, which was the most problematic concern with the great QB's body (let's all recall the flying knee to his back on Monday Night Football in 2014) until his collarbone snapped twice in 2015. Did his collarbone endure more stress because he was always turning to protect his back? Was he rushed back before he was healthy? Will this new Mumford procedure be the fix? Questions abound. And, for some unknown reason, the Cowboys did not flinch and go target a better solution at backup QB for 2016. They may end up being in fine shape for down the road if Dak Prescott can be developed, but if QB1 drops in 2016, they are still seemingly as screwed as could be.I don't think Kellen Moore can win games in the big leagues, and neither does anyone who was locked in last December. Was he better than Matt Cassel or Brandon Weeden? If so, it is too fractional to get excited about. I don't know why they didn't get short-term Romo insurance, but it never came close to happening.

That proved somewhat prophetic and somewhat clueless.  Dak Prescott got the call and seized the moment like few in the history of the league ever have as rookies.  Not fourth-round rookies, but rookies of any caliber.  For him to do what he did in 2016 from the 135th pick in the draft is finding a gold brick in your backyard.  Amazing.  

In one year's time, this entire franchise went from being built on the problematic back of Tony Romo to him being off the roster.  In that same year, Prescott went from a third-string QB who will not take a snap until 2018 to the Pro Bowl in his rookie season.  

We truly know nothing.  

The Eagles look better, the Giants look menacing, and the Redskins look a bit weaker to me right now.  

The Cowboys may receive another suspension or two and who knows how health will smile upon them.  But, unlike their follow-up to 2014, I don't believe this season will be a massive regression.  I believe in what they have built and I believe they are entering the prime of the careers of many of their players -- most of whom have been homegrown talent from repeated strong drafts as of late.

More than anything, I am just thrilled to be back at the doorstep of football season.  The Cowboys are always fascinating to cover and I am sure this season will be no exception.  I will begin tackling strategic and tactical topics several times a week starting immediately.  

Things will happen at these training camp practices that will matter.  Kellen Moore breaking his ankle last August 2nd sent so many different scenarios into orbit.   Dak Prescott had to move up to No. 2 and start getting significant action in preseason games from Day 1.  Then, Tony Romo was hurt and Prescott moved up again.  Before we knew it, the Cowboys were 13-2 and preparing to host the NFC playoffs at home.

It all came crashing down with one magnificent Aaron Rodgers throw last January.  It happens.  It is the agony of defeat.

But, today the next journey truly begins.  Whether this one ends up in Minneapolis on Feb. 4, 2018, for Super Bowl LII is anyone's guess.