The Dallas Cowboys shocked the world last season. As preseason progressed, a fan favorite quarterback was lost for the season, and that forced the other players to step up. Step up they did.
The Cowboys weren’t supposed to go far with two rookies leading the team and faced many questions going forward. Finishing the year 13-3, the Cowboys quickly answered every question thrown at them. Dak Prescott showed off his skill quickly. Prescott had 311 completions out of 459 attempts, 3,667 passing yards, 27 passing touchdowns and just 4 interceptions. Doing the math, that’s a 0.9 interception percentage. His regular season QB rating was 104.9 and was good enough to surpass Robert Griffin III for best rookie QB rating.
Ezekiel Elliott also made a quick name for himself. This hungry rookie silenced all ney sayers with a season performance that knocked on the door or Eric Dickerson’s rookie performance. Elliott had 1,631 rushing yards through 322 rushing attempts. He averaged 5.1 yards per rushing attempt and had 15 rushing touchdowns. The young star also showed his versatility as he caught 32 passes for 363 total yards, and had one receiving touchdown.
As the season would progress, the veterans on the team quickly rallied around the young players and they learned how to succeed together. Jason Witten showed he can still go, and finished the season with 69 receptions, 673 yards, and three touchdowns. Dez Bryant, Terence Williams, Cole Beasley also presented themselves as valuable assets to the young signal caller.
The defense, however, was a different story. Ranking near the bottom of the league in many categories, it quickly became painfully clear where the Cowboys needed help. In the past, the Cowboys led the league in sacks. In past years there was a time where the Cowboys would rank near the top in turnovers. Last season wasn’t one of those times.
Three Pressing Questions Facing The Dallas Cowboys Before Training Camp
3: As the Dallas Cowboys have lost valuable players like JJ Wilcox, Barry Church and Morris Claiborne, can the rookies drafted be considered suitable replacements? The skills that players like “Taco” Charlton bring can definitely be an asset to the Cowboys. Each player drafted that played in the secondary through college bring ball playing skills, speed, and physical attributes that management sees as beneficial. The only real issue might be getting these young players to stay humble and listen to coaches. Mini-camp has begun and so far, they all seem to be doing well. However, the real test is when they’ll play against their much improved division rivals.
2: With Doug Free Retiring, will the Cowboys have as strong an offensive line? In a word, yes. All the players on the Cowboys had the luxury of having players like Travis Frederick, or even Chaz Green can alleviate some of that concern. However, with Green’s injury history it remains to be seen if he can be a valuable part of the team.
1: Does Dak Prescott Have What It Takes To Lead The Dallas Cowboys? As the season went on last year, Prescott carved through defenses with surgical precision. As Tony Romo is no longer a Cowboy, Dak is now THE guy. It was reported that Prescott didn’t take as many snaps last season before Romo got hurt. This team 100% belongs to Dak Prescott. Additionally, he has had time, and will continue to have time to improve on weak points in his game throughout the training camp practices, and preseason reps he will get.