Every week until the regular season, this series will put the spotlight on a key, but not fully established Cowboys player who is still on his way to his finished form. It will try to examine where his journey has gone so far, where 2022 might take him and beyond. Dalton Schultz was the 10th tight end taken in the 2018 NFL Draft and, at pick 137, he certainly was much better than his draft spot.
https://theathletic.com/3433441/2022/07/19/cowboys-dalton-schultz-franchise-tag/
One thing I make a point in doing every July is to rewatch the end of the previous year. I stole this idea from watching "Breaking Bad," "Better Call Saul" or even when "Game of Thrones" would finally give us a new season after being away for far too long. I have to remember where we left things. Where were the main characters? What pickle did the bad guys put us in as the screen froze and we faded away into the offseason? In TV shows, we often don't have anything occur.
https://theathletic.com/3417552/2022/07/14/cowboys-49ers-wild-card-playoff-game-review/
How we consume our football is largely based on what people find interesting. You know, what gets the clicks going. This sport is far too nuanced for that to always lead us in the right direction, but it is probably easier to just answer Micah Parsons for every question on why the defense was so much better than it was in 2020.
You know I won’t do that to you here. Although I will quickly concede that Parsons is a franchise-altering draft pick at this current pace of play. Also, keeping Dan Quinn around makes me very pleased with how well this defense has a chance to continue its build with some nice development down the same course. Continuity is a massive key in this league and the Cowboys have a chance to put some nice things on top of their sturdy foundation.
https://theathletic.com/3213741/2022/03/28/jayron-kearse-being-back-in-the-fold-is-bigger-news-for-the-cowboys-defense-than-people-would-think/
Let’s start with two of the most basic but missed truths of this time of year:
1. There are almost no occasions where the winners of the first week of free agency still feel great about their spending spree in 24 or 36 months. In fact, a brief glance at the 2019 free agency supposed home runs will quickly turn into warning track fly balls. Here were the top signings of 36 months ago: Trey Flowers to Detroit ( five years, $90 million) — cut last week after three years and 10 total sacks. Landon Collins to Washington (six years, $84 million) — cut last week. Trent Brown to Oakland (four years, $64 million) — traded a year ago to New England and just re-signed. C.J. Mosley to New York Jets (five years, $85 million) — still with team but has only played in 18 games in three seasons. And, Le’Veon Bell to the Jets (four years, $52 million) — lasted about one season there and has been on four teams since and is looking for work. Those were the top five players in that group and all of them were pretty large failures. We didn’t even look at Earl Thomas to Baltimore (four years, $55 million) or Golden Tate to the Giants (four years, $37.5 million). In other words, this often doesn’t work out really well for the big spenders. And you can also pick just about any year you want.
2. There are 175 days until opening Sunday for the 2022 NFL season. There is a long way to go. Everybody calm down.
https://theathletic.com/3199713/2022/03/21/one-week-in-we-analyze-all-of-the-signings-losses-and-gains-of-the-cowboys-spring/
It has probably been a few years since we have done a full draft digest on the tight end position, but this year we believe a few things that have properly changed our tune enough to even get the tight ends in before spring break. We start with this being a very interesting tight end class that has enough quality depth that as many as seven or eight could go in the first few days. I wouldn’t call that likely, but at least very possible. There is no Kyle Pitts, for sure. But, this league is always looking for dual threat tight ends who are neither a liability in blocking or in receiving. And for whatever reason, this year has plenty of that.
https://theathletic.com/3174453/2022/03/10/cowboys-draft-digest-this-years-tight-end-class-has-no-kyle-pitts-but-has-many-starters/
The time for talking has pretty much expired as Tuesday is the final day for tag designations in the NFL. By Tuesday at 3 p.m. CT, we will know which teams have decided to place tags on their potential free agents and which will risk them getting into the open marketplace.
There is no question that the Cowboys are right near the front of these discussions as they usually are. We have three names to discuss as it pertains to contract adjustments or tags, all of which could certainly justify their own written piece. We have Amari Cooper, DeMarcus Lawrence and Dalton Schultz to discuss and their futures in Dallas therein. But, given that each deserves his own space, we shall accommodate each situation as best we can. My very capable colleague, Jon Machota, has already written several thoughts on Cooper and a few additional offerings on Schultz.
https://theathletic.com/3167512/2022/03/07/the-cowboys-have-talked-about-every-option-for-three-key-players-but-now-they-must-make-decision/
We are right in the thick of our draft studies this week as the party has shifted to Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine. Here at the “Sturm 60 HQ,” we are stressing out about how to make 68 prospects fit into 60 spots and figuring that whoever doesn’t make the cut will be more likely to be selected by Dallas. Today, I will get the 24th player fully evaluated.
https://theathletic.com/3154424/2022/03/01/dan-quinn-and-micah-parsons-redefined-the-possibilities-and-deserve-all-of-the-credit/
Given that this week will look at interior offensive line possibilities in the 2022 NFL Draft, I thought this week’s Cowboys essay would fit really well on a similar topic. That topic will be, of course, the current status of the Cowboys offensive line.
You can imagine the surprise of so many of us who digest Cowboys football daily after this past season when we discovered the recently released analysis by PFF that the Cowboys had the top offensive line in the NFL in 2021.
https://theathletic.com/3140924/2022/02/22/offseason-priority-for-the-cowboys-is-clear-get-the-offensive-line-up-to-level-of-reputation/
Given that we are in Super Bowl week and things are going to start happening as soon as the window opens for business in the 2022 offseason, we better start moving past the coaching movements and focus on the players. With all due respect to the fine-tuning of staffs that will not change too much, the Cowboys will see most of their gains and losses from personnel. You know I am not shocked to find out Kellen Moore is returning, as I think he requires significant seasoning, but now that this is behind us, let’s get to setting the lineups with as much quality and depth as we can muster.
https://theathletic.com/3115914/2022/02/08/cowboys-offseason-shopping-list-plenty-to-do-with-their-huge-free-agent-class/
