Cold Reality: The Dallas Cowboys may be in trouble this season

The Dallas Cowboys made some bold moves this offseason and seem to have better positioned their club for the future – but that may come at the cost of THIS season.

For all the improvements the Cowboys made to their roster this offseason, they may very well find themselves in trouble in 2018. Some changes are too big to survive in just one season and the changes the Cowboys made in the passing game could certainly qualify as “too big”.

As excited as we all want to be about the direction of this club, some hills are too high to climb. And the turnover in the pass-catching department may fall under mountainous status.

It’s not just that Dez Bryant and Jason Witten are gone. It’s that we don’t know who or even how they will be replaced. We don’t see that budding star, waiting to in the wings, ready to explode onto the scene with the path now cleared.

No, we see hopes and prayers and a whole lotta “meh”.

Receivers

In the receiver ranks we have new face, Allen Hurns, leading the way. He’s a good player but he’s new to the system and has no track record with Dak Prescott. We really don’t know what kind of impact he’ll make. Behind him is Terrance Williams. And Terrance Williams is…well…Terrance Williams.

Cole Beasley was doubled most of last year. Sans Dez, those doubles will probably only increase in 2018. Deonte Thompson and Tavon Austin are fun new weapons but they’ve never been key cogs in a good offense. Think they will suddenly be now? We hope so.

Noah Brown, Michael Gallup, and Cedric Wilson all look exciting in the long-term. But how much can we rely on them to do in 2018? So many question and virtually zero answers.

Tight end

Jason Witten’s sudden retirement caught us all off guard – including the Dallas Cowboys. Who’s taking over for him? Rookie fourth rounder Dalton Shultz? That’s a leap of faith. Geoff Swaim is someone I’ve always thought could thrive with more opportunities. But even as my pet cat, I’m scared chitless to be relying on him.

Rico Gathers? Get outta here. The coaching staff loves Blake Jarwin. But until we see something in game situations, he’s in the same “Hail Mary” territory as Gathers.

Who in tarnation is Dak Prescott going to throw to on 3^rd and 4 with the defense pressing and the safety in the box?

Too much, all at once

It’s easy to draw parallels to last season when the Dallas Cowboys completely rebuilt their secondary. They sent three starters and one role player packing and replaced them with rookies and other unproven entities. Long-term, the move was wise. But the growing pains of inserting so many new faces into new roles was hard to ignore.

It appears to be the same situation in the passing game this season. With so many questions and so many unproven “answers”, we’re going to see growing pains in 2018. It’s unavoidable. There’s no proven reliable presence around.

I firmly believe the Dallas Cowboys successfully upgraded the offensive line (significantly at that), the defensive line (best line in a decade), the linebacker corps (maybe three future Pro Bowlers), and the running back stable. I also think the growing pains from last season will pay off in the secondary and we’re going to see some great things from the Dallas Cowboys DBs in 2018.

But despite all of that, the passing game has the potential (even likelihood) of falling on its face in 2018. And this is coming from a guy who loves Dak Prescott! It’s too many changes all at once…

Next: Why the Cowboys will use RPO in 2018

If the Dallas Cowboys add the run-pass option (RPO) to their attack, it’s just one more growing pain to endure and to learn from. All of this will make the Dallas Cowboys better in the long-term but has the very realistic potential to sink them in the here-and-now.

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