Dallas Cowboys: Plan for the NFL Draft: January Edition

The first week of the Dallas Cowboys offseason is officially in the books. As fans, not only do we wonder what could have been different a week ago, but also what the next 8 months has in store for the franchise.

If the last several off-seasons have been any indication of how the Dallas Cowboys operate the off-season, we can expect them to retain their homegrown talent, find low risk-low price free agents, and try filling the rest of their needs through the draft.

This strategy has proven successful as the Cowboys have made it to the Divisional Round 3 out of the last 5 seasons, but unfortunately, the streak of not playing in the Championship Round has continued to loom over the franchise. When this team is “one piece away” from winning a championship, the following season usually proves that’s not true.

Many players on the team are locked into contracts for at least the next year. Here is the list:

Players currently under contract for 2019 season according to Spotrac.com:

QB: Dak Prescott, Cooper Rush, Mike White

RB: Ezekiel Elliott, Darius Jackson

WR: Amari Cooper, Allen Hurns, Terrence Williams, Michael Gallup, Cedric Wilson, Noah Brown

TE: Dalton Schultz, Blake Jarwin, Rico Gathers

OT: Tyron Smith, La’el Collins, Korren Kirven

OG: Zach Martin, Connor Williams, Xavier Sua-Filo, Parker Ehinger, Adam Redmond, Dustin Stanton

C: Travis Frederick, Joe Looney

DE: Tyrone Crawford, Taco Charlton, Dorance Armstrong, Randy Gregory

DT: Maliek Collins, Antwaun Woods

LB: Jaylon Smith, Leighton Vander Esch, Sean Lee, Christian Covington, Joe Thomas

CB: Byron Jones, Anthony Brown, Chidobe Awuzie, Jourdan Lewis

S: Jeff Heath, Xavier Woods, Kavon Frazier, Marqueston Huff, CJ Goodwin

K: Brett Maher

P: Chris Jones

LS: N/A

Some notable players not on the list are: DeMarcus Lawrence, Damien Wilson, Geoff Swaim, Rod Smith, Cameron Fleming, and Caraun Reid. DeMarcus Lawrence, at the very least, is locked in for one more year as the Cowboys could place him on his second consecutive franchise tag but the Cowboys and their fans know this move is ill-advised.

Damien Wilson and Caraun Reid are all deserving of second contracts especially as underrated members of the Dallas defense but Swaim, Fleming, and Smith aren’t locks for the next contract causing some more holes on the team than expected.

Also, if the Cowboys can’t convince a certain Free Safety from the Pacific Northwest to sign a team friendly deal, there might be another position the Cowboys look to fill in the draft.

Running Back:

I believed the Cowboys were in need of a running back in last year’s draft and while they did select one, his impact was minimal for he didn’t make it to the 53-man roster. While this RB class doesn’t have the star power of Saquon, Zeke, Gurley, or even a Christian McCaffrey, this is still a deep class with solid Day 2 and Day 3 prospects. With the Cowboys’ first pick being late in the second round, they wouldn’t realistically invest in an RB until Day 3.

The ideal RB should have the skill set of a change-of-pace/scat back. While Zeke is a transcendent running back, having the balance of a power/down the throat and a change of pace/scat back is a proven formula and really good teams are using this type of balance. (Indianapolis, New England, and New Orleans are current examples.)

Zeke set the record for most receptions by a running back for the Cowboys this year with 77, but according to Bob Sturm, most were catches where Zeke lined up in the backfield.

Having a faster more elusive back would increase the effectiveness of passes to running backs, and if all goes well, maybe we see running backs lining up as receivers?