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By Jon Machota 2h ago
Since the Cowboys’ season ended on Jan. 16, team owner and general manager Jerry Jones has made it clear on multiple occasions that he doesn’t believe Dallas fell to San Francisco, 23-17, in the wild-card round because of a lack of talent. Considering health, depth and top-end talent, the 12-win Cowboys should have been one of the most dangerous teams entering this year’s playoffs.
“We deserve better than ending up this way,” Jones said last Friday on 105.3 The Fan. “I’m very, very frustrated and upset. We’ve used up some very talented players over the last few years.”
Jones’ comments immediately after the game and then again on Friday were clearly aimed at the coaching staff for not maximizing what they had available on the roster. There will be plenty of time to dissect the staff and other areas of the team in the upcoming weeks and months, but today we’re focusing on the players.
How did the Cowboys’ 53-man roster end up playing individually? We broke it down into two parts. Here’s Part 1: offense and special teams.
Quarterback
Dak Prescott: B-minus. Through the first six games, his grade was unquestionably an A-plus. Prescott was playing at an MVP level as the Cowboys raced out to a 5-1 start entering the bye week. But he didn’t look nearly as comfortable after returning from a calf strain, beginning Week 9 against the Broncos. Was he not seeing the field as well later in the year? Was he not completely healthy? How much of a factor were the offensive line issues? Was it the play calling? Whatever the answer is, Prescott wasn’t at his best for most of the second half of the season.
Cooper Rush: A-minus. It’s a small sample size. Rush was called upon to start in place of an injured Prescott at Minnesota in Week 8 and he helped lead the Cowboys to a 20-16 Sunday Night Football victory. That’s about all you can ask for from your backup quarterback. When his number was called, he delivered.
Running back
Ezekiel Elliott: C-plus. His grade for toughness would be an A, considering that Elliott played through a partially torn PCL in his right knee dating back to Week 4. He’s not as explosive as he once was, but he was still good enough to rush for 1,000 yards and score 12 touchdowns. The Cowboys finished ninth in rushing at 125 yards per game. There were certainly issues, particularly later in the season, but they weren’t only on Elliott.
Tony Pollard: A-minus. When healthy, Pollard was probably the team’s best big-play weapon. He rushed for a career-high 719 yards and caught a career-high 39 passes for 337 yards. He was also impressive as a kickoff returner, returning one against the Raiders for a 100-yard touchdown. Unfortunately, Pollard dealt with plantar fasciitis for the final seven games of the season.
Corey Clement: B-minus. He was solid as a No. 3 back, appearing in every game, doing most of his work on special teams. His 299 special teams snaps were third-most on the team.
Ezekiel Elliott (Tommy Gilligan / USA Today)
Wide receiver
Amari Cooper: B-minus. The Cowboys simply needed more from Cooper. That’s partly on him, but it’s also on Prescott and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore to find more ways to get one of their best skill players the ball. After having three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, Cooper finished with 865 in 15 games. “I thought that (the way) we were playing early, when we did make something happen, I thought Cooper had a big part in that,” Jones said Friday. “And I’m not being trite. But how he fits in, (he) should take half the field with him when he goes and runs (a route). Not half, that’s an exaggeration, of course, but a whole bunch of that defense should have to honor Cooper. He ought to be able to catch it when they’re going in the middle with him. Others do. You throw to people that are covered all the time in the NFL. You have to. Most people don’t have the numbers of receivers that we have.”
CeeDee Lamb: B-plus. He was the Cowboys’ leading receiver with 1,102 yards and six touchdowns in 16 games. Lamb seems like he has only scratched the surface of what he can be in the NFL. It was disappointing to see him finish with only one catch on five targets against the 49ers.
Michael Gallup: C-plus. He missed over half of the season with injuries, but even when Gallup was healthy, he averaged only 49 receiving yards per game and scored only two touchdowns. To reach their goals, the Cowboys needed their top three wide receivers to all be at the top of their games. None ended up exceeding expectations.
Cedrick Wilson: B. He was an excellent No. 4 wide receiver who played well when bumped up to the No. 3 spot. Wilson set career-highs with 45 catches for 602 yards and six touchdowns. He also brought great value with his ability to throw and help on special teams.
Malik Turner: B-minus. While he mostly contributed on special teams, Turner still managed to catch 12 passes for 149 yards and three touchdowns.
Noah Brown: B-minus. Another special teams contributor who ended with 16 catches for 184 yards. He caught six passes for a season-high 53 yards against the Raiders while Lamb and Cooper were sidelined.
Tight end
Dalton Schultz: A-minus. He was one of the few players on the roster who exceeded expectations in 2021. Schultz finished with 78 receptions, one behind Lamb for the team lead, for 808 yards and eight touchdowns. Schultz finished the year graded sixth among all tight ends, according to Pro Football Focus.
Blake Jarwin: C-plus. This was a difficult grade because he didn’t play much. Jarwin saw action in only eight games, catching 11 passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns. It’s going to be difficult for Dallas to keep Schultz in free agency, so Jarwin looks to be heading back into the starting role he had entering the 2020 season before he suffered a season-ending ACL injury. A hip injury caused Jarwin to miss over half of the 2021 season.
Jeremy Sprinkle: C-plus. He was mostly used as a blocking tight end and special teams contributor. Sprinkle played in every game.
Sean McKeon: C. He played in nine games, catching four passes for 27 yards and a touchdown while also averaging 10 special teams snaps per game.
Offensive line
Zack Martin: A. He was Dallas’ best offensive lineman and one of the best in the NFL, earning All-Pro honors for the seventh time in eight seasons. There were too many issues with the offensive line, but Martin was never one of them. He only missed one game after testing positive for COVID-19 before the season opener.
Tyler Biadasz: D. The hope was that he would settle into the starting job entering his second season. There were issues early on, which led to competition at the position. Things took a while to get settled, but Biadasz ended up starting every game. He finished the season ranked as the league’s 19th-best center, according to PFF.
Tyron Smith: B. Smith is still regarded as one of the top left tackles in the game. But he continued to miss games because of injuries. For the sixth consecutive season, he missed at least three games. After missing 14 last year, he sat out six in 2021.
La’el Collins: C-plus. It wasn’t a great sign for the start of the season for the offensive line when Collins was suspended five games for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. He ended up playing in 13 games, including playoffs, finishing ranked 13th among starting offensive tackles on PFF.
Connor Williams: D. This was one of the tougher grades. It could be worse considering he led the NFL in penalties with 17 called and 14 enforced. But when he wasn’t committing penalties he was pretty solid overall at left guard who played at probably a C-plus level.
Connor McGovern: C. He had an opportunity to win the starting left guard job when Williams was benched three games for committing too many penalties, but eventually Williams took the spot back. With Williams entering free agency, McGovern should get every opportunity to win the job next season.
Ty Nsekhe: C-plus. When he was called upon to play, the Cowboys happened to perform pretty well as a team. Nsekhe played 18 or more offensive snaps five times. The Cowboys won all five games.
Terence Steele: B. He exceeded expectations while filling in for Collins and not immediately giving the job back. Not only did Steele serve a valuable role in 2021, he showed he’s more than capable of starting in the future. Overall, the offensive line grades don’t look too bad individually, however, if there was a grade on the overall continuity of the group, it would be a D, at best.
Greg Zuerlein (Tommy Gilligan / USA Today)
Special teams
Greg Zuerlein: D-minus. It wasn’t a good season for Zuerlein, who missed six extra points and six field goals. His extra-point percentage ranked 27th in the league. His field-goal percentage ranked 23rd. His six field-goal misses were from 60, 59, 51, 43, 43 and 31 yards with five of those coming in the first half of games. Zuerlein was 3 for 3 on his kicks against the 49ers in the playoffs, including a 51-yard field goal, and he was outstanding against the Chargers in Week 2, making the game-winner from 56 yards out as time expired. But his misses at Tampa Bay in Week 1, against the Raiders on Thanksgiving and against the Cardinals in Week 17 proved costly in those close losses.
Bryan Anger: A-plus. It was an outstanding season for Anger in his first year with the Cowboys. He earned second-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors. His average of 48.4 per punt was fourth-best in the league. His net of 44.6 yards was tops in the NFL. Dallas ranked fourth in the league, holding opponents to only 6.5 yards per punt return.
Jake McQuaide: A-minus. One of the best things a long snapper can do is never have his name called during a game broadcast. It’s usually a bad thing, like a poor snap on a punt or field goal, when that happens. McQuaide didn’t have any of those moments in 2021 as he did an excellent job replacing Dallas’ long-time long snapper L.P. Ladouceur.
C.J. Goodwin: A-minus. He was again a key member of one of the league’s best special teams units as one of the league’s best gunners. “I think C.J. is special at what he brings to our football team,” head coach Mike McCarthy said. “Not only what you see on Sundays, but how he is in the locker room. He’s definitely a man that commands a lot of respect for how he goes about his business. He’s so, so consistent and such a gifted athlete. He can do a lot and has tremendous pride and will.”
