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Five Wonders: Darren McFadden might be left without a role
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer
FRISCO, Texas – The Dallas Cowboys are five games into their season, and with a 4-1 record, they have many people wondering if they will be a playoff team in 2016.
Here are five more wonders in this week’s Five Wonders:
Darren McFadden has become something of the forgotten man. A year ago, he finished fourth in the NFL in rushing with 1,089 yards and he did it in basically 11 games. He had an extremely impressive season on an offense that could not do much of anything in the passing game. McFadden is on the non-football injury list as he continues to rehab from a broken right elbow suffered in the offseason. I wonder what the Cowboys do with him when he is eligible to return, starting with the bye week. The Cowboys have three weeks from Oct. 23 to activate him and then another three weeks to decide whether to add him to the 53-man roster. With how well Ezekiel Elliott is playing and the way Alfred Morris fits the system, is there a place for McFadden? Lance Dunbar’s knee soreness could open up a spot for him as a third-down back, but he could be a man without a country. The trade deadline is Nov. 1. Could McFadden net a draft pick in return from a team needing a quality running back?
I wonder how good this Cowboys’ rookie class will be. We have seen the impact Dak Prescott and Elliott are having. Defensive tackle Maliek Collins (third round) and cornerback Anthony Brown (sixth round) are also making big contributions. Four rookies playing major snaps is not always a good thing, but the Cowboys are not missing a beat. The benefit will be down the road if they all continue to develop. This does not include second-rounder Jaylon Smith, who is not expected to play this season because of a knee injury. If he can return to the form he had at Notre Dame, this will be the Cowboys’ best draft class since 2005 when they selected DeMarcus Ware, Marcus Spears, Kevin Burnett, Marion Barber, Chris Canty and Jay Ratliff.
With the Cowboys off to a good start, I wonder if they will be flexed into a sixth prime-time game. Four of their final 10 games are on NBC, NFL Network or ESPN, so it will be a heavy load of the Cowboys in the second half of the season. With the NFL ratings down, could the Cowboys come to the rescue after the presidential election? Are the Cowboys more powerful than Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton? Of the games not already scheduled for primetime, the Nov. 13 game at the Pittsburgh Steelers and the season finale at the Philadelphia Eagles are the most viable options, but Fox and CBS would fight madly to keep them. The Cowboys' other games are against the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Will NBC hope for another winner-take-all in Week 17 between the Cowboys and Eagles? That would be a ratings draw for sure.
I’m not one to get caught up in who a team beats. A win is a win is a win is a win. As Jason Garrett says, it’s hard to win games in the NFL. So don’t get caught up in the fact that the Cowboys’ four wins have come against teams a combined 7-13. Starting with Sunday’s game at the Green Bay Packers, I wonder what we’ll be saying about the Cowboys when Thanksgiving rolls around. The Cowboys’ next six opponents are a combined 16-12 and five of those losses belong to the winless Cleveland Browns. Heck, if we want to carry it out to after Thanksgiving it is 21-12 with a trip to Minnesota on Dec. 1. The Cowboys start has been good, but they are hitting the difficult part of the schedule.
I wonder if we all owe J.J. Wilcox an apology. On more than one occasion, I advocated for his release in the offseason and in training camp, but he has made some key plays in the first five weeks of the season. The Cowboys are using Wilcox in their dime defense and are rotating him with Barry Church and Byron Jones. But for a mini-wonder inside I wonder, I wonder if the limited playing time has helped Wilcox not be exposed. He is fearless as a tackler and will hit anything. He had a big pass breakup against San Francisco too. I still don’t think the Cowboys look to re-sign him to any kind of starting-type deal for 2017, but he deserves kudos for how he's played so far.
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer
FRISCO, Texas – The Dallas Cowboys are five games into their season, and with a 4-1 record, they have many people wondering if they will be a playoff team in 2016.
Here are five more wonders in this week’s Five Wonders:
Darren McFadden has become something of the forgotten man. A year ago, he finished fourth in the NFL in rushing with 1,089 yards and he did it in basically 11 games. He had an extremely impressive season on an offense that could not do much of anything in the passing game. McFadden is on the non-football injury list as he continues to rehab from a broken right elbow suffered in the offseason. I wonder what the Cowboys do with him when he is eligible to return, starting with the bye week. The Cowboys have three weeks from Oct. 23 to activate him and then another three weeks to decide whether to add him to the 53-man roster. With how well Ezekiel Elliott is playing and the way Alfred Morris fits the system, is there a place for McFadden? Lance Dunbar’s knee soreness could open up a spot for him as a third-down back, but he could be a man without a country. The trade deadline is Nov. 1. Could McFadden net a draft pick in return from a team needing a quality running back?
I wonder how good this Cowboys’ rookie class will be. We have seen the impact Dak Prescott and Elliott are having. Defensive tackle Maliek Collins (third round) and cornerback Anthony Brown (sixth round) are also making big contributions. Four rookies playing major snaps is not always a good thing, but the Cowboys are not missing a beat. The benefit will be down the road if they all continue to develop. This does not include second-rounder Jaylon Smith, who is not expected to play this season because of a knee injury. If he can return to the form he had at Notre Dame, this will be the Cowboys’ best draft class since 2005 when they selected DeMarcus Ware, Marcus Spears, Kevin Burnett, Marion Barber, Chris Canty and Jay Ratliff.
With the Cowboys off to a good start, I wonder if they will be flexed into a sixth prime-time game. Four of their final 10 games are on NBC, NFL Network or ESPN, so it will be a heavy load of the Cowboys in the second half of the season. With the NFL ratings down, could the Cowboys come to the rescue after the presidential election? Are the Cowboys more powerful than Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton? Of the games not already scheduled for primetime, the Nov. 13 game at the Pittsburgh Steelers and the season finale at the Philadelphia Eagles are the most viable options, but Fox and CBS would fight madly to keep them. The Cowboys' other games are against the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Will NBC hope for another winner-take-all in Week 17 between the Cowboys and Eagles? That would be a ratings draw for sure.
I’m not one to get caught up in who a team beats. A win is a win is a win is a win. As Jason Garrett says, it’s hard to win games in the NFL. So don’t get caught up in the fact that the Cowboys’ four wins have come against teams a combined 7-13. Starting with Sunday’s game at the Green Bay Packers, I wonder what we’ll be saying about the Cowboys when Thanksgiving rolls around. The Cowboys’ next six opponents are a combined 16-12 and five of those losses belong to the winless Cleveland Browns. Heck, if we want to carry it out to after Thanksgiving it is 21-12 with a trip to Minnesota on Dec. 1. The Cowboys start has been good, but they are hitting the difficult part of the schedule.
I wonder if we all owe J.J. Wilcox an apology. On more than one occasion, I advocated for his release in the offseason and in training camp, but he has made some key plays in the first five weeks of the season. The Cowboys are using Wilcox in their dime defense and are rotating him with Barry Church and Byron Jones. But for a mini-wonder inside I wonder, I wonder if the limited playing time has helped Wilcox not be exposed. He is fearless as a tackler and will hit anything. He had a big pass breakup against San Francisco too. I still don’t think the Cowboys look to re-sign him to any kind of starting-type deal for 2017, but he deserves kudos for how he's played so far.