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By Bob Sturm Aug 26, 2019
I am going to shoot straight with you about this Morning After: I watched the Houston game fully to study the Cowboys’ special teams units. After seeing Joe Thomas block a punt and Cedrick Wilson spring a nice punt return, I had what I wanted to see. Let’s talk special teams, everyone. Gather ’round!
How big a deal can we make of a few special teams plays from Saturday night? Well, let’s take a quick look:
Both of these plays came off Houston punts and it helped that their offense brought very little to the table – especially after the Lamar Miller ACL injury reminded everyone that preseason games are best to be avoided altogether.
Anyway, here, Joe Thomas continued to dazzle in this preseason every time he steps on the field by coming off the edge, basically taking the ball off the foot of the punter and then rumbling and stumbling all the way into the end zone. The Cowboys have hardly done this in the regular season at all in the last 20 years with one in 2008 against the 49ers by Carlos Polk and one in Philadelphia in 2015 when Danny McCray blocked a punt and Kyle Wilber ran it in. That is it. In 25 years going back to 1994 (when profootballreference.com has records starting) until now, nearly 2,000 punts have been faced and only two have been blocked for a touchdown.
Thomas was already on the roster, but his special teams component could be huge so this play was nice.
This other punt from the 2nd Quarter doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, until you realize that Cedrick Wilson’s 32-yard return exceeds (easily) every punt return the Cowboys have attempted since November of 2017. Let’s credit him for showing some juice around the corner, but I really don’t think this should be the biggest return in almost two years.
Basically, the premise here is that the Cowboys special teams have ceased to be very special, and it is up to this team to fix that for 2019.
=====
The landscape of the NFL continues to evolve, and it is our job to keep up as best we can.
We can easily observe the sky-rocketing salaries at certain positions and the stagnant growth at others. Even as the pace slows at running back, it also seems true that the industry’s best running backs will still be written a check of roughly $1 million dollars per game in 2019. While it is unfortunate to see the RB group lagging behind — especially for those who play that position — a top seasonal salary in the $15-to-16-million range leaves those players financially comfortable. It is the relative slice of the pie that troubles those folks, not the ability to fill a bank account or seven.
Depending on your team’s worldview, mixed with a little blind luck, we can surmise that they will spend almost all of their cap resources on the offense and the defensive sides of the ball. Those units will also receive almost all of the draft resources and all of the benefit of the doubt whenever a coach on either side of the ball is trying to make the case that he should be able to use the final roster spot for his young guy who just needs more time.
According to our friends at Spotrac, here is how the Cowboys currently split up their cap resources. You can plainly see that even without tremendous raises for Ezekiel Elliott, Dak Prescott, and Amari Cooper (although Cooper’s number in 2019 is hefty), the Cowboys spend most of the $188 million salary cap on their offense:
We are wise to expect that number to continue growing. Additionally, the defense will need their own cash, and two players have already been inked to two huge deals this year: DeMarcus Lawrence and Jaylon Smith.
None of the players we’ve mentioned — or any of the top 10 salaries on the team — take part in special teams. Technically, the offensive line is on the field for field goals and extra points, but that only sort of counts as traditional special-teams punishment.
The kickoff and punt teams — cover and return — are filled largely with players who receive nothing more than the absolute league minimum and often are happy to be in the NFL in any capacity. They are involved in the most vicious collisions and do more damage to their bodies than pretty much anyone while receiving almost none of the proceeds. A few will get promoted to the more glamorous worlds of offense and defense if they handle this job well, but most will simply be discarded at the end of their minimum contracts and replaced with new 22-year-old models in four years’ time.
Tied to this reality is the fact that many players who are highly-rated and drafted out of college were stars at their universities and thus not asked to run special teams at that level either. They must now adjust to life in the NFL, but you are likely to be disappointed if you expect your top prospects to have any idea how to cover kicks.
Lastly, we know how close the games are in the NFL and how one score seems to decide most. Special teams may be part of the safety phase-out in the league, but how many games are decided by a big return, a turnover on special teams, a miss-or-make field goal or a bad snap?
In other words, you can have the best roster in the league and still be sabotaged by poor special teams. Yet this is a portion of the game that is almost completely ignored by fans, media and fantasy football.
This is why I insist on writing about it every year in August as teams build out their final roster. To the coaches and personnel people in this sport, it is a huge consideration as we approach cut-down day.
If you have read my stuff for any amount of time, you know that I use 1,000 snaps as a shorthand when it comes to the offense or defense. On average, offensive or defensive players have an opportunity to play 1,000 snaps in a season. Some teams play a bit more and some a bit less, but the average number is right around the same spot every year. That figure falls out to about 65 snaps per game on offense and 65 more for your defense, totaling about 130 plays from scrimmage in all.
However, we are still missing the numbers you’re about to see below: About 28 snaps a game and 440 over the course of a year. You may see that the Cowboys’ numbers fell some in 2017-18, but this is more a function of low-possession games rather than a big shift for the sport. The Cowboys actively try to shorten games the moment they begin as they believe this increases their odds of winning. (Of course, Chip Kelly and Mike Leach try to add possessions to each game, believing that with more possessions they can gain more of an offensive advantage on the scoreboard, which therefore increases their odds at winning. This proves not everyone agrees on strategic tactics in this amazingly complex sport.)
TOTAL COWBOYS SPECIAL TEAMS SNAPS, 2011-18:
Year FGA OppFGA XPT OppXPT Punts OppPunts KO Opp KO ST Totals
As you might expect, I have kept these numbers for quite a while (since 2011), and although they fluctuate quite a bit, you will notice that there are plenty of special-teams snaps to account for. On average, over these seven years, the number averages out to 439 snaps per season on special teams. This is roughly 17 to 18 percent of all snaps in a season, even though most fans and media never spend five minutes thinking about them.
That 439 number works out to just under 28 snaps per game. 28 chances for disaster — or an opportunity to make a play and win a game.
So when people talk about keeping a sixth wide receiver, ninth or 10th defensive back, or a sixth linebacker, the coaching staff knows that doesn’t always mean the best candidate at that position to someday actually be a contributor on offense or defense. Sometimes the best way to make the team is to prove you can be counted upon to make a difference in the game in special teams. And if you are good enough in special teams, you may have the opportunity to develop into a player who can someday factor into the offense and defense. In other words, being a special-teams contributor keeps your dream alive of catching the coaches’ eye all week at practice at the position of your dreams – the one that will actually get you paid.
This will be Year 2 for Cowboys special teams coordinator Keith O’Quinn. In 2014, he began assisting his predecessor, Rich Bisaccia (now in Oakland with Jon Gruden), trying to make the Dallas special-teams group really sing. If you average the rank of the four return/coverage units, the Cowboys ranked in the top half of the league in four of Bisaccia’s five years . Honestly, giving him credit for Dan Bailey being good at kicking always seemed weird to me, so I really don’t credit or debit a special teams coordinator for that. But deploying return or coverage units seems like something that is largely his charge, and while he certainly is at the mercy of what his head coach allows him to do – for instance, I am certain he is often refused the services of certain capable special-teams players if, say, he wants Chidobe Awuzie or Michael Gallup to help cover punts – it falls to him if his guys get gouged with a huge return or a devastating blocked punt.
Bisaccia’s only season with a group below league average was 2016, when they ranked 21st on aggregate. O’Quinn certainly deserves a chance to get things squared away moving forward, but it should be noted that the Cowboys’ average rank in 2018 – 24.5 – was easily their worst in over a decade. They won games and the division, so it is not the story of 2018, but you can hopefully understand why some might be watching this group closely in 2019 and perhaps that means some considerations from the personnel department when it is time to make cuts.
Here are the NFL ranks in the four coverage/return categories over the last decade:
Season ST Coach Punt Cover Kick Cover Punt returns Kick returns
An addendum: The rankings are based on average yards per return, and therefore we are looking for quality over raw quantities. Also, know that this is relative to the league, which is trying to phase out returns on kickoffs altogether. That may be true, but they are still here and with a team that at times wins by the finest of margins, we probably should not give away 10 yards per return, even if kickoffs are a thing of the past by 2031.
For the remainder of this exercise, I want to look at each group and discuss who is new and who needs to be replaced as we finish this roster up:
PUNT COVER TEAM
It has been a long time since the Cowboys got popped for a touchdown on a punt return from an opponent. In fact, it was week 14 of 2012 against the Eagles in the final minute of a game the Cowboys had already had wrapped up, but Damaris Johnson returned a punt 98 yards all the way back to make the game interesting.
In 2017, the Cowboys were the No. 1 team in the NFL in not conceding punt returns. In a league where the average punt return totaled 8.2 yards, Dallas allowed 4.2, and there was seldom a problem. In 2018, however, the group fell back to league average – 8.5 yards a return.
The normal punt team from 2018 looked like this:
Blake Jarwin, Rod Smith, Damien Wilson, Jamize Olawale, Jeff Heath, Kavon Frazier, Joe Thomas, Geoff Swaim, Justin March and, of course, LP Ladouceur and Chris Jones.
Smith, Wilson and Swaim are all gone. This seems like a real opportunity for some of the players we will cover below to prop this unit back up to where it needs to be.
PUNT RETURN TEAM
The Cowboys were absolutely abysmal with regards to returning punts in 2018. They were 31st in the league (Denver must have decided to not even make an effort). 24 players had over 100 yards in punt returns in the NFL last year, and the Cowboys were led by Cole Beasley who had 61 for the entire season. I have no idea what the thought process was there, but they were conceding three yards per possession – that is how far they sat below the league average – simply on punt-return apathy.
From 2009-2013, the Cowboys returned seven punts for touchdowns with Patrick Crayton (2), Dez Bryant (2), and Dwayne Harris (2) all major weapons. Since then, in five seasons the Cowboys have had just one great return which was against Washington in 2017 by Ryan Switzer. Otherwise, nothing to help the cause.
Last year’s normal punt-return unit:
Damien Wilson, Byron Jones, Jeff Heath, Jamize Olawale, Rod Smith, Anthony Brown, Kavon Frazier, Chidobe Awuzie, Joe Thomas and Blake Jarwin, with Beasley or Tavon Austin returning punts.
It went very poorly — until the playoffs, when Austin turned the field against Seattle with a huge return.
Wilson, Smith and Beasley are all gone. I am not positive you want to keep the band together if they were this poor. On the other hand, when the numbers are so small, it only takes one big return to make it all look good. But the Cowboys really never tried to return punts until Austin was back there, which is a great argument for his roster spot.
KICKOFF COVER TEAM
This group was also quite poor in 2018. The Cowboys’ average return conceded was 31st in the league, with opponents getting 26.5 yards per return. Dallas also generated more touchbacks than the average team, so they faced only 25 returns instead of the NFL average (around 30), so we must weigh that as well. But every team was looking to try to return kicks against Dallas in 2018. Here’s who they faced when they did:
Justin March, Rod Smith, Damien Wilson, Byron Jones, Jamize Olawale, Kavon Frazier, Jeff Heath, Joe Thomas, Noah Brown, Anthony Brown and, of course, Brett Maher.
That means the Cowboys must replace Smith, Wilson and possibly Noah Brown. As you can see, they will roll out top defensive backs in an effort to avoid catastrophes with Byron Jones and Jeff Heath.
The last time the Cowboys gave up a touchdown on a kickoff was none other than former Cowboy return man Dwayne Harris for the Giants in 2015.
KICK RETURN TEAM
Finally, the Cowboys never really cared about kick returns last season, as I believe they set the all-time record for fewest attempted kickoff returns in NFL history. They tried 13 throughout the entire season, and I am betting you don’t remember a single one (aside from the one that they appeared to fumble to the Eagles to start Week 14). Their 21.8 yards per return left them 20th in the league, but again, they didn’t have a single player with more than six and never really seemed to care at all.
Do you recall the last Cowboys kick return for a touchdown? It was rookie Felix Jones in his first ever home game at Texas Stadium back in week 2 of 2008. Could rookie Tony Pollard bring it back in his rookie year? He tied the all-time NCAA record with seven touchdowns at Memphis, so I might give it some thought.
This most common group included: Rod Smith, Damien Wilson, Jamize Olawale, Blake Jarwin, Justin March, Kavon Frazier, Jourdan Lewis, Joe Thomas, Darian Thompson, Noah Brown and Anthony Brown
The departures of Smith and Wilson do leave some openings. Is this another way to find some big plays and perhaps even get Pollard touches? We shall see. [HR][/HR]
As we look ahead and see the biggest issues, they seem to be the following:
By Bob Sturm Aug 26, 2019
I am going to shoot straight with you about this Morning After: I watched the Houston game fully to study the Cowboys’ special teams units. After seeing Joe Thomas block a punt and Cedrick Wilson spring a nice punt return, I had what I wanted to see. Let’s talk special teams, everyone. Gather ’round!
How big a deal can we make of a few special teams plays from Saturday night? Well, let’s take a quick look:
Both of these plays came off Houston punts and it helped that their offense brought very little to the table – especially after the Lamar Miller ACL injury reminded everyone that preseason games are best to be avoided altogether.
Anyway, here, Joe Thomas continued to dazzle in this preseason every time he steps on the field by coming off the edge, basically taking the ball off the foot of the punter and then rumbling and stumbling all the way into the end zone. The Cowboys have hardly done this in the regular season at all in the last 20 years with one in 2008 against the 49ers by Carlos Polk and one in Philadelphia in 2015 when Danny McCray blocked a punt and Kyle Wilber ran it in. That is it. In 25 years going back to 1994 (when profootballreference.com has records starting) until now, nearly 2,000 punts have been faced and only two have been blocked for a touchdown.
Thomas was already on the roster, but his special teams component could be huge so this play was nice.
This other punt from the 2nd Quarter doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, until you realize that Cedrick Wilson’s 32-yard return exceeds (easily) every punt return the Cowboys have attempted since November of 2017. Let’s credit him for showing some juice around the corner, but I really don’t think this should be the biggest return in almost two years.
Basically, the premise here is that the Cowboys special teams have ceased to be very special, and it is up to this team to fix that for 2019.
=====
The landscape of the NFL continues to evolve, and it is our job to keep up as best we can.
We can easily observe the sky-rocketing salaries at certain positions and the stagnant growth at others. Even as the pace slows at running back, it also seems true that the industry’s best running backs will still be written a check of roughly $1 million dollars per game in 2019. While it is unfortunate to see the RB group lagging behind — especially for those who play that position — a top seasonal salary in the $15-to-16-million range leaves those players financially comfortable. It is the relative slice of the pie that troubles those folks, not the ability to fill a bank account or seven.
Depending on your team’s worldview, mixed with a little blind luck, we can surmise that they will spend almost all of their cap resources on the offense and the defensive sides of the ball. Those units will also receive almost all of the draft resources and all of the benefit of the doubt whenever a coach on either side of the ball is trying to make the case that he should be able to use the final roster spot for his young guy who just needs more time.
According to our friends at Spotrac, here is how the Cowboys currently split up their cap resources. You can plainly see that even without tremendous raises for Ezekiel Elliott, Dak Prescott, and Amari Cooper (although Cooper’s number in 2019 is hefty), the Cowboys spend most of the $188 million salary cap on their offense:
We are wise to expect that number to continue growing. Additionally, the defense will need their own cash, and two players have already been inked to two huge deals this year: DeMarcus Lawrence and Jaylon Smith.
None of the players we’ve mentioned — or any of the top 10 salaries on the team — take part in special teams. Technically, the offensive line is on the field for field goals and extra points, but that only sort of counts as traditional special-teams punishment.
The kickoff and punt teams — cover and return — are filled largely with players who receive nothing more than the absolute league minimum and often are happy to be in the NFL in any capacity. They are involved in the most vicious collisions and do more damage to their bodies than pretty much anyone while receiving almost none of the proceeds. A few will get promoted to the more glamorous worlds of offense and defense if they handle this job well, but most will simply be discarded at the end of their minimum contracts and replaced with new 22-year-old models in four years’ time.
Tied to this reality is the fact that many players who are highly-rated and drafted out of college were stars at their universities and thus not asked to run special teams at that level either. They must now adjust to life in the NFL, but you are likely to be disappointed if you expect your top prospects to have any idea how to cover kicks.
Lastly, we know how close the games are in the NFL and how one score seems to decide most. Special teams may be part of the safety phase-out in the league, but how many games are decided by a big return, a turnover on special teams, a miss-or-make field goal or a bad snap?
In other words, you can have the best roster in the league and still be sabotaged by poor special teams. Yet this is a portion of the game that is almost completely ignored by fans, media and fantasy football.
This is why I insist on writing about it every year in August as teams build out their final roster. To the coaches and personnel people in this sport, it is a huge consideration as we approach cut-down day.
If you have read my stuff for any amount of time, you know that I use 1,000 snaps as a shorthand when it comes to the offense or defense. On average, offensive or defensive players have an opportunity to play 1,000 snaps in a season. Some teams play a bit more and some a bit less, but the average number is right around the same spot every year. That figure falls out to about 65 snaps per game on offense and 65 more for your defense, totaling about 130 plays from scrimmage in all.
However, we are still missing the numbers you’re about to see below: About 28 snaps a game and 440 over the course of a year. You may see that the Cowboys’ numbers fell some in 2017-18, but this is more a function of low-possession games rather than a big shift for the sport. The Cowboys actively try to shorten games the moment they begin as they believe this increases their odds of winning. (Of course, Chip Kelly and Mike Leach try to add possessions to each game, believing that with more possessions they can gain more of an offensive advantage on the scoreboard, which therefore increases their odds at winning. This proves not everyone agrees on strategic tactics in this amazingly complex sport.)
TOTAL COWBOYS SPECIAL TEAMS SNAPS, 2011-18:
| 2018 | 36 | 30 | 33 | 33 | 60 | 64 | 77 | 77 | 410 |
| 2017 | 29 | 25 | 39 | 35 | 66 | 70 | 80 | 73 | 417 |
| 2016 | 32 | 32 | 46 | 28 | 58 | 70 | 91 | 75 | 432 |
| 2015 | 32 | 36 | 25 | 38 | 69 | 74 | 73 | 83 | 430 |
| 2014 | 29 | 18 | 56 | 41 | 58 | 67 | 96 | 75 | 440 |
| 2013 | 30 | 29 | 47 | 48 | 77 | 61 | 91 | 89 | 472 |
| 2012 | 31 | 33 | 37 | 44 | 69 | 74 | 79 | 88 | 455 |
| 2011 | 37 | 33 | 39 | 35 | 71 | 72 | 86 | 86 | 459 |
| AVG | 32 | 29.5 | 40.25 | 37.75 | 66 | 69 | 84.1 | 80.75 | 439 |
As you might expect, I have kept these numbers for quite a while (since 2011), and although they fluctuate quite a bit, you will notice that there are plenty of special-teams snaps to account for. On average, over these seven years, the number averages out to 439 snaps per season on special teams. This is roughly 17 to 18 percent of all snaps in a season, even though most fans and media never spend five minutes thinking about them.
That 439 number works out to just under 28 snaps per game. 28 chances for disaster — or an opportunity to make a play and win a game.
So when people talk about keeping a sixth wide receiver, ninth or 10th defensive back, or a sixth linebacker, the coaching staff knows that doesn’t always mean the best candidate at that position to someday actually be a contributor on offense or defense. Sometimes the best way to make the team is to prove you can be counted upon to make a difference in the game in special teams. And if you are good enough in special teams, you may have the opportunity to develop into a player who can someday factor into the offense and defense. In other words, being a special-teams contributor keeps your dream alive of catching the coaches’ eye all week at practice at the position of your dreams – the one that will actually get you paid.
This will be Year 2 for Cowboys special teams coordinator Keith O’Quinn. In 2014, he began assisting his predecessor, Rich Bisaccia (now in Oakland with Jon Gruden), trying to make the Dallas special-teams group really sing. If you average the rank of the four return/coverage units, the Cowboys ranked in the top half of the league in four of Bisaccia’s five years . Honestly, giving him credit for Dan Bailey being good at kicking always seemed weird to me, so I really don’t credit or debit a special teams coordinator for that. But deploying return or coverage units seems like something that is largely his charge, and while he certainly is at the mercy of what his head coach allows him to do – for instance, I am certain he is often refused the services of certain capable special-teams players if, say, he wants Chidobe Awuzie or Michael Gallup to help cover punts – it falls to him if his guys get gouged with a huge return or a devastating blocked punt.
Bisaccia’s only season with a group below league average was 2016, when they ranked 21st on aggregate. O’Quinn certainly deserves a chance to get things squared away moving forward, but it should be noted that the Cowboys’ average rank in 2018 – 24.5 – was easily their worst in over a decade. They won games and the division, so it is not the story of 2018, but you can hopefully understand why some might be watching this group closely in 2019 and perhaps that means some considerations from the personnel department when it is time to make cuts.
Here are the NFL ranks in the four coverage/return categories over the last decade:
| 2018 | O’Quinn | 16th | 31st | 31st | 20th |
| 2017 | Bisaccia | 1st | 18th | 13th | 3rd |
| 2016 | Bisaccia | 18th | 21st | 23rd | 23rd |
| 2015 | Bisaccia | 11th | 15th | 29th | 8th |
| 2014 | Bisaccia | 20th | 6th | 13th | 13th |
| 2013 | Bisaccia | 18th | 7th | 5th | 4th |
| 2012 | DeCamillis | 16th | 6th | 4th | 29th |
| 2011 | DeCamillis | 14th | 5th | 27th | 20th |
| 2010 | DeCamillis | 3rd | 27th | 2nd | 23rd |
| 2009 | DeCamillis | 9th | 15th | 6th | 20th |
An addendum: The rankings are based on average yards per return, and therefore we are looking for quality over raw quantities. Also, know that this is relative to the league, which is trying to phase out returns on kickoffs altogether. That may be true, but they are still here and with a team that at times wins by the finest of margins, we probably should not give away 10 yards per return, even if kickoffs are a thing of the past by 2031.
For the remainder of this exercise, I want to look at each group and discuss who is new and who needs to be replaced as we finish this roster up:
PUNT COVER TEAM
It has been a long time since the Cowboys got popped for a touchdown on a punt return from an opponent. In fact, it was week 14 of 2012 against the Eagles in the final minute of a game the Cowboys had already had wrapped up, but Damaris Johnson returned a punt 98 yards all the way back to make the game interesting.
In 2017, the Cowboys were the No. 1 team in the NFL in not conceding punt returns. In a league where the average punt return totaled 8.2 yards, Dallas allowed 4.2, and there was seldom a problem. In 2018, however, the group fell back to league average – 8.5 yards a return.
The normal punt team from 2018 looked like this:
Blake Jarwin, Rod Smith, Damien Wilson, Jamize Olawale, Jeff Heath, Kavon Frazier, Joe Thomas, Geoff Swaim, Justin March and, of course, LP Ladouceur and Chris Jones.
Smith, Wilson and Swaim are all gone. This seems like a real opportunity for some of the players we will cover below to prop this unit back up to where it needs to be.
PUNT RETURN TEAM
The Cowboys were absolutely abysmal with regards to returning punts in 2018. They were 31st in the league (Denver must have decided to not even make an effort). 24 players had over 100 yards in punt returns in the NFL last year, and the Cowboys were led by Cole Beasley who had 61 for the entire season. I have no idea what the thought process was there, but they were conceding three yards per possession – that is how far they sat below the league average – simply on punt-return apathy.
From 2009-2013, the Cowboys returned seven punts for touchdowns with Patrick Crayton (2), Dez Bryant (2), and Dwayne Harris (2) all major weapons. Since then, in five seasons the Cowboys have had just one great return which was against Washington in 2017 by Ryan Switzer. Otherwise, nothing to help the cause.
Last year’s normal punt-return unit:
Damien Wilson, Byron Jones, Jeff Heath, Jamize Olawale, Rod Smith, Anthony Brown, Kavon Frazier, Chidobe Awuzie, Joe Thomas and Blake Jarwin, with Beasley or Tavon Austin returning punts.
It went very poorly — until the playoffs, when Austin turned the field against Seattle with a huge return.
Wilson, Smith and Beasley are all gone. I am not positive you want to keep the band together if they were this poor. On the other hand, when the numbers are so small, it only takes one big return to make it all look good. But the Cowboys really never tried to return punts until Austin was back there, which is a great argument for his roster spot.
KICKOFF COVER TEAM
This group was also quite poor in 2018. The Cowboys’ average return conceded was 31st in the league, with opponents getting 26.5 yards per return. Dallas also generated more touchbacks than the average team, so they faced only 25 returns instead of the NFL average (around 30), so we must weigh that as well. But every team was looking to try to return kicks against Dallas in 2018. Here’s who they faced when they did:
Justin March, Rod Smith, Damien Wilson, Byron Jones, Jamize Olawale, Kavon Frazier, Jeff Heath, Joe Thomas, Noah Brown, Anthony Brown and, of course, Brett Maher.
That means the Cowboys must replace Smith, Wilson and possibly Noah Brown. As you can see, they will roll out top defensive backs in an effort to avoid catastrophes with Byron Jones and Jeff Heath.
The last time the Cowboys gave up a touchdown on a kickoff was none other than former Cowboy return man Dwayne Harris for the Giants in 2015.
KICK RETURN TEAM
Finally, the Cowboys never really cared about kick returns last season, as I believe they set the all-time record for fewest attempted kickoff returns in NFL history. They tried 13 throughout the entire season, and I am betting you don’t remember a single one (aside from the one that they appeared to fumble to the Eagles to start Week 14). Their 21.8 yards per return left them 20th in the league, but again, they didn’t have a single player with more than six and never really seemed to care at all.
Do you recall the last Cowboys kick return for a touchdown? It was rookie Felix Jones in his first ever home game at Texas Stadium back in week 2 of 2008. Could rookie Tony Pollard bring it back in his rookie year? He tied the all-time NCAA record with seven touchdowns at Memphis, so I might give it some thought.
This most common group included: Rod Smith, Damien Wilson, Jamize Olawale, Blake Jarwin, Justin March, Kavon Frazier, Jourdan Lewis, Joe Thomas, Darian Thompson, Noah Brown and Anthony Brown
The departures of Smith and Wilson do leave some openings. Is this another way to find some big plays and perhaps even get Pollard touches? We shall see. [HR][/HR]
As we look ahead and see the biggest issues, they seem to be the following:
- Replace Rod Smith and Damien Wilson. I assume Joe Thomas is high on that list, and from the looks of things, I wonder if Darius Jackson can try to replace a lot of Rod Smith, or if this is an opening for two guys who have received a huge amount of work in special teams but would be considered roster long shots: Ryan Yurachek and Jordan Chunn. Both are built like special-teams bodies, and they both have over 40 preseason snaps on special-teams units. Donovan Wilson is being used very judiciously so far, but I suspect if he can take Kavon Frazier’s spot, he will need to run on all of these units, too.
- The team cannot add a small-play special-teams group to a small-play offense. Traditionally, these low-octane offenses are propped up by a big-play defense and special teams. The Cowboys not even trying to return kicks and punts is bothersome, and I hope there is internal discussion about unleashing speed weapons like Austin, Wilson and Pollard much more than what we saw from Cole Beasley and Jourdan Lewis last year.
- In a league this close, every yard matters, and Bill Parcells would always lecture us about hidden yardage and the chance to find points. Well, this seems huge to me that the top 3 scoring teams in the NFL last year just so happened to have three of the top four “starting field position” averages. That seems connected.
- Finally, I must go back to the original premise: this league is too close to have substandard special teams. If the inches are everywhere, then the Cowboys better not be in the lowest 25% of the league in these department. It could cost them plenty.