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By Jon Machota 3h ago
The Cowboys added 11 players to their roster over the three-day period of this year’s NFL Draft. It was expected to be a heavy defensive class for Dallas, which ended up spending eight picks on that side of the ball.
But after free agency and the draft, are the Cowboys better than they were when the season ended Jan. 3 with a 6-10 record?
“I think we’ve maximized fairly well and gotten the most out of being that high and having those number of picks in the top 100,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Saturday night after the draft while sitting with executive vice president Stephen Jones, coach Mike McCarthy and vice president of player personnel Will McClay. “When you’re sitting in my shoes, you’re fortunate to have the kind of people that are helping make these decisions. At the end of the day, we really only know that God knows. Not many people really know where (the prospects) got to be on this chart. This group had a really good last few days and a big weekend.”
Let’s take a look at where the Cowboys’ depth chart sits after adding those 11 draft picks. Not every player on the current roster is included in this projection, but these are the ones who are expected to have the biggest impact on finalizing the roster for the 2021 season.
Quarterback
This is far from settled. There’s still a good chance the Cowboys end up with a veteran backup who is not on the current roster. If the season started today, Garrett Gilbert would be Dak Prescott’s backup. He completed 21-of-38 passes for 243 yards, one touchdown and one interception in a 24-19 loss to the Steelers last season, his only career start. The Cowboys had interest in adding a quarterback in the later rounds of this year’s draft. But they didn’t pick one and they didn’t add an undrafted rookie free agent.
Dak Prescott
Garrett Gilbert
Cooper Rush
Ben DiNucci
Running back
This group has a decent chance of staying the same as last year. After the draft, the Cowboys added undrafted rookie free-agent running backs JaQuan Hardy from Tiffin and Brenden Knox from Marshall, and fullback Nick Ralston from Louisiana. Dane Brugler graded Knox as the 18th-best running back in this year’s draft, projected to go in the seventh round. He rushed 185 times for 887 yards and nine touchdowns in nine games last season.
Ezekiel Elliott
Tony Pollard
Rico Dowdle
Sewo Olonilua
Amari Cooper (Tim Heitman / USA Today)
Wide receiver
The following six seem like a pretty good bet to make the 53-man roster. The only new member is Stanford’s Simi Fehoko. The 6-foot-4, 222-pound Fehoko had a monster final game of his college career, catching 16 passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns against UCLA. “I think with my God-given ability, there’s no reason I can’t be the best wide receiver in this draft class, if not the league,” Fehoko said after he was drafted in the fifth round.
Amari Cooper
Michael Gallup
CeeDee Lamb
Cedrick Wilson
Noah Brown
Simi Fehoko
Tight end
The signing of veteran Jeremy Sprinkle replaces the loss of Blake Bell, who returned to the Chiefs. Blake Jarwin is expected to return to his starting role after suffering a season-ending knee injury in Week 1 last season. If Jarwin and Dalton Schultz stay healthy, the Cowboys should get plenty of production from the position.
Blake Jarwin
Dalton Schultz
Jeremy Sprinkle
Sean McKeon
Offensive line
The Cowboys said several times over the past month that they feel good about where left tackle Tyron Smith and right tackle La’el Collins are in their rehab from last year’s surgeries. But actions speak louder than words, and their actions certainly backed up what they’ve been saying. The Cowboys had several opportunities to draft a tackle with one of their five picks in the first three rounds. They did not. Josh Ball was the first offensive lineman the team drafted, and that didn’t come until Pick 138.
OT: Tyron Smith, La’el Collins, Ty Nsekhe, Brandon Knight, Terence Steele, Josh Ball
Guard: Zack Martin, Connor Williams, Connor McGovern, Matt Farniok
Center: Tyler Biadasz, Adam Redmond
Special teams
The most interesting position battle in special teams coordinator John Fassel’s group will likely be at punter. Everything else seems set.
Greg Zuerlein, K
Bryan Anger, P
Hunter Niswander, P
Jake McQuaide, LS
C.J. Goodwin, DB/Special teams ace
Defensive line
There should be excellent competition here throughout training camp and the preseason. The Cowboys are obviously not keeping 14 defensive linemen on their 53-man roster. That number will be closer to 10. But they appear to have a lot of versatility and position flex. New defensive coordinator Dan Quinn plans to be more multiple depending on the opponent. This group should give him more options than they had on previous rosters.
DE: DeMarcus Lawrence, Randy Gregory, Tarell Basham, Dorance Armstrong, Chauncey Golston, Bradlee Anae
DT: Trysten Hill, Neville Gallimore, Antwaun Woods, Brent Urban (DL), Osa Odighizuwa, Quinton Bohanna, Carlos Watkins, Justin Hamilton
Micah Parsons (Jesse Johnson / USA Today)
Linebacker
This is the group that has experienced the most impactful additions this offseason. The Cowboys’ biggest free agency acquisition: Keanu Neal. The Cowboys’ biggest draft acquisition: Micah Parsons. The position group has disappointed over the past two seasons. They must be improved in 2021.
Micah Parsons
Jaylon Smith
Leighton Vander Esch
Keanu Neal
Jabril Cox
Francis Bernard
Luke Gifford
Cornerback
The length and size of this group immediately jumps out. There’s a good chance that Trevon Diggs and Kelvin Joseph start Week 1 on the outside with Anthony Brown and Jourdan Lewis battling for time in nickel and dime packages. But all four will be on the field a lot, regardless of who is in the starting lineup in the season opener. If any of the others emerge as consistent contributors, this could be a much-improved secondary.
Trevon Diggs
Kelvin Joseph
Anthony Brown
Jourdan Lewis
Nahshon Wright
Maurice Canady
Reggie Robinson II
Safety
The most neglected position on the roster hasn’t changed. Safety was one of the team’s biggest needs going into the draft and it wasn’t addressed until late in the sixth round. If the Cowboys were going to upgrade here, it would have had to happen with a trade up in the second round. The top three safeties in this class, Jevon Holland, Richie Grant and Trevon Moehrig, all were picked between the start of the second round and one pick before Dallas went on the clock at No. 44. And even if Moehrig would’ve been there at 44, the Cowboys would have still drafted Joseph, because they viewed getting a starting corner as a bigger priority. Obviously, that wasn’t addressed in the first round when Jaycee Horn and Patrick Surtain II were picked with the two picks before Dallas went on the clock at No. 10.
Donovan Wilson
Damontae Kazee
Jayron Kearse
Darian Thompson
Israel Mukuamu
